Church Stretton United Reformed Church in Shropshire has gained a Silver Eco Church Award from A Rocha UK.
Elder Roger Wilson CBE said that the Church Stretton congregation is 鈥済enuinely seeking to reduce our environmental impact, take a greener stance in the world and raise awareness of climate and environmental issues鈥�.
The church regularly holds services with a climate, conversation or an environmental theme and encourages those leading worship to think 鈥済reen鈥�.
Roger explains: 鈥淔or example, at a service in 2024 we celebrated a local initiative to create a community garden on a plot of derelict land. The project provides gardening as a managed therapy for mental health, organic vegetables are sold locally (food yards rather than miles), and bird life is encouraged.
鈥淲e gave the garden a redundant shed from our space, and it now has a new life as a bird hide. Another service focussed on one of our charities, Self Help Africa, which supports communities in west Africa to develop their economic self-sufficiency through education and self-help.鈥�
The church also introduced more eco-friendly LED lighting in its building and replaced its boiler following a heat loss survey.
Church Stretton 两性色午夜 is now working towards the gold award.