This is the go-to page for all things ‘eco’ at STC Sheffield.
Bookmark this: come back regularly for updates, ideas, events, information…
What has ‘eco’ got to do with church? I thought it was people protesting, or electric cars and stuff.
In the beginning, God tells humans to guard and care for creation: the very first chapters of the Bible tell us this as the first commandment. We are part of that creation, but have a special role, bearing God’s image.
So it’s not simply because it’s a ‘good idea’ or because it’ll ‘save the planet’ to give us and future generations a decent place to live.
As Christians, we want to do God’s will and see the Kingdom come. Caring for creation is part of our mission, to glorify our Creator and Redeemer.
As a community of faith, we’ve made a commitment to this and set it out in a Declaration about the climate and ecological emergency that the world is now facing.
This catastrophic crisis of environmental degradation and climate change affects the future of human civilisation – and the main cause of the crisis is human activity: we’ve failed to follow God’s direction. And it’s linked to injustice and inequality, globally.
We need to tell the truth – to ourselves and to others: understanding and speaking out, encouraging each other. We need to take practical action – as individuals, families, households and as a church family.
You can read our Climate Emergency Declaration in detail here.
One of our commitments as a church family is to track our progress towards a ‘new normal’; and Eco-church, from Christian charity A Rocha, is a way to do this. We’ve already achieved our Bronze Award; now working towards Silver. We’re looking at all the different aspects of our lives and how we’re doing at STC. We also did a survey of church members’ thoughts, feelings and activities – here is a summary of the results.
Follow the links we’ll be adding to this page, for more news, information and practical ideas on STC – Eco, and look out for regular stories about what members of our church family are doing already.
If you’d like to join the Eco Church group, please contact the church office.
Stories
| February 2023: Caring for Creation in Lent (1)
Give up – Fast from Consumerism: apart from essentials like food and toiletries, buy nothing this week; or, when thinking about buying something, stop and ask yourself “Do I really need this?” |
| October 2022 – We held an ‘Eco Church Sunday’ with encouraging messages shared at all three church gatherings on our responsibility to care for the world and the people in it! |
| July 2022 – We received our Bronze Eco Church Award from A Rocha. There is an accompanying certificate which is on display in church. Work begins on the Silver award… |
 May 2022 – We installed two bird boxes for Swifts on the church building. They are located under the roofline on the north side of the main church (to see them you would need to look from the patio outside Room 6). |
Links
Crookes Litter Pickers https://www.facebook.com/groups/272397670041521rp
(meet on the last Saturday of the month outside The Ball Inn at 9.45 for a 10 am start. Equipment is provided)