January 2016 marked the first Eco Church registration in the diocese. Ten years later, Holy Trinity Headington Quarry continues to take action on creation care.
One of the first churches in the Diocese of Oxford to register for A Rocha’s Eco Church in 2016.
Eco Church Silver Award displayed by (from right to left) church wardens, former vicar, former curate and representative of Eco Church Group.
Bishop of Reading, the Rt Revd Mary Gregory, who leads on environment for the diocese, said: “Huge congratulations to everyone who has been involved in Holy Trinity’s eco journey over the last 10 years. Your church has been a trailblazer and an inspiration for so many other churches to take steps towards caring for creation.
“Responding to the climate crisis is one of the Diocese of Oxford's key priorities. We have divested from fossil fuels, committed £10m to reduce carbon emissions in our clergy houses and £1.5m for energy efficiency improvements to our schools. We are supporting churches in exploring how they can become carbon neutral. Across the diocese, we continue to work towards making a real and tangible difference to environmental sustainability in all the choices we make, including the spaces we live, work and worship in, and the energy we use.”
Eco Church is an award scheme and tool to help churches address environmental issues in all that they do – in spiritual, practical and mission areas. Now 137 churches in the diocese have been awarded either gold, silver or bronze status, and a further 135 have registered for the scheme.
The Revd Martin Little, Vicar of Holy Trinity Headington Quarry, said:
“Holy Trinity's ecological focus has been wonderfully sustained and developed over the last ten years. We are blessed with a beautiful site among fields and woodlands, and encourage creation care through our Forest Sunday School. The church's Eco Group have worked tirelessly to see through major projects like solar panels for the Vicarage and Curate's house, and we are shortly embarking on a major project to replace our heating system with low-carbon alternatives. I'm really grateful for the way in which the Eco Group hold us to account in positive and challenging ways as we work together to care for God's creation.”
In 2016 Holy Trinity kicked off its eco journey with an eco festival. The church hosted stalls on topics such as Wildlife-friendly gardening, sustainable transport and environmentally-friendly paints. Talks were held including 'lower your carbon footprint: eat what you grow', 'solar now and in the future', 'working to make sustainable travel safer and more accessible' and 'recycling in Oxford: what, where, when, why and how'.
The church has an Eco team who continue to make sure that they continue to be at the forefront of caring for our planet.
- In 2017 they dedicated a parking space for CoWheels, a community car-share for church members, local residents and others to access transport more sustainably.
- Eco evensong services in the vicarage garden
- Talks on various environmental topics including eco house, flood control, plastic pollution, and visiting speakers from local parks and charities.
- Installing solar panels on the vicarage and curate's house
- Installing a water butt and bike rack for the churchyard and church hall respectively.
- Using thermal imaging cameras to help parishioners detect invisible heat signatures to identify dampness, insulation gaps, electrical faults, and roof leaks in their homes.
- And each week the team shares an eco tip in the church notice sheet.
Hilary Rollin, Holy Trinity Headington Quarry eco group lead, said:
“As a church community we acknowledge the beauty of God's Creation, and feel it is incumbent on us to work to preserve it for future generations. Climate change underlines the urgency of this challenge.
“With its range of age groups, and people who mid-week have very different destinations. occupations and experience of life, a church congregation is ideally placed to harness people's varying skills and work together with a common aim. At Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry we had already been working on environmental issues, but the combination of support from the Diocesan Environmental Team and the launch of Eco Church Awards has given us a clearer focus and greater impetus. I would encourage all churches to consider signing up to the scheme.”
Find out more about how your church can be part of the A Rocha Eco Church Scheme and support the diocesan goal of becoming a Silver Eco Diocese in the next year on the environment page of our website. You may find that your church is already committed to many climate actions which would easily qualify you for an Eco Church Award.