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Diocese of Leeds scores its first Eco Church Gold with St Mary’s.

St Mary’s, Embsay with Eastby, was visited on May 4^th by the A Rocha UK Eco Church assessors to judge whether their bid for the rare Gold award would be successful. It was an afternoon of searching questions and inspection, done sensitively and with generous encouragement. The result was released a few days later when it was announced that the church was the thirty-third in England and Wales to be successful at Gold level and the first Anglican church to do so in the Diocese of Leeds.

Sara Kandiah (A Rocha UK’s Eco Church Officer), in the award letter, highlights:

• The strength of your team and the way you all work harmoniously together and support each other. For a small church there are a large number of people involved in the eco group and you’re regularly sharing your journey with the congregation and including them in decision making, particularly around replacement of the gas boiler.
• Your ongoing plan for reducing your church’s carbon emissions by replacing the gas boiler with electric heating and using a green tariff and your openness to the learning from the 360Carbon website.
• Your knowledge and passion and creativity about how to manage your land in a wildlife friendly way and raise awareness within the community too. It was so encouraging to hear about your Churches Count on Nature plans. 
• Your recycling area is more comprehensive than most – so well done!
• It is clear from your church website that caring for creation is a priority. 

She concludes:

“We wholeheartedly endorse all that you are already doing around championing and influencing others around creation care. We are always looking for ways to connect with other Eco Churches to share best practices, and as a gold-awarded church, you have a deep treasure trove of learning that others can benefit from!”

Parish Environment Officer, Diana Linford, responded to the news, “We have a small but very active Eco Group at St Mary’s and have the strong support of our vicar and congregation.  We do feel that caring for Creation is embedded in the life of our church community and we are delighted to have received the Gold Eco Church Award.”

St Mary’s Vicar Revd Canon Marion Russell comments, “It’s a great honour to be given this Gold Award, and we are grateful for the Eco Church Award structure and encouragement that comes for A Rocha UK to guide us to think and act more deeply with awareness of caring for God’s creation. We are committed to continuing our journey through learning more and sharing in our community and with other churches and groups.”

The team at St Mary’s have learned a great deal from their progression through the three levels of award and are very willing to share what they have learned with other churches.  Our website https://www.stmaryembsay.org.uk/eco-church/  provides a glimpse of what we have been doing. If you would like to know more, you are welcome to contact us via Marion.Russell@leeds.anglican.org

Photo shows members of St Mary’s Eco Group and Carbon Zero Group.

Back row Left to Right: Sue Stearn, Tony Stearn, Liz Roodhouse, Peter Edwards
Front row Left to Right: Diana Linford (Parish Environment Officer), Marion Russell (Vicar), Lesley Higson (Church Council Eco Rep), Daphne Jepps

Diana Linford, Parish Environment Officer – St Mary’s, Embsay with Eastby