Environment

A fundamental principle of our faith is that God is the Creator of everything and that this creation is essentially good.

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.

Genesis 1: 31 (NRSV)

In the Diocese of St Albans, our Living God’s Love vision commits us to loving care and service to the world which we share with countless other species.

Humankind, the earth and all living things are completely interconnected and part of this exquisitely wonderful, intelligent and diverse creation. This means that caring for God’s creation is about more than just caring for our church buildings effectively. Caring for God’s creation is a holistic mission which should incorporate all aspects of church life.

There is clear evidence that our impact on the environment has resulted in reduced biodiversity, climate change and pollution. Climate change disproportionately affects those who live in poverty within our own country and globally. Pope Francis has called the global failure to address climate change “a brutal act of injustice toward the poor”.

It’s not all bad news. Christians are called to be people of hope. There are steps and actions we can take as individuals, as churches and as a Diocese to care for God’s creation. There is an opportunity for change, for generosity in looking outwards, joy in celebrating the word’s goodness, imagination to rethink how things could be, and the courage to act now.

These Environment pages will help you to take action: the Environment Directory provide a directory of resources and information about various topics related to the environment; the Net Zero Carbon page provides advice and guidance about reducing your church building’s carbon emissions; information about the Living Churchyard Project is available on the Churchyards page; and the Environmental Funding page outlines sources of funding available for related projects.

Eco Church

Eco Church is a web-based award scheme for churches who want to demonstrate that the gospel is good news for God’s earth. It is organised by A Rocha UK, a Christian Charity working for the protection and restoration of the natural world, both as a response to the biblical mandate to care for the earth and as a demonstration of the Christian hope for God’s world.

The Scheme is designed to motivate and resource churches in establishing caring for God’s creation as an integral part of their everyday work and witness, working with their local communities to achieve a more sustainable future.

Join the growing number of churches registering and gaining awards with Eco Church by clicking on the button to their website below.

Eco Church Website

Diocesan Eco Church Examples and Case Studies

The DAC Strategy on Biodiversity

The DAC strategy on biodiversity flows from the Diocesan Environmental Policy. It recognises the contribution that the 400 parish churches and other places of worship, their curtilage land and churchyards make to the provision of varied habitat in both urban and rural settings in all parts of the Diocese. [Other diocesan bodies have responsibility for the management of investment land and clergy housing.]

It is a strategy for informing, advising and supporting parishes in the management, care and development of their church buildings and churchyards to support and enhance biodiversity, alongside the functions of care of the church building as a local centre of mission and worship as well as heritage, and care of the churchyard as a place for burial, commemoration and reflection.

The DAC strategy is:

1. To ensure that the maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity are taken into account in DAC advice, generally and in casework.
2. To inform and encourage parishes to understand and appreciate the value of the churchyard, curtilage land and church building for nature, and the existing habitats and species the churchyard, land and church building support.
3. To provide information and advice to help parishes to map and assess the relative value of habitats and species for biodiversity.
4. To ensure that parishes have regard to the maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity alongside other factors such as the care of historic fabric, needs for mission and outreach, and Net Zero Carbon, in developing schemes of repair and in making changes.