Eco Church

St Mark's Church has recently been awarded the Bronze Eco Church Award as a sign of our commitment to to take practical action on caring for God’s earth, through five key areas of church life:

Worship and teaching
Buildings and energy
Land and nature
Community and global engagement
Lifestyle

For more information about Eco Church Awards visit the ECO CHURCH website by A Rocha UK

Eco Church Day Conference and Information Fair

Saturday 4th October at St Mark’s Church, Newby.

We have been working on the Eco Church scheme for over six months and have now achieved the Bronze award. There are information boards about the project at the back of church, plus a file of more detailed information taken from the Eco Church online resource library.

Many thanks to all who attended and especially to our keynote speakers:

Prof Colin Beale, Chair of Trustees of A Rocha and Professor of Ecology and Conservation at York University.
Revd Johannes Noble, Green Ambassador for York Diocese.
Dr Martin Hodson, Principal Tutor in Christian Rural and Environmental Studies. He is a plant scientist and environmental biologist, and a former Principal Lecturer, and now Visiting Researcher at Oxford Brookes University.
Revd Margot Hodson, Director of Theology and Education for The John Ray Initiative
Angie Creswick, York Methodist Circuit Resources Manager, advising on buildings and governance
Catherine Fish, a volunteer with Green Christian - a UK-based, interdenominational charity and community of Christians who believe their faith compels them to care for God's creation and promote environmental stewardship.
Alex Randall is Programme Lead at Climate Outreach, where he helps people understand and talk about climate change in ways that connect with their values and everyday lives.
Emma Teasdale, a local Sustainable Living Champion was sadly unable to be with us but shared some ideas on greening our lifestyles.

These two videos were shown during the conference

Trevor King, Church Warden. 09/10/2025