The Diocese of Chester will aim to become an Eco-Diocese following a unanimous decision by Bishop's Council to agree to work towards that target. Eco Diocese is an initiative from the Christian environment charity, A Rocha.
Speaking at an event to break the ground of a community garden at St Andrew's, Grange, Bishop Mark said: "We took an important decision that we're going to aim to be registered as an Eco-Diocese. That matters to me at a personal level, as well as at an institutional level as a Church.
"The scientific evidence that we are doing damage to our ecology, I think, is just really clear, and we have a responsibility to work together to leave a good planet for those who come after us. Wherever you are, there are little things you can do which invest in the environment, and, together we can do really big things."
The proposal to become an Eco-Diocese was put forward by the Archdeacon of Macclesfield, Ian Bishop, who has a passion for environmental matters. He says: "‘I have come to see the earth as a precious and amazing gift of God. As with any gift, we need to receive it, above all with thanks and use it as the giver intended. We’ve made such a mess of that gift and the time has come to clean it up, repair it and start using it as was intended. I hope resolving to aim toward becoming an Eco-Diocese can be a small but important step on the journey of repair."
Eco Diocese is an initiative from the Christian environment charity, A Rocha. It is a way to encourage and promote local church participation in the Eco-Church scheme.
To reach Eco-Diocese status, a diocese must have completed a number of activities.
How to become an Eco-Church
In order to reach Eco-Diocese status, a percentage of churches within any diocese must gain Eco-Church status. Eco-Church is A Rocha UK’s award scheme for churches in England and Wales who want to demonstrate that the gospel is good news for God’s earth. If you are ready to take the step towards becoming an Eco-Church, take a look at the A Rocha website for all the details.