“As I read the Gospels and as I hear the stories that Jesus taught, what keeps striking me is how much he notices – how much he sees of the environment around him. He sees the lilies of the field, the birds of the air, the type of soil that seed is planted in; the fruitfulness of trees.
“Part of our Christian discipleship, I believe as we care for creation is to notice and to see what we’re interconnected with, so that we can wonder at God’s creation and then take action to safeguard it and to care for it on this single island planet home.
“Many churches across the Diocese have benefited from A Rocha UK’s Eco Church programme. This is an excellent programme of activities, of assessing how we’re doing in terms of caring for the climate and biodiversity. A range of different scoring across the whole of our church life; from the buildings we look after to the activities we take part in; how we live out our lives to be good stewards of creation.
“We’ve already got some bronze and silver awarded churches in our Diocese, so I’d encourage you to have a look at those resources. To be involved really helps a congregation develop in this area. And there’s so much that’s already happening.”
Bishop Graham describes some of the events and projects he’s visited such as an eco-fair in Eaton, the Green Yarmouth week-long event at the Minster focusing on renewable energy sources, and knowledge of churches that have ground or air source heat pumps, run nature events or hold Wild Church services.
“So, lots of really good examples of how to become an eco church, how to learn and to live out caring for God’s creation, seeking climate justice for the world’s economically poorest people. And simply just to delight and enjoy the wonder of nature that we live amongst in Norfolk and Waveney.”
Becoming an eco church
Join the quarterly online Eco Church network Forum – next one is 27 June 2023 – check the website for registration soon.