Annually, the second week of June offers the great missional opportunity of inviting your local community into your church and its grounds to explore and cherish God’s great Creation!
The Climate Coalition has produced a really great new resource to support churches to get involved with Great Big Green Week. I really encourage you to organise an event to get involved with GBGW, and when you do, to register your event here.
One of the ways churches can get involved with GBGW is through Churches Count on Nature which runs during the same week. During Love your Burial Ground Week/Churches Count on Nature hundreds of church communities across the country take part in a week-long nature count to monitor and celebrate the biodiversity in churchyards, which this year takes place from Saturday 6 June to Sunday 14 June.
In 2025 there were 8,668 records of nature spotted that were submitted by over 6,000 participants, representing a fantastic contribution to the understanding of the ecological value of these special places.
This initiative is jointly run by the conservation charities Caring for God’s Acre and A Rocha UK, together with the Church of England and the Church in Wales.
You can find plenty of helpful resources and comprehensive FAQs, including information on downloading and using the iNaturalist app to record your nature spotting on the Caring for God’s Acre website and there is also a link to a map showing where events have been registered if you are looking for a churchyard to visit.
Individuals and groups are encouraged to register and let us know what they’re up to. Registrations have now opened and you can register your event on the Caring for God’s Acre website.
As part of Churches Count on Nature 2026 the Church of England with Caring for God’s Acre will be repeating their popular lunchtime webinar series on different aspects of land and nature, with all sessions starting at midday and being held on Zoom.
The list of webinars is here:
Tuesday 26 May, Intro webinar: Beginner’s guide to iNaturalist, why record, with Harriet from Caring for God’s Acre.
Monday 8 June – Sharing stories to grow hope with Operation Noah.
Tuesday 9 June – Engaging children and school groups with churchyards and wildlife, with Kirsty from Caring for God’s Acre.
Wednesday 10 June – Making our Burial grounds a home for butterflies, with Mike Slater from Butterfly Conservation.
Thursday 11 June – Lichens in churchyards with Mary Steer, president of British Lichens.
Friday 12 June – Nature in urban churchyards with Shropshire Wildlife Trust.
You can find full details and sign-up for each webinar here: Churches Count on Nature | The Church of England
If you do take part in this amazing week, please take photos (with permissions of course!) and send them with a brief write-up so we can share these stories to encourage one another on our journey to embed creation care in our mission and ministry across the Diocese, to news@dioceseofnorwich.org