Where do the Eco Matters come from and where have they taken us? May 2026

Psalm 24:1: "The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it".   

Where do the Eco Matters come from and where have they taken us? - a view from The Wesley Chester

Readers of the Circuit bulletin will be familiar with the weekly ‘Eco Matters’. These are often eco tips, but sometimes reflections or comments on news items, or suggestions of media programmes on environmental issues. These all come from the eco group at Wesley Chester and started simply as tips for sustainable living in the Wesley bulletin, but broadened out some years ago into Eco Matters, which were then also shared with the whole circuit.

There are many ways in which we can make our lifestyles more sustainable, but some are ‘big ticket’ items such as solar panels and heat pumps, which are beyond the means of many. We try to concentrate on simple ways of saving energy and resources, or suggest ways of avoiding food waste and reducing reliance on plastic by choices we make when shopping etc. We often suggest links to sources which analyse some of the benefits and downsides of different types of product, and previous eco matters are all archived on the eco-church pages of the Wesley website  (https://wesleychester.co.uk/about-us/eco-church/eco-tips/).

Over the past five years, Wesley has been on a journey as we have advanced through the levels of the A Rocha Eco Church awards, and we were delighted to gain the Gold award in July 2025. The A Rocha scheme focusses on five areas of church and personal life: worship and teaching, buildings and energy, land and nature, community and global engagement, and lifestyle. The bronze and silver awards are based on self-assessment against A Rocha’s sets of criteria, but the gold requires meeting additional standards and provision of considerable further evidence.  When this has been scrutinised, applicant churches are visited by assessors who look at the evidence on site and meet the team from the church to consider whether the required standards have been met.

The eco matters which we produce largely focus on the ‘lifestyle’ section of the A Rocha survey, although hopefully they contribute to others. We want to help people to be environmentally aware in every action, even down to whether to turn on a light, or to run a tap and thus to be aware of the preciousness of the created world.

It is hard for all of us to change established patterns of life, and the difficulties will be among the discussion points which some will consider at the forthcoming District Eco day at Helsby on May 9th. The conference is entitled ‘Justice for the environment:  How can we care for God’s creation?’. There will also be opportunities to consider other lifestyle choices and practical tips, as well as to consider liturgical issues, practical matters relating to church premises, sustainable church floristry and forms of wider engagement with local communities, especially with other sustainability groups. There will also be a chance to learn more about the A Rocha process. Keynote talks will be given by our Chair of District, Rev Helen Kirk, and by Dr Hamish Lees, Director of Environmental Engagement for the Methodist Church.  Do register for this conference at chester.stoke@btconnect.com

Carol

On behalf of the Eco Group Wesley

If you want to find out more about Eco Church, visit the Methodist Church website:

https://www.methodist.org.uk/action/climate/take-action-become-an-eco-church/

Eco Church is a free, online, reward scheme designed to equip your church to work towards environmentally friendly practices.   Its purpose? To show that the Church is good news for God's earth.