“It is with some degree of celebration that I can announce that St. Mary’s has now achieved a Silver Award status on the Eco Church Scheme run by A Rocha: https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/.

This means we have undertaken a suite of actions under five areas of our church life to qualify as a Silver Eco Church. These areas are Worship, Buildings, Grounds, Community and Global Engagement and Lifestyle. Now we can focus on reaching towards the Gold standards in these five areas. If you would like to help please get in touch: steve.paynter@stmarysealing.org.uk.”

God loves all that he has made and brought into being, both human and  non human, and human life is only possible because of the astonishingly fruitful interrelationships which exist within the natural world. Although humans have been given a special place within creation, this privilege comes with the added responsibility of wise and just stewardship. To follow Jesus today therefore implies learning to live sustainably within nature, which has been expressed as “living in such a way that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” 

It has become evident in recent years that we are living through a period of ecological crisis in which the natural world is suffering irreversible destruction at fundamental levels due to human actions. Such alteration of the world will severely impact the ability of future generations to support themselves and creation will become a much diminished place unless new, more sustainable ways of living are adopted throughout society.

This works out in our lives by reducing our levels of consumption, recycling and re-using things, seeking to reduce our carbon footprint, campaigning for more sustainable policies at a national level, conservation of endangered habitats and species, as well as seeking to become more aware of the ecological footprint of our food. These are all part of the process of transition to a more sustainable way of living which honours God’s good gift of creation and our relationship with our neighbour.

The following websites can help us to live more simply and sustainably:

Arocha

Green Christian

Operation Noah