All Saints is committed to Caring for Gods Creation through Sustainability
Please read how below - along with our Bronze EcoChurch Award
Our Church Caring for God’s Earth
Caring for God’s earth is being seen by Christians as increasingly important. One of the Diocese of Oxford’s main priorities is responding to the climate crisis and the broader environmental crises facing our planet. We at All Saints recognise that we have a role to play in this, and here are some of the things we’ve been doing.
Climate Emergency Statement
In December 2022, our PCC agreed a recognition of the climate emergency and you can read and/or download the statement here in the right hand side sidebar.
Bronze EcoChurch Award
In August 2022, we received a Bronze EcoChurch award from A Rocha UK. Bishop Olivia formally presented us with the award in November 2022. The EcoChurch scheme provides a framework for churches and covers five key areas of Church life:
Worship and teaching
- We celebrate God’s creation through worship, teaching and prayer throughout the year
- We ran a course during CreationTide in September 2022 which looked at what the Bible has to say about the environment and enabled discussion on ways we might respond to the climate crisis
- We showed films during Lent 2022 with an environmental theme (including The Boy who Harnessed the Wind, A Life on our Planet and Erin Brockovich)
Management of Church buildings
- When renovating the Church floor, we re-used tiles, where possible, and installed a recycled foam glass sub-base
- We use renewable energy and have LED lights
- We have undertaken an energy audit
Management of Church Land
- We have installed bird boxes in the churchyard
- Part of the churchyard is given over to rewilding
- We grow fruit and vegetables in the Birinus garden in conjunction with Boyne Hill Infants School
Community and Global engagement
- Our environmental focus at Harvest has raised money for Water Aid (2021) and toilet twinning charity (2022)
- All our toilets are twinned with a community in South Sudan along with 2 of our taps
- We engage with our Church schools on their environmental agendas
Lifestyle
- Our blister pack and battery recycling are popular
- We also arrange for the recycling of redundant disability aids.
- We provide hints and tips to reduce our environmental impact in our newsletter (Christmas, Travel and holidays, Energy use at home, Plants and gardens….)
- We organise walks focusing on enjoying nature from time to time
For more information on EcoChurch please click https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/
