Eco Church

Caring for God's creation

St James is a recognised Eco Church, holding the A Rocha UK Bronze Award and now working towards Silver. Caring for creation runs through our worship, our churchyard and our community life, from the wildlife among the gravestones to the choices we make together.

An Eco Church

Recognised for caring for creation

Eco Church is an award scheme run by the Christian conservation charity A Rocha UK, for churches who want to care for God's earth and get better at 'going green' in every area of church life and beyond. A church completes a survey across five areas of its life and work: worship and teaching, the management of its buildings, the management of its land, community and global engagement, and lifestyle. The more a church does, the more it scores towards Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. St James holds the Bronze Award and is now working towards Silver.

How Eco Church works

Churchyard Biodiversity & Heritage Project

Surveying the life of our churchyard

We are thrilled to have been chosen as part of the Diocese of Coventry's Churchyard Biodiversity and Heritage Project. Working with the Diocesan biodiversity team and A Rocha, we are surveying and recording the wildlife of our churchyard, from moths and lichens to the health of the soil, and developing a wildflower area in the new churchyard. Here are some recent updates from the project.

St James update, November 2026

We start with some ‘less than good’ news this month! But as always, there is hope and all is not lost…

As the development phase of the Churchyard Biodiversity & Heritage Project comes to an end, the diocese has, very suddenly and unexpectedly, decided not to make an application to the National Heritage Lottery Fund (NHLF) for the 5-year delivery phase. We were shocked and dismayed to hear this news especially since the mid-term review of the development phase only last month by the National Lottery Heritage Fund was passed with flying colours with a big green light given to proceed with the funding application for at least the next 5 years (some £1.8m).

We have not been given a clear explanation as to how or why this decision was made, although we understand that the diocese is concerned about the level of resource and commitment that they see being required at a time when their general vision and strategy is still in the early stages of development.

Fortunately for us and the other nine churches in the development phase, the project team are employed by the Diocese until mid-December of this year and they are committed to completing the churchyard plans. This means that all will not be lost: we will have a good set of biodiversity survey data and a plan with recommended actions to enhance nature in our churchyard and to engage with more people who wander through (perhaps we might refer to them as our ‘outside congregation’).

We are concerned that the momentum we have experienced through the project during the past year will be badly affected without a delivery phase to steer and fund physical improvements and further engagement in the 10 churchyards. We have written to the diocese on several fronts to express just how important the project is and how it sits so well with other key initiatives of ministry at St James. There are some moves afoot to look at the possibility that the project delivery could still go ahead in a different format and we have asked that, given the importance to us and to the other churches, all possible avenues are properly considered. At the moment, we have to say that we think this is unlikely, however we are remaining hopeful.

I will update again in December, by which time we will probably know which way things are going and so can formulate our plans accordingly.

So sorry to be the bearer of this news, but I know that we will persist, and in doing so we will succeed and bear lots of fruit in God’s kingdom.

With love, Geoff

Geoff’s eco-tip for November↓

A moth resting on dead leaves, found in the overnight trap

Moth Breakfast

On a beautiful early May morning, the Diocesan team set a light trap overnight and, to everyone's delight, identified four different species of moth, along with large crunchy beetles, a caddis fly and some other interesting creepy-crawlies. Everyone had a close-up view before we enjoyed bacon butties, pastries and coffee, and the experts released the insects into safe places. Did you know there are over 2,500 species of moth in the UK? Some travel up to 600km in a single night, and they are very important pollinators.

Orange and grey lichens covering the face of an old gravestone

Lichen survey

A two-woman team spent a cold and drizzly May morning at St James and found many different species of lichen, including some they had not seen before. That morning we also saw the first Painted Lady butterfly of the season. Lichens are a combination of two different organisms: an alga and a fungus.

Soil survey

A churchyard soil survey has been completed and the samples sent to a laboratory for testing, to find out how healthy our soil is. At this stage all we can say is that there was a notable lack of earthworms.

Bioblitz and Muddy Church

Our Bioblitz and Muddy Church events are ninety minutes of great fun for children and adults: looking at nature, learning about it, and recording it together in the churchyard.

Churches Count on Nature

Each year, during Love your Burial Ground Week, we join Churches Count on Nature and celebrate the wildlife in the churchyard by observing and recording the plants and animals we find. Come along at any time and record whatever species of wildlife, plants, trees, birds, butterflies and insects you see. Information is displayed showing how to record what you find so it can be added to a national database, and if you have a mobile phone the easiest way is to download the free iNaturalist app before you visit. All of it helps to discover where rare or endangered species are living, and to care for and protect them better in the future.

If you would like to be involved, for example in the monthly butterfly survey over the summer, or to complete our Community Consultation Questionnaire, please do get in touch with Geoff through the church wardens.

Dates for your diary

Come and explore the churchyard with us

Everyone is welcome at our nature events, whatever your age and whether or not you know a moth from a butterfly. Bring the family and a sense of curiosity.

Sunday 14th June, 3pm
Bioblitz
Come along to church and help us identify as many different species as possible across grasses, insects, flowers and mammals.
May to August
Monthly butterfly survey
Join us once a month over the summer to count and record the butterflies of the churchyard. No experience needed.

The Diocesan team and parishioners gathered around the moth trap in the meadow at dawn for the Moth Breakfast

A close-up of the moth trap being opened and its visitors recorded after a Moth Breakfast

Geoff's Eco-Tips

A green idea each month

Each month Geoff shares a practical eco-tip, drawn from A Rocha UK's Easy Eco Tips calendar, tied in with our churchyard project. Here is his latest.

November 2026

With the arrival of the first storms recently and the clocks going back, it feels like it’s time to start ‘battening’ the hatches down! Once your home is prepared for the winter (the subject of last month’s tips), this month’s Eco Tip provided by A Rocha UK’s Easy Eco Tips 2026 Calendar, is about giving nature a cosy home during the winter too.

As winter creeps in, homes are really important

God calls us to give nature a home, too. Does your garden have a bird feeder? Could your balcony or windowsill do with some plant life? If you don’t own the house you could make a case to the homeowner for a bird box, hedgehog highway or whatever. (For a hedgehog highway do make sure the neighbours are OK with you making a small hole in a shared fence.)

Why not gather your housemates, friends and family to discuss how a new recycling, heating or transport arrangement might work for you all: you’ll go further together!

For more practical ways to enjoy, nurture and defend nature, sign up to A Rocha UK's Wild Christian email, or browse the Easy Eco Tips calendar that these tips are drawn from.

A Rocha Wild Christian Easy Eco Tips calendar

Footpaths, nature & the Camino The churchyard