On the eve of World Environment Day 2025, members of Christian Climate Action gathered outside Church House to pray and reflect on our shared calling to serve and protect the Earth, and to deliver a letter asking the Church Commissioners to commit to rewilding 30% of the land in their care by 2030. This is in line with our Rewild the Church campaign and with the UN and UK government’s biodiversity targets. The letter also requested the opportunity to meet with the Church Commissioners to discuss the matter further.

They held a large banner with the message ‘Christians ask the Church Commissioners to rewild 30 by 30: Rewild Church Land’ as well as images illustrating the diversity of natural ecosystems across the UK that the Church Commissioners could play a role in restoring.

A number of positive and constructive conversations were had with those coming in and out of Church House as well as passersby. Christian Climate Action found that there was a lot of agreement with their request of the Church Commissioners.

We know that much of the support for our Rewild the Church Campaign comes from inside the Christian community, not just from organisations like Christian Climate Action, but also from individuals within the Church. We are therefore pleased to be able to share the content of the prayers from that day with you. The following was written by Judith from Christian Climate Action.

Prayers outside Church House on the eve of World Environment Day

On this, the Eve of World Environment Day, we recall our calling by God in Genesis 2 to serve and protect this green planet, a task we share with all the creatures that God created to be our helpers. We shall be handing in a letter for the Church Commissioners asking that they too honour this responsibility by Rewilding 30% of the land in their care by 2030.

In our prayers and reflections this afternoons, let us hold in mind the role of Church Commissioners stewarding the Church of England’s investments, the role of tenants farmers producing food, the role of church members in financial giving, and the role we all play as consumers of meat and plants.

We stand at a tipping point, O God, teetering between life and death:

Shall we fall or rise?

“Choose life!”

Shall we retreat into our shells, bury our heads in the sand:

Or shall we step forth into a new age of sustainability?

“Choose life!”

Shall we ignore the science, hide ourselves in the trappings of consumerism:

Or shall we openly embrace renewable lifestyles?

“Choose life!”

Shall we pointlessly mourn the loss of polar bears and elephants, bees and butterflies:

Or shall we live our lives so that all may live?

“Choose life!”

Shall we fly to the ends of the earth while ice sheets melt:

Or value the future by enjoying what is local?

“Choose life!”

Shall we disregard floods and droughts, storms and heat waves, as seasonal blips:

Or acknowledge them as already-present signs of climate change?

“Choose life!”

Shall we close our ears to cries of help from farmers and islanders as their lands disappear:

Or shall we join voices in calling for justice?

“Choose life!”

Holy God,

Prompt us and urge us, encourage and propel us,

to now change our life styles so that all may have life and live!

Amen.

Closing prayer

To know you in all things

Weave a web of your presence around us today.

Be with our hands as they work.

Be with our eyes as they see.

Be with our ears as they hear.

Be with our tongue as it speaks.

Be with our feelings and our thoughts.

Be with the people we meet.

Be with the trees we pass by and the grass we walk upon.

Be with the birds we hear and the creatures we see.

Be with the things we fashion and the things we take.

Be with the decisions we make.

Be in and through, over and under all, that doing and hearing and seeing, speaking and making and being, may we glimpse your glory, hear your voice and joyfully work with you to create a new heaven and a new earth.

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all,

Amen.