Encourage your church to hold a Climate Sunday in 2021

Holding a Climate Sunday as a church is a great way to galvanise further action on Eco Church and contribute to progress on international action!

Organised by a coalition of Christian charities and denominations, including A Rocha UK, the Climate Sunday initiatives’ goal is to facilitate 1000s of churches to take long term action themselves on climate change in the critical years ahead.

By participating in the initiative, churches will also be able to raise a loud and united Christian voice for bolder action by governments in the run up to the COP26 UN climate negotiations, to be hosted by the UK in Glasgow in November 2021. This relates to the Global and Community Engagement sections of the Eco Church programme.

The coalition is encouraging churches across the country to hold a climate-focused service, to explore our response to climate change as Christians, anytime from now until September 5 2021. On Sunday, 5 September 2021 there will be a national ‘Climate Sunday’ event, and the UK government will be presented with the combined commitments made by many churches over the year. 

A Rocha UK is putting on a special webinar briefing on ‘Climate Sunday and Eco Church’ for Eco Church representatives. It will take you through the objectives of Climate Sunday, how it supports churches advancing on their Eco Church journey and how Eco Churches can make a significant contribution to the bold and timely aims of Climate Sunday in the critical year ahead.  Speakers will include James Anthony, Project Coordinator of the Climate Sunday initiative and Helen Stephens, Church Relations Manager at A Rocha UK. The free webinar will run on 26 January 11am and again at 7:30pm, allowing you a choice of times to suit your needs. Register here.

The Climate Sunday website also provides a growing number of resources, including downloadable services and thematic material. Churches will be asked to commit to a suitable long term action on climate as a congregation (for example, to get to the next stage of Eco Church within a particular time frame), and to raise their voice with others by signing a common in a call for the UK government to get the UK on track to meet its targets to cut carbon emissions and become ‘net zero’.

You can join the mailing list for updates and find ideas on ways to get your church involved by visiting the Climate Sunday website. This is currently a ‘holding website’; a comprehensive new website will be launched in January 2021