Stamford Methodist Church will also explore ways of encouraging local wildlife to thrive on its premises through installing facilities like habitat boxes for bats, birds and hedgehogs.

It is joining 999 other churches in the UK who have already signed up to the national Eco Church scheme being pioneered by the Christian conservation charity, A Rocha UK.

Helen Stephens, church relations manager for A Rocha UK, said: “To reach our 1,000th registration is such an encouragement and shows that there is real concern for our environment and interest in caring for God’s earth.
 
“Eco Church is impacting church and community life in new ways and we’ve been excited to see how it’s spreading across England and Wales and involving Christians from all denominations and church backgrounds.”

Under the initiative, churches are also urged to use food which is organic and locally produced.

They are also encouraged to discourage car use by promoting walking or cycling to church.

Special church services which enable people to celebrate the earth as God’s creation are promoted.

Youth and children’s ministries are urged to encourage young people to care for God’s earth.

Andy Atkins, chief executive of A Rocha UK said: “Over 250 churches, from small rural parishes to St Paul’s cathedral have already been certified as Bronze, Silver or Gold Eco…

Scripture Union, which conducted a study including more than 1,500 ministries, said people would be “amazed” by how many leaders and volunteers set aside “no or minimal” time aside for prayer – and their ministries subsequently do not endure in the long-run.

National director for the charity in England and Wales, Tim Hastie-Smith told Premier prayer was “absolutely vital” and needed to be “at the centre” of church ministries in order for them to thrive.

He said: “It will be something of a self-fulfilling prophecy that a failure to engage in prayer and a failure to understand ones local community is likely to see the death of a Christian community in the long-term.”

In its research, Scripture Union sought to establish the keys to success when it comes to starting new missional groups for children and young people.

The organisation identified prayer and taking time to understand and respond to local needs as “two of the most important factors” in determining success.

Tim Hastie-Smith said the measure of success was not limited purely to the growth a ministry experienced but it also factored in a ministry’s longevity.

Teams who made prayer a top priority felt bolstered through instances of God answering prayer and knowing that colleagues cared enough about the ministry to pray about it, the research found.

Click here to…

The Kingdom Choir, who gave a stunning rendition of Stand By Me at the Royal Wedding, will hit the road in April.

The gospel singers will kick off with a show at Sheffield’s City Hall on 30th April, and further tour stops will include Manchester, York, Birmingham and Edinburgh, before they end with a concert in Cardiff on 30th May.

They will perform at London’s Royal Albert Hall on 19th May, exactly one year after they sang at the wedding.

The choir signed a record deal with Sony Music UK after Harry and Meghan’s big day, and are set to unveil their debut album on 26th October.

Entitled Stand By Me, the album also features renditions of Beyonce’s Halo, John Legend’s All Of Me and Stormzy’s Blinded By Your Grace Part 2.

Tickets for the tour go on sale on October 5 at 9am at LiveNation.co.uk.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

Rev Toby Flint, formerly a lead pastor at Holy Trinity Brompton in London, is going to lead St Nicholas on Baldwin Street.

He said: “We’re really excited to have been invited to reopen and restore St Nicholas Church to its original purpose, demonstrating the love of God.

“We want to build on the deep foundations of faith in the city, to reimagine church for a new generation and play our part in meeting the needs of the most disadvantaged in Bristol.”

The setting for two major universities, Bristol has experienced at influx of students and young professionals in recent years. It is estimated 60 per cent of people living in the city centre are aged between 15 and 29.

Rev Flint (pictured with his wife, Gill) went on to say: “There are also real social challenges, such as homelessness, drug addiction and mental health issues.

“Many young people are exploring questions about their meaning and purpose but don’t have a place to discuss them.

“We’d love St Nicholas to be a pressure-free space where people can explore faith for themselves.”

Visitors arriving at the 10.30am launch service this weekend will be able to see the results of the first stage of a six-year refurbishment project costing £3.8 million.

Acting Bishop of Bristol, Rt Rev Lee Rayfield said: “As Bristol becomes younger and more diverse, we are looking to make…