St Andrew’s

We became an Eco Church in 2011 joining an ecumenical programme run by A Rocha a Christian charity working for the protection and restoration of the natural world. In 2019, we received the exciting news that our application for an  Eco Church Silver Award from A Rocha had been successful. We are now working towards Gold.

A Rocha Silver Award plaque
A Rocha Silver Award Plaque
© C Drummond

Eco churches are part of an ecumenical programme helping churches make the link between environmental issues and Christian Faith and putting this into practical action.

We have a Psalm 23 Garden, based on the well-known Psalm but also the Bible Society garden from the Chelsea Flower Show 2021. There is a video below and the plan for the garden can be found here

All the gardens are now being better managed with the emphasis on the the benefits for the environment. The Land Management Plan can be found here

There is a small Eco Church team who meet regularly to review our existing environmental initiatives and plan new activities around 3 main areas of church life:

  • spiritual: worship and teaching
  • practical: things to do with buildings, land and church management
  • mission: reaching out, both locally and globally

We regularly participate in national campaigns such as Show the Love, the Big Green Week, No Mow May and the Big Garden Birdwatch. Some of the activities which support our Silver Award are:

    • A prayer on climate change was submitted to A Rocha UK and used in a service which had an environmental theme.
    • Big church card at Christmas raising money for charity
    • A Herb Garden at St Andrew’s
    • Repair and Regeneration every 1st Saturday.
    • Litter picking
    • Toilet Twinning – we funded 2 toilet blocks and 4 toilets in Malawi
    • Expanded recycling – glasses, batteries, teabags and cables.
    • Tree planting & tree twinning

    © Photos C Drummond, S Jeans. The photos show the recycling containers in St. Andrew’s Link Gallery where users of the church can put various things for collection; ‘Show the Love’ hearts; an insect hotel and a bat box in the church garden, and lavender bags made from the garden lavender bushes