Giles Fraser has been working on a new project that aims to combine the Gospel with the English love of gardening.
The Christian broadcaster is also the vicar of St Anne’s Church, located not far from Kew Gardens in west London.
In 2024 the church launched a new charity called Kew Theology & Gardening, which runs retreats and lectures “addressing contemporary issues related to theology, gardening and the environment”.
Retreats are held partially at St Anne’s and partially at Kew Gardens.
Fraser, who serves as one of the trustees of the charity, told Religion News Service, “In Britain gardening is just about the most popular activity there is. People spend so much time with their hands in the soil. It’s how they connect with creation - and the story of creation began in a garden.
“We garden on our knees, we pray on our knees. That’s the image I had in my mind when this started.”
According to Fraser, St Anne’s is seeking new ways to partner with Kew Gardens in the hopes that more people can be encouraged to ponder God’s creation and also gain greater awareness of threats to the natural environment.
The Church of England has long been concerned about the environment and with humanity’s role as stewards of God’s creation. However, it’s only in more recent decades that the Church has made a more formal commitment to environmental matters.
In 2005 the General Synod passed a motion calling on the Church to make care for creation and repentance for its exploitation fundamental to its faith, practice and mission. The motion also welcomed the prioritisation of climate change as an issue by the British government.
More recently the Church has committed to reaching “net zero” by 2030. This pledge has proved somewhat controversial, with critics saying the plan, while well intentioned, has put considerable strain on struggling parishes.
Historic churches with either no heating systems or antiquated ones have in some cases faced the choice between cripplingly expensive investments to comply with net zero requirements or letting their elderly parishioners wrap themselves in blankets.
The Methodist Church recently announced that it was abandoning its own net zero by 2030 target. It was argued that while much progress had been made, retaining “a target we know we are unable to achieve” was potentially undermining the credibility of the Church on the issue.
