100 churches reach gold!
Last week, A Rocha UK saw the 100th church achieve an impressive Eco Church gold award! Any church achieving gold tells a story of hard work, prayer and committed action, and the 100th, St Francis Church in High Heaton, Newcastle, is no exception. First registering as an Eco Church in 2016, they were awarded bronze just a year later in 2017. Three years on in 2020, they reached their silver award, and after five years, they are now celebrating reaching gold!
Our volunteer assessor who visited the church said, “St Francis is the furthest north gold-awarded Eco Church – and will be a beacon in this part of the country. They have been pursuing the environmental agenda for many years and demonstrate a passion for campaigning on environmental issues locally and nationally, and have embedded creation care in every aspect of church life.”
Reverend Robert Lawrance, Vicar at St Francis Church, shared: “We are thrilled to receive the A Rocha UK gold Eco Church award, which will boost us in our goal to achieve net zero carbon by 2030, and so much more. We believe that caring for the environment is a key part of our mission, and we are keen to continue on our Green journey. With teamwork and a bit of effort, anyone can get started with Eco Church.”
Why is reaching 100 significant? Hope in action
To achieve gold, churches demonstrate that care for creation is truly embedded and sustained in their collective life and worship for the long term. Through reaching this milestone, we know that more and more churches are deepening their engagement with caring for creation.
Reaching 100 gold awards is an inspiring story of what God is doing in and through his churches, and should give us hope. It’s easy to read news stories and feel overwhelmed at what is going on in the world and the threats to the environment, yet God has always used his church to communicate hope to a broken world and an invitation to live differently.
Churches across England and Wales of all shapes and sizes have achieved gold awards. To mention just a few activities, among so many, in Wales, Beulah URC in Cardiff is raising awareness through creativity, creating community artwork with regular outside wall art, and has hosted a sustainable flower festival and fashion show. Peterborough Quakers have created a wildlife corridor around their car park, allowing native wildflowers and long grassy areas to provide a source of food for pollinators, and a quiet garden for reflection. And Trinity Methodist Church and Community Hub in Clitheroe, Lancashire, have around 80 different groups meeting in their buildings, who have all been influenced in one way or another by the church’s care for creation!
As we celebrate this milestone, we know that reaching gold is not the end of the journey, as Reverend Lawrance has shared above. For many churches, their gold award is a springboard for further and deeper action, as they mobilise those around them to respond to the climate and nature emergencies and live out our missional calling to care for God’s creation.
There are thousands of churches taking action through Eco Church, with over 8,500 churches registered with the programme and more than 3,400 who have achieved bronze. Will you join them? If your church hasn’t yet registered with Eco Church, get started here: ecochurch.arocha.org.uk
A huge congratulations to all 100 churches in our gold award community, whether you achieved your award all the way back in 2016, or last week!
With great thanks to all our volunteers from gold churches who champion, mentor, and take part in gold award visits – we couldn’t do it without you.
