St Mary in Charnwood Church, Nanpantan, has been awarded the Gold Eco Church Award by A Rocha, in recognition of its exceptional work in caring for God’s creation across all aspects of church life.
St Mary’s is the 74th church to receive a Gold Award, and only the second in the Diocese of Leicester, through the Eco Church scheme charity which works to equip Christians and churches of all denominations in England and Wales to protect and restore the environment.
The church has a dedicated Eco Team and has been prioritising creation care for several years, gaining the Bronze Award in 2021 and Silver in 2023.
Vicar of St Mary’s, Revd Adele Adshead, says: “I’m delighted we’ve achieved the Gold Award and very appreciative of all the work of our Eco team to reach this point. God’s creation is a wonderful gift that inspires us to worship and connect with God. We want to share that with others and take good care of it, both locally and in considering our impact on the wider world.”
Set on the western edge of Loughborough, the church is blessed with a beautiful woodland in its grounds; but working towards a Gold Eco Award involved more than simply looking after the site, as A Rocha encourage churches to consider caring for God’s creation all aspects of church life.
“The Award required us to embed care for creation into our worship, prayers, and learning,” explains Helena Wilkinson, who heads up the church Eco Team. “It needed us to find energy-efficient and innovative ways to manage our place of worship; nurture spaces for both people and nature; seek to transform local and global communities and ecosystems and live joyfully and sustainably as followers of Christ.”
Some examples of what St Mary’s Church has done to reach the gold standard include:
- Buying Fairtrade refreshments where possible.
- Managing their woodland to encourage wildlife and providing a small village of wildlife boxes as additional homes to local animals.
- Switching to a green energy supplier for their utilities and upgrading to more efficient heaters.
- Switching to Oasis-free flower arrangements in church.
- Holding their Harvest Celebration at Creationtide in a barn on a neighbouring farm, with the goats and pheasants listening in!
- Running a monthly Mossy Church in the woodland.
The church Eco Team, Revd Adele, and the whole church congregation are delighted to have been awarded Gold, but say this is just the start.
“We are committed to continuing to engage practically in caring for the earth, and are aiming for this to be continually embedded into every aspect of church life, for God, for nature, and for all people.”
Delighted at the news, the Revd Andrew Quigley, Diocesan Environment Officer, said: “This achievement should not be underestimated - following the first ever Gold Eco Church award in the country by St Catherine's, Burbage - this doubles our score!
“It is deserved recognition of stewardship and care for the environment, and the challenges we face associated with climate change and biodiversity loss. St Mary’s golden accolade is a symbol of hope and a source of inspiration as well as a tribute to the hard work and vision of the parish.”
Recognising this incredible achievement, St Mary in Charnwood also received a letter of congratulations from Bishop Graham Usher, the Bishop of Norwich and Lead Bishop for the Environment.
Bishop Graham said: “How wonderful to hear how carefully you have thought about using your land to encourage wildlife and biodiversity, including using your woodland space to encourage care for God’s creation. Please be assured of my prayers for your future work, including the continued work to reduce the energy usage of the church building, and collaboration with other groups.”
He added: “I can see that Eco Church and Carbon Zero is front and centre of your work and mission, and creation care is embedded in all aspects of church life, which is fantastic. I hope the community feels empowered to continue this journey in their own lives outside of church.”
Bishop Graham also asked the congregation to “go out and be apostles for caring for God’s creation so that other church communities might be encouraged, challenged and walk this vital journey as well.”
For more information about the Eco Church award scheme from A Rocha, and how your church can get involved, visit ecochurch.arocha.org.uk
St Mary in Charnwood will be holding an Eco Fair on 14 June, where you can learn more about their environmental work.
