St Peter’s, Leckhampton, has been awarded the Eco Church Gold Award by A Rocha, recognising the church’s commitment to caring for creation through its worship and teaching, buildings, church land, community and global engagement, and everyday lifestyle.
The award comes five years after St Peter’s received its Bronze Award and three years after achieving Silver. The church submitted its Gold application in December last year, with the process proving considerably more demanding than the previous awards.
Richard Kerr-Wilson said: “We submitted our application for Gold in December last year. We had to provide evidence across five different categories, followed by an online review, further revisions and, finally, a visit from the A Rocha assessment team on Tuesday 11 August.
“The church organised its work by having different members of its Eco Group responsible for each of the five categories. The group met monthly, with four members, including the vicar, involved from the beginning and others joining and leaving over time. It was very important to have a team.”
The PCC was consulted and kept informed through a dedicated eco slot on the PCC agenda, while the wider congregation received updates through PowerPoint presentations in church, a regular eco item in the weekly newsletter, an eco noticeboard in the Cottages – where people meet for coffee after the 10am Sunday service – and articles in the parish magazine.
“The assessors were particularly impressed by our gas-free church, with its under-pew heating and heat pump, as well as the increased biodiversity documented in our re-wilded churchyard and our support for environmental and community projects in the local area,” said Richard.
The move away from gas has been part of a series of changes made over several years. The church has gradually replaced its lighting with LED fittings, while the expiry of its gas boiler provided an opportunity to install under-pew heating. A legacy earmarked for eco projects also enabled the church to install a heat pump, meaning St Peter’s no longer has a gas bill.
“Environmental work is fundamental to our Christian faith,” Richard said. “We are stewards for God’s creation, yet we have been exploiting and abusing the earth with the devastating consequences we have seen this year. Caring for creation means looking after our world and our fellow creatures, without whom we cannot exist. All creatures are interdependent and we all rely on each other. For the church, we have to look at our lifestyles and what may be the consequences of our actions, avoiding the use of fossil fuels, recycling and reusing as much as possible.”
The church’s environmental work is continuing, with plans to install raised beds, plant more pollinator-friendly flowers and develop a new nature trail, alongside the ongoing management of the churchyard for biodiversity.
“We look forward to welcoming people to enjoy the cool interior and peaceful surroundings of St Peter’s as we continue our work,” Richard said.
St Peter’s is keen to share its experience with other churches considering the Eco Church programme, particularly those working towards a Gold Award. Its experience illustrates how environmental action can develop over several years, building on earlier Bronze and Silver awards rather than being treated as a one-off project.
“We would encourage other churches to consider becoming an A Rocha Eco Church, and would be delighted to share our experience and support them as they continue their own eco journeys,” Richard said.
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