Promoting an environmentally-friendly Church

Archbishop Kevin and Bishop Paul together with other London Church leaders have joined forces with the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, to launch a new environmental guide to help the capital's churches become greener.

Also present at the launch at City Hall on Wednesday, 14th March, were the Bishop of London, Dr. Richard Chartres, chairman of London Church Leaders' Group, Bishop Bernard Longley, auxiliary in Westminster, Monsignor John Armitage, Vicar General in Brentwood, other Church leaders and the authors.

‘For Creed and Creation: A simple guidebook for running a greener church’ will advise every Christian church across London how to go about contributing to the fight against climate change. The authors are Dr Gillian Straine, who has a doctorate in climate science, and Nathan Oxley from the consultancy, Futerra. Dr Straine has already been involved in running sustainability audits at a number of London's churches and the guide is designed to help all parishes understand and act on cutting their energy use.

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: “The Bishop of London and the London churches are showing that they are at the forefront of efforts to tackle climate change. This green guide is a valuable tool for churches and their congregations to use to reduce their energy use. As a major world city what happens here can be an example that others follow.”

The guide provides advice on everything from basic ways of reducing heating bills, such as fitting insulation and installing energy efficient lighting, through to introducing car sharing schemes for church services, setting up recycling programmes and encouraging local children to learn about the environment and take an active role in protecting it.

The guide will be distributed free to over 4000 churches in London. It has the backing of: the Church of England, The Roman Catholic Church, The Orthodox Church, The Evangelical Alliance, The Methodist Church, United Reformed Church, The Baptist Church, The Salvation Army, The New Testament Assembly, The Council of African & Afro-Caribbean Churches and London Churches Group for Social Action It is hoped that the guide will ultimately be adapted to encompass other religions and faiths and supported by a telephone advice-line.

Funding for the guide has been provided by The City Bridge Trust as the first part of a three-year grant to The Conservation Foundation to develop and manage an environmental programme for London's faith groups.