Here at St Nicholas church, we see care for God's good earth and all creation, both human and non-human, as an integral part of who we are as God's church here in Austerfield.
We are part of the ARocha Eco Church scheme, where we seek to take practical actions to love our neighbours as ourselves and love God, through the lens of creation care and environmental justice.
We have achieved both the bronze and silver awards in the scheme, which involves actions across the following areas: Worship and teaching, Buildings, Land, Community and global engagement and Lifestyle.
You can see all that we are doing in our information display in church, and how you can play your part in treading more gently on the earth, in often small but meaningful ways.
Our young people are very much part of our eco journey - They recently planted a wildflower garden in a raised bed at the entrance to our church so they can watch what happens in nature from seed to flower.
Last year's holiday club over the summer, for 4-11yrs, Trash Titans, was themed on recycling and how to care for the environment, and we used lots of 'trash' for our crafts.
This year's holiday club was called Growing Kidz, looking at the fruits of the spirit and how they empower us to put our faith into action in our own lives, including care for creation; the kids loved planting a pear tree on our local environment too!
We have also committed to using resources for our kids work from sustainable sources where possible, reducing our use of plastic.
As a PCC, we have adopted the Benefice wide Environment policy, which lists the ways we will seek to care for the environment in whatever we undertake as a church.
Why not measure your own footprint here: https://360carbon.org/en-gb/
The Church of England is committing to achieve Net Zero carbon by 2030, which is an ambitious target, and recognises this is a fundamental outworking of justice and mutual flourishing for all creation. To find out more about what The Church of England is doing practically and how your own church might play its part, click here: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/net-zero-carbon-routemap
Here is a calendar of events that the Church of England is holding for 2025: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2024-05/sustainability-calendar-pdf-version.pdf
We measure our carbon footprint annually using the Church of England's Energy Footprint Tool, use solely LED lighting in our church building, maintain our boiler so that it works as efficiently as possible, use smaller areas for worship when possible, never use one-use cups or cutlery for our church refreshments, provide information as to how we can each measure and reduce our own carbon footprint, and are on a journey to reduce and offset our carbon, with our PCC's support.
We manage our green spaces for bio diversity, being blessed to have a churchyard and green space behind our church hall. We participate in NoMowMay, leave areas of grass and piles of twigs untouched over the year to encourage bugs and wildflowers, and encourage people to spend time in the churchyard to enjoy the peace of nature in a town setting.
We have recycling points for blister packs, bras, stamps, plastic sweet tubs, aluminium cans and eyeglasses, and support charities such as Tearfund, Christian Aid and Caring for God's Acre, and initiatives such as Earth Hour, Tippy Taps, Churches Count on Nature and the Tearfund Harvest Appeal.