Quick answer
Eco Church is A Rocha UK's structured environmental commitment programme for UK churches. It awards Bronze, Silver and Gold credits across five categories: Worship and Teaching, Buildings, Land, Community and Global Engagement, and Lifestyle. Solar PV contributes meaningfully to the Buildings category and can lift a parish from registered to Bronze, or from Bronze to Silver.
Full answer
Eco Church launched in 2016 and now has over 7,500 UK parishes registered, with over 2,500 having achieved at least Bronze certification. The programme covers all Christian traditions (CofE, Catholic, Methodist, URC, Baptist, Quaker, free-church) and is delivered by A Rocha UK, part of A Rocha International.
The Buildings category specifically asks: do you have on-site renewable energy generation? Have you switched to a 100% renewable electricity tariff? Are you calculating and reporting your carbon footprint annually? Have you made building improvements that reduce energy consumption?
Solar PV typically moves a parish from below Bronze threshold to comfortably above Bronze on the Buildings strand alone. Combined with LED lighting, draught-proofing and a renewable electricity tariff, parishes can reach Silver or even Gold on the Buildings category.
Cross-tradition recognition: Eco Diocese for diocesan-level commitments, Eco Schools for parish schools, Living Lightly Catholic, and similar denominational schemes all recognise solar PV as a substantial creation-care commitment. Several thousand UK parishes now hold one or more of these awards.
Related questions
- How do we register for Eco Church?
- What other Eco Church categories matter?
- Does our solar install qualify for Gold?
- What other denominations have similar schemes?