The Diocese of Leicester has been awarded Bronze Eco Diocese status in recognition of our efforts to care for the earth and demonstrate Christian hope for God’s world.
The award, given by the Christian environmental charity A Rocha UK, celebrates the collective achievement of our churches and diocesan institutions across a range of ecological concerns and are a key part of our diocesan Eco Communities priority.
Practices and criteria we have demonstrated to achieve a bronze Eco Diocese award include having an Environment Policy and Net Zero Carbon plan in place, and at least a third of churches in the diocese registered with Eco Church - 15% of those with at least a bronze award and four percent with a silver or gold award - including Leicester Cathedral which has the bronze award, and St Martins House which secured silver Eco Church status last year.
Speaking of the achievement, licensed pioneer and diocesan Eco Group member, Anne Scott, said: “Achieving bronze Eco Diocese status is a wonderful celebration of the hard work of individual church communities, as well as key areas within the diocese.
“It is hugely encouraging to see an ever increasing number of churches working with the Eco Church award and heeding the call to care for God’s creation.
“All the hard work supports the diocesan vision for Eco Communities which, in turn, complements the Net Zero Carbon Churches priority. I am really excited to see what we can do over the coming year as more churches engage with Eco Church and speak prophetically into their local communities.”
Could your church be more environmentally friendly? Do you already have things in place that could be the foundations for gaining an Eco Church award?
Eco Church is a learning community of churches of all shapes and sizes. It is an online framework to support and inspire churches and their leadership to take practical action on caring for God’s earth and includes a toolkit of resources, an online award survey, quarterly newsletter, online events and conferences.
Find out more and register here.
Save the Date! We are planning an Eco Church day for Leicester and Leicestershire on Saturday 14 September. This is for anyone, whether or not your church is already involved in the Eco Church initiative. The event will be held at Holy Trinity Church in Leicester and further details, including how to book, will be available soon.