The following organisations provide additional resources and viewpoints to creation care.
Anglican Alliance: The Anglican Alliance exists to connect, equip and inspire the worldwide Anglican family to work for a world free of poverty and injustice and to safeguard creation.
A Rocha: A Rocha is a global family of Christian organisations which, inspired by God’s love, engages in scientific research, environmental education and community-based conservation projects in more than 20 countries and across six continents.
Climate Stewards: Climate Stewards is part of the A Rocha family of organisations helping to care for God’s creation. We are passionate about helping people to live better on low carbon while supporting our global neighbours to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Faith for the Climate: Faith for the Climate exists to encourage, inspire and equip faith communities in their work on the crisis of climate change – the biggest and most urgent challenge facing humanity.
Green Christian: We are a community of ordinary Christians from all backgrounds and traditions. Inspired by our faith, we work to care for Creation through prayer, living simply, public witness, campaigning and mutual encouragement.
Hope for the Future: Hope for the Future is a climate charity which works to equip communities, groups and individuals across the country to communicate the urgency of climate change with their local politicians.
Operation Noah: Operation Noah is a Christian charity working with the Church to inspire action on the climate crisis.
A Rocha UK is a Christian charity working to protect and restore the natural world and committed to equipping Christians and churches in the UK to care for the environment.
Eco Church is an award scheme run by A Rocha UK providing practical advice and resources to help churches care for the environment.
Wild Christian, also run by A Rocha UK, helps individuals and groups to explore practical ways to enjoy, nurture and defend God’s creation.
The Eco Church Resources provide the ‘Why?’ and ‘How?’ information you need, along with more in-depth information and case studies.
The Church of England Environment Programme also links to its endorsement of the Eco Church and Eco Diocese programmes.
Visit the Eco Church Website for More Information – Link opens in a new windowThe Practical Path to Net Zero Carbon for Churches includes links to guidance notes and a self-guided checklist.
Net Zero Carbon Routemap is a plan for how the Church of England can be net zero carbon by 2030. It was approved by General Synod in July 2022.
Net Zero Carbon & Environmental Case Studies are available to view and take inspiration from.
How You Can Act provides some practical advice for getting started and leads on to looking at sustainable buildings, investments, lifestyles and schools.
The Church of England Environment Programme section on its main website has a lot of information, resources and practical examples for churches, individuals and other church organisations.
The Environment News Bulletin, which you can sign up for, will keep you informed about news and events.
God’s Green Fingers is a joint Salisbury and Winchester diocesan newsletter produced 3 or 4 times a year. You can find past issues and a sign up form.
The Winchester Diocese Environmental Group Facebook page will also keep you up to date with news, events and progress that’s being made.
Creationtide resources provide a range of materials, ideas, liturgy and worship from different churches around the country. If you’re looking for inspiration of Creationtide (September 1st to October 4th), then look here for starters.
A Time for Creation is a book of liturgical resources for creation and the environment produced by Church House Publishing. It’s available online, or you can purchase either an ebook version or a hard copy.
There is a lot of information available on the internet about environmental and climate change issues. The following are particularly useful starting points for individuals, churches and small groups.
The Lausanne Global Classroom – Creation Care is a series of twelve short (around 5 minutes each), extremely well-presented and thought-provoking videos.
Christianity & Climate Change from Tearfund is a series of nine videos by Katharine Hayhoe, an internationally renowned Christian climate scientist.
Bishop’s Commission for Mission – Creation Care is a course that covers the theology, science and local application of creation care in local church communities. Hear what some people who have done the course say: Creation Care interview
What is a Carbon Footprint?
First of all, what is a carbon footprint, whether it’s for an individual, a church or a large organisation?
Your carbon footprint is how much carbon is released into the atmosphere as a result of your everyday activities. Carbon emissions – in the form of carbon dioxide and methane – are what cause global warming and climate change.
How Do We Measure a Carbon Footprint?
The Energy Footprint Tool is the tool used to record the use of fossil fuels by churches, and also to assess the efficiency of the building(s).
The whole diocese is working to reduce its carbon footprint so that we reach Net Zero by 2030. This is the target required by General Synod. A key part of this is measuring our carbon footprint using the Energy Footprint Tool.
At the moment only a small percentage of parishes have completed their 2023 EFT, so please make sure that your church has sent theirs in before the end of August.
- For more information about the EFT, click here.
- For a video explaining how to complete the EFT, click here.
- If you have any queries, contact jayne.tarry@winchester.anglican.org
Climate Stewards provide calculators for individuals, small organisations (including churches) and large organisations. They also provide guidance on reducing your carbon footprint.
IPCC Assessment Reports are the scientific and technical documents that give advice to world leaders at the COP conferences. The 6th Assessment Report, the most recent, is a statement about the condition of our planet and what needs to be done.
State of Nature Reports from 2019 cover all areas of the United Kingdom.
The Dasgupta Review is an independent, global review on the Economics of Biodiversity led by Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta (Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus, University of Cambridge).
United Nations climate reports.
NASA Links:
- Scientific Consensus
- Scientific Method and Climate Change: How Scientists Know
- Do Scientists Agree on Climate Change?
The Carbon Brief provides a daily review of climate issues around the world. It can be viewed online or you can sign up to receive email updates.
Creationtide runs from September 1st to October 4th. It is a great opportunity within the church calendar to engage with the natural world and to see how the Fifth Mark of Mission can be put into practice in our church communities.
Creationtide Resources from the Church of England provide all sorts of ideas and materials for services.
A Time for Creation, liturgical resources for Creationtide are produced in online, ebook and hardcopy versions by Church House Publishing.
A Rocha Season of Creation resources are available to help your church ‘step outside’, including a prayer walk guide.
Net Zero Carbon (NZC) is when the input and output of carbon (and other greenhouse gases) balance. Here are two definitions:
The term net zero means achieving a balance between the carbon emitted into the atmosphere, and the carbon removed from it. This balance – or net zero – will happen when the amount of carbon we add to the atmosphere is no more than the amount removed.
(Energy Saving Trust: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/)
Net zero means achieving a balance between the greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere and those taken out.
Think about it like a bath – turn on the taps and you add more water, pull out the plug and water flows out. The amount of water in the bath depends on both the input from the taps and the output via the plughole. To keep the amount of water in the bath at the same level, you need to make sure that the input and output are balanced.
(National Grid: https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/energy-explained/what-is-net-zero
The Church of England has set a target of NZC by 2030 for churches and various church institutions to achieve. The scope of the target has been set in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (https://ghgprotocol.org/).
“The focus is primarily on our “scope 1” and “scope 2” emissions as defined by standard Green-house Gas (GHG) protocol; electricity, gas and oil used in our buildings, work related travel, and those elements where we either directly control the emissions or where we have significant influence over them.”
From David Attenborough documentaries to news reports, the information about what is happening to our climate and environment is grim. The scientific evidence and assessments are in the following primary document, which includes further references:
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/
In 2022, the Church of England published its Routemap to Net Zero Carbon by 2030. You can find this document and many other links here:
https://www.churchofengland.org/about/environment-and-climate-change/net-zero-carbon-routemap
The Diocese of Winchester have also created an Environmental and Net Zero Carbon Action Plan, which can be found here.
What is a Carbon Footprint?
First of all, what is a carbon footprint, whether it’s for an individual, a church or a large organisation?
Your carbon footprint is how much carbon is released into the atmosphere as a result of your everyday activities. Carbon emissions – in the form of carbon dioxide and methane – are what cause global warming and climate change.
How Do We Measure a Carbon Footprint?
The Energy Footprint Tool is the tool used to record the use of fossil fuels by churches, and also to assess the efficiency of the building(s).
The whole diocese is working to reduce its carbon footprint so that we reach Net Zero by 2030. This is the target required by General Synod. A key part of this is measuring our carbon footprint using the Energy Footprint Tool.
At the moment only a small percentage of parishes have completed their 2023 EFT, so please make sure that your church has sent theirs in before the end of August.
- For more information about the EFT, click here.
- For a video explaining how to complete the EFT, click here.
- If you have any queries, contact jayne.tarry@winchester.anglican.org
Climate Stewards provide calculators for individuals, small organisations (including churches) and large organisations. They also provide guidance on reducing your carbon footprint.