St Columba's Jersey has a Silver Eco Church award

Why are we an Eco Church?

As Christians we have a special responsibility to care for the Earth so that human life and all God’s creatures may be sustained in harmony.

“The Church of Scotland is concerned that climate change poses a serious and immediate threat to people everywhere, particularly to the poor of the earth, and that climate change represents a failure in our stewardship of God's creation.” (www.churchofscotland.org)

At St. Columba's church we aim to take the practical steps necessary to realise the Fifth Mark of Mission “To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth”.

As a church community we will take environmental concerns into account in all areas.

· Worship and teaching

· Buildings and management of resources

· Land and nature

· Community and global engagement

· Lifestyle

Our objective is to journey towards net zero carbon in line with the Church of Scotland’s policy and to lead more sustainable lifestyles.

Join us on that journey!

What is A Rocha Eco Church?

A Rocha UK launched Eco Church in 2016. They are a Christian charity committed to equip christians and churches to bring care for the natural world into the heart of their communities.

Eco Church is a learning community of churches of all shapes and sizes open to all denominations. It provides a framework to support the church and its leadership to take practical action on caring for God's earth.

In May 2025 St Columba's Church attained a Bronze level Eco Church award.

In June 2026 St Columba's Church attained a Silver level Eco Church award.

Now we will start working towards Gold!

What are we doing to help the environment?

This is what we have done so far.

Worship & Teaching Category

We developed our new Noah’s Ark teaching room which is used by the children at St Columba's and the wider community. Creation Care is part of our work with young people. We have seasonal Messy Church events for our young people.

We follow Lectionary Bible readings and regularly focus upon caring for all of God's creation and we celebrate special days e.g. harvest.

Invited guest speakers from Scoop the sustainable co-operative and Town Church which is also an Eco Church.

We have embedded creation care into our worship. We celebrated Season of Creation, Eco Lent and of course Harvest.

We held a 'Messy Church for Pets' service which was very popular!

Church Buildings & Energy Category

We've calculated our carbon footprint, have a Net Zero action plan and we offset our carbon footprint with a local tree planting charity.

Our church is a listed building so we are restricted on what we can do.

We have a Buildings Operation plan and our Sustainability policy means we will consider the environment when we undertake any work on our site.

We carry out regular maintenance on our buildings.

We have LED lighting where possible.

We don't have an oil or gas boiler. We can control our heating in different areas of the church and hall.

We provide knitted blankets if it is cold!

We have a metered water supply.

We have shown our members how to calculate their own carbon footprint.

Land & Nature Category

We don't have much land but we are trying to make what we have wildlife friendly.

We planted pollinator friendly plants and seeds.

We grow greenery for our church floral arrangements.

We installed a bird nesting box, a bug hotel, logs for insects and a water source.

We don't use pesticides or herbicides and we do use natural manure.

We let the weeds grow and we don't rush to cut things back in the autumn.

We encourage our members to take part in Citizen Science events like Big Garden Birdwatch and Big Butterfly Count.

We promote A Rocha UK's Target 25 and we have chosen to support butterflies and bees.

We encourage members to get outside and enjoy events and activities in nature, we've promoted: Jersey Trees for Life planting initiative, volunteering for the Jersey Butterfly Monitoring scheme, supporting the Jersey Farmers Markets and Regen Gathering event at Le Tacheron Farm

We have information on how to report the invasive species Asian hornets on our website.

We've installed a water butt to water the garden with rain water.

We have lots of tips and information on gardening and water saving on our website.

Clearing the garden in the spring.

Amazing what a little sun and water can do!

We are now an official pollen patch.

Community & Global Category

We have an Environmental Policy, an Environmental Action plan and a Strategy to Take Action on Environmental Issues.

We have identified various local, national and global issues and found information on a whole host of local organisations and charities who are concerned about the environment.

We are registered with the Pollinator Project and have chosen to offset our carbon footprint with Jersey Trees for Life.

We encourage our members to take part in Citizen Science events.

We support anti-poverty campaigns. Our bank has robust climate and nature friendly policies and we do not invest in funds with an interest in fossil fuels.

We promoted or took part in Environmental events - Earth Day, Earth Hour, No Mow May, Plastic Free July, Big Butterfly Count, Global Recycling Day. We organised a beach clean in September and a pre-loved clothes sale for Second Hand September.

We use Fairtrade products and FSC certified paper products. We use eco friendly cleaning products.

We provide nike racks for those who cycle to church. We encourage the use of public transport and have a poster with bus information and have an informal car sharing scheme.

We have a Recycling policy and try to recycle as much of our waste as is possible. We avoid single use plastic and use recyclable products as much as possible.

We have an eco newsletter and lots of information on our church noticeboards and our website.

In 2026 we made a donation to the Jersey Hedgehog Preservation Group.

Beach clean at Le Braye

Second Hand September - Pre-loved clothes sale

Lifestyle Category

We have a strategy to promote ethical and environmentally aware consumption.

We have a quarterly Eco newsletter, an Eco page on our website and a weekly Eco tip in our pew leaflet. The various noticeboards in the church, church lounge and hall all have Eco information on them.

We have encouraged our members to calculate their carbon footprint and consider how they could reduce it.

There is an energy saving leaflet on our website.

We have promoted Veganuary and reducing the consumption of meat. We advertise the Jersey Farmers Market and Scoop co-operative.

We've installed a bike rack for those members who cycle to church.

There are electric car charging points in the car park opposite the church.

There is information on the website about sustainable finance and ethical investing.

We advertise the dates of the local Repair Cafe.

We use Fairtrade products for our refreshments and we promote Fairtrade Fortnight.