Eco Congregation
Chandlers Ford Methodist Church is an Eco-Congregation which means that we have been recognised as a church that has explored environmental issues in the context of Christian life and mission, and taken positive action. The scheme is supported by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), and to qualify as an Eco-congregation a church is required to:

Eco-Congregation

  1. help the whole congregation make the link between Christian faith and environmental concerns
  2. take practical action within the church building and/or grounds
  3. have a positive impact on the local or wider community

We were recognised as an Eco-Congregation in August 2011 after several years of hard work. Here are just some of the things that we have done:

  • Performed an initial Environmental Check-up using material provided by Eco-Congregation
  • Devoted three church services to consideration of environmental issues in the context of our stewardship of God's creation, and encouraged members of the congregation to reflect on their personal response
  • Installed cycle ranks outside the front of the church
  • Installed recycling bins throughout the building and increased the volume of recycled material
  • Replaced the lighting in the Dovetail centre with low energy lighting
  • Installed Zoned Heating throughout the church premises to avoid having to heat the whole building when only partly in use, e.g. for evening meetings
  • Hosted the Christian Aid walkers during their 1000 mile 'Cut the Carbon' march, providing food and accommodation and hosting an evening event for members of the local churches and community
  • Held a week-long series of events entitled 'Journeying with Creation', including an eco-labyrinth, hosting an Eastleigh Borough Council information stand to enable people to find out more about local initiatives and grants, and a locally sourced meal

Since becoming an Eco-congregation we have subsequently taken part in a Methodist Church initiative to benchmark our church's carbon footprint, and are looking at how we can reduce this in the coming months and years.