Caring for Creation is one of the priorities of mission for the Church of England, which includes safeguarding the integrity of creation, and to sustain, and renew the life of the Earth.
We use the eco-church framework to guide our overall progress. Our Church Council appoints an eco-church champion and working group to help with agreed actions over the year and provide an annual update in the Church Annual Report and Accounts for the Charity Commission.
In March 2020 we were the first church in our Diocese to be awarded ‘Silver’ in our eco-church progress. Since then, we have been working towards ‘Gold’ status with our application submitted in January 2025.
Our journey so far
Most of our church and users of our community services live locally and arrive by walking. Others share lifts in cars, use the bus or cycle. We love cyclists - please bring your cycle into the back of church or use the Springfield Centre pram and bike cage.
Where possible we use goods and services that are local, fairtrade, and environmentally friendly, and don’t use single use plastic. We love running shared lunches for the church and community, these can involve supermarket surplus food donations, are often vegetarian, and always delicious.
In 2021 we conducted a wildlife survey of the church grounds by our families and youth groups, identifying 88 different species. We have planted new trees and continue to enhance our land for the benefit of nature and our community. We love doing community events that use our garden and space.
Our teaching and worship for adults and young people includes the role of God as creator, Jesus as saviour of the whole of creation (including us) and our roles as followers of Jesus to care for creation, both human and natural. We love trying to work out what this means in our everyday lives. In 2022 we ran a mid-week group to study the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to show us where to start.
With over 22,000 visits to our church building in 
a year we are one of the top energy users in the Diocese. In 2023 we had energy audits of our buildings. As a result, the church is switching from gas to electric heaters, ensuring all our lighting is energy efficient LEDs, and has moved to ‘green’ energy tariffs. This means our church building already meets the 2030 ‘net zero of harmful greenhouse gases’ set by the Church of England. Yes, we could put solar panels on our roof, but there are lots more cost-effective things to do first!
We are also working closely with our community development 
charity, the Springfield Project, and ecobirmingham, as they develop other transport, waste, energy, food, and health initiatives to benefit our local community, and improve the energy efficiency of the Springfield Centre.
Simon Slater
EcoChurch Co-ordinator, on behalf of the EcoChurch Working Group
December 2024