St Peter’s, Evercreech, are proud to announce that we have achieved an EcoChurch Silver Award. In 2010 we took part in the Diocesan Lent course called “Love for the Future”. The Sustainability Group grew out of that, encouraging the PCC to sign up as a Fairtrade church, set up the conservation / biodiversity area, and we wanted to get photo-voltaic panels on the south-facing roof of the aisle, but the architect wouldn’t allow it. Over the years since then we have gradually taken steps to do more to care for the environment. Working for an EcoChurch Award was a way of inspiring us to continue and expand that work. Looking after this beautiful but fragile planet that God has given us is important to so many people. With our EcoChurch Award we can show people outside our congregation that we, too, take environmental issues seriously.

You may be wondering what we had to do to gain this award. We had to show our commitment to caring for God’s earth under five different headings, Worship & Teaching, Buildings, Land, Community and Global Engagement, and Lifestyle.

· Worship & Teaching included celebrating the special Sundays relating to caring for creation (such as Rogation and Harvest), hymn choices, and prayers.

· Buildings. This meant things like low energy light bulbs, having gas and electricity on a green tariff, not using disposable cups, plates etc.

· Land covered things like our conservation area, bird feeders, having plants in the churchyard that are beneficial to birds and insects

· Community and Global Engagement. For this section we showed that church members are involved in conservation work, we “twinned” our toilet and tap, and we showed that we are a Fairtrade Church and more besides.

· Lifestyle included promoting Fairtrade, recycling, and the garden / allotment produce sharing barrow, Pete’s Fruit’n’Veg (which is, of course, named for St Peter’s Church, not for any of the people called Peter who have been involved.)