Overall, Catholic churches devote more attention to improving land use than Protestant churches. This includes creating ornamental gardens, leasing their land to green projects and adding more greenery to cemeteries. Catholic churches are also more active in water management: 16% of Catholic parishes have a rain barrel, as opposed to 5.5% of Protestant congregations. Protestants, on the other hand, are more active in generating green energy with solar panels (approximately 28% versus 10% of Catholic parishes). As for other greening activities, the study shows that Catholics devote more attention than Protestants to meditative gardens and sustainable flower arrangements.
Plastic and paper
Catholics also work more actively to avoid plastic and reduce paper consumption, and they are slightly more likely to source their food locally. One of the most important differences concerns lifestyle. Protestant churches are more likely than Catholic churches to draw people’s attention to the importance of sustainable behaviour via sermons and liturgy (50% versus 29%). Protestant congregations are also significantly more likely to stimulate people to live more sustainably via Bible groups, second-hand clothing markets, nature walks and cleaning actions.
A small group of 9% of congregations and parishes is very active when it comes to sustainability, i.e. these churches are involved in at least six of the twelve activities that could in principle be implemented by every church. Another 25% of Catholic parishes and 20% of PKN congregations is somewhat active. 20% of parishes are completely non-active, versus 1.5% of congregations.
Potential for greening
Both studies, on Catholic parishes and Protestant PKN congregations, reveal that there is much untapped potential for green activities. These are activities that could be implemented within two years, or that people are in principle interested in but for which there is no plan as yet. For both denominations such opportunities lie mostly in the field of sustainable energy and water management, but also in creating facilities for insects and birds, green banking, and participation in green energy cooperatives.
Further greening will probably require more incentives than what parishes and congregations are currently able to harness in their own circles. Elisabeth Hense: “There is an estimated 30,000 hectares of land owned by churches, so there is much to be gained from taking a joint approach. Churches can sometimes be quite insular.”
The solution lies partly in practical collaboration between churches and local organisations. Especially where people lack knowledge, manpower or resources, it may be useful for churches to join forces in undertaking more greening activities. And there is much to be learnt from churches that are further along in the greening process.
Hense and Van der Ziel would like to expand their research with a European project. Van der Ziel: “A comparative study will give us more insight into the Church’s role when it comes to sustainability. In some European countries, churches are very active.”
The study on sustainable activities involved 317 PKN congregations. In 2019, Radboud University researchers carried out a similar study among Roman Catholic and Old Catholic parishes. Both studies had a response rate of approximately 20%.
Photo: Church in Iceland, John Cafazza via Unsplash.