Eco Church: Caring for God’s Planet

As we continue through this season of Creationtide, Louise Smail, member of the Environment Working Group, reflects on how Eco Church helps congregations notice and care for creation:

Eco Church invites us to see care for creation not as an optional extra, but as part of our Christian calling. The earth is God’s gift: a living, breathing home shared by people, animals, plants, rivers, seas and skies. When we take steps to protect it, we are responding with gratitude to God and love for our neighbours, especially those most affected by climate change, pollution and the loss of nature.

Run by A Rocha UK, Eco Church offers churches a practical way to turn faith into action. Its survey looks at five areas of church life:

• worship and teaching
• buildings and energy
• land and nature
• community and global engagement
• lifestyle.

These areas remind us that creation care begins in prayer, but it does not end there. It shapes the hymns we sing, the prayers we offer, the way we heat and light our buildings, the flowers we plant, the wildlife we shelter, the campaigns we support and the choices we make at home.

Eco Church reflects care for God’s planet because it helps a congregation notice that every part of creation matters. A churchyard can become a haven for bees, birds and butterflies. A patch of grass can be allowed to grow wild. A building can use less energy. A service can include thanksgiving for the beauty of the natural world and lament for the damage done to it. A congregation can learn that the climate and nature crises are not distant issues, but matters of justice, compassion and discipleship.

This also impacts our own lives. When we live more simply, waste less, travel thoughtfully, save energy, choose carefully what we buy and become more attentive to the world around us, we are changed. We become more thankful, less hurried and more connected to our neighbours and to the places where we live. Caring for creation can deepen our faith because it teaches humility: the world is not ours to exploit, but God’s to cherish.

It teaches hope: small actions, offered faithfully, can become part of a much larger work of restoration. Eco Church can therefore become a form of prayer in action. It asks us to bring our worship into our kitchens, gardens, church halls, streets and communities. It encourages us to ask: how can my life reflect God’s love for the earth? How can our church become a sign of hope? How can we protect what is fragile, restore what has been damaged and share more fairly with others?

Creator God, open our eyes to the beauty and vulnerability of your world. Help us to worship you not only with words, but with lives that honour your creation. Guide our church as we seek to care for the land, reduce waste, protect nature and stand with those affected by environmental harm. Teach us to live gently, act courageously and hope faithfully. May Eco Church help us grow as disciples who love you, love our neighbours, and care for the planet you have entrusted to us. Amen.

Psalm 21:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

To learn more about Eco Church or to begin your Eco Church journey, please visit the Eco Church Website or get in touch with Andy Yates, Deanery Transformation Support Officer, at andrewyates@manchester.anglican.org.