This year, we celebrate our 25th anniversary. We’ve been reflecting on our story so far and God’s goodness …
The international A Rocha story began with Cruzinha, a Christian nature study centre in Portugal, founded by Peter and Miranda Harris in the 1980s. Inspired by visits to Cruzinha, it was Dave and Anne Bookless who got things started in the UK, back in 2001. Much of A Rocha UK’s early work focused on the creation of Minet Country Park in South Hall, West London. We linked to the Lea Brook Valley Project, work spearheaded by Norman Crowson, then came ‘Living Lightly’ and, in the late 2000s, we took on the management of EcoCongregation England and Wales, a collaborative initiative between several denominations. Building on that work, EcoCongregation was reformed into Eco Church in 2016, and as of now, over 9,000 churches have signed up. It’s hard to believe Eco Church is also turning 10 this year!
In 2017 we launched the Partners in Action programme, built on the earlier small group of Associated Projects, and there are now 64 partners managing over 21,000 acres of land. Our work at Wolf Fields Urban Nature Reserve began in 2013 and in 2015 we purchased Foxearth Meadows Nature Reserve. We also took a big strategic decision that year, specifically, to become a national organisation. The official opening of Foxearth Meadows came two years later, as did an appearance on the BBC’s Countryfile programme. Wild Christian, our sustainable living programme for individuals, debuted in 2018 and there are now over 8,400 people joining in!
Our work is mission – for people and planet. We partner with our heavenly Father in obedience to his first commandment to care for his creation (Gen 1:26), which was always intended to demonstrate his love and care for the whole of creation. Many people have enabled this, and some of you have been with us since the beginning. I can’t name all of our staff, but you may remember the past leadership of people like Steve Hughes and Marie Johnson. And then there are people like you. People who pray. People who give freely of their time, talents and finances. Thank you, thank you, thank you. There has also been inexplicable tragedy – in 2019, an accident in South Africa took the earthly lives of A Rocha International’s Chris and Susanna Naylor and one of A Rocha’s co-founders, Miranda Harris. It still hurts.
The world has changed since 2001. The planet is in a worse state now than then, but in many church movements, creation care is no longer a niche interest – you, our supporters, have helped to turn a niche into a movement. The work you and we do together is needed now more than ever before. We have lots of exciting plans and a new strategy for the next three years which includes ambitious plans around habitat restoration, training more individuals to galvanise others wherever they are and strengthen and build on the work we have already been doing. We’ll share more as the year progresses, but do keep an eye on our events page for celebratory events, especially for Eco Church in different regions of the country. Be assured, though, we hold on to our original mission and truly value your ongoing support.
Here’s to the healing of a wounded creation.
God bless you.
Andy Atkins
CEO
