Onewa Christian Community in Birkenhead hosts Repair Cafés 3-4 times a year, in conjunction with Highbury House, the Birkenhead Community Centre.  They enjoy the camaraderie and great atmosphere when mixing with the public. Most of the volunteers come back time and time again. Repairs are free but a koha is accepted for the morning tea, the proceeds of which are given to De Paul House in Northcote.

Floral arrangements have long been an important expression in many churches, but in recent years, there has been an increase in using materials and techniques that contribute to waste, such as floral foam, plastic packaging, and chemically treated plants. Knowing that floral foam bricks take time to decompose, the florists from St Paul’s Presbyterian in Napier were keen to look at alternatives.

Waitakere Salvation Army shares with us what took place during their Eco Church launch service in September during Season of Creation and how the church is tackling the issue of food waste as their first Eco Church initiative.

Since April this year, every Tuesday parishioners from St Andrew’s on The Terrace join representatives from other religious groups for a peaceful lunchtime protest on Parliament grounds. Holding placards that draw attention to the damning impact of fossil fuels, the weekly vigil is just one of several sustainable and environmentally sensitive  initiatives being undertaken by the parish.

We're in the 2024 Season of Creation and on topic last Sunday we "waste"ed time with Para Kore (Zero Waste)... We enjoyed a great visit from Paul Murray who shared great stuff in our service on the problem of what we do with all of our waste, starting with the excess we generate at the outset.

Church on Ingestre in Whanganui found out about the RAD initiative through their well-established partnership with Te Ora Hou Whanganui and saw it as a great opportunity to empower youth to be involved in a project with a great kaupapa. Working collaboratively with Te Ora Hou, they've created space at their church for RAD refurbishing workshops. At these workshops, young people learn to repair and refurbish devices, gaining valuable technical skills, with adults alongside providing encouragement and support.

Takapuna Methodist Church and the Puriri Centre are engaged in a journey towards sustainability that honours the profound interconnectedness between humanity and te taiao (the environment). Our recent "Arotakenga Para | Waste Check" initiative, is a significant step in our commitment to reducing waste and safeguarding our environment as a key element of our spiritual and community practices.

The Eco Group of All Saints, Howick, has been working hard to encourage more sustainable living in the community. Beginning in August of 2023, we’ve had conversations around the parish to get a sense of what was needed. Read on to find out what initiatives they’re starting with at All Saints!

In true Waikato fashion, Saturday morning 23 March was wet. Proper heavens-open sort of rain. Yet that didn’t stop 35 people gathering at Anglican Action Mahi Mihinare to hear from several speakers about conservation and sustainability. Read what attendees have to say about the event...

All Saints Burwood shared with us their journey so far as an Eco Church… and the little and big steps that have been made.

Captain Simon Montgomery, a member of Salves and corps officer at Whanganui Salvation Army, leads a group of people who are passionate about caring for God’s creation and helping to sustain the environment around them. As a corps (church) they’ve decided to join the A Rocha Eco Church NZ project.

At All Saints Hataitai, we want to play our part and make meaningful and environmentally sustainable choices when it comes to the products we use and companies we support. We’re excited to let you know some of the steps we’ve taken recently, to be better stewards. Clergy, staff and ministry leaders have been working together to make exciting changes across our church – and we would love to share these with you.

Chartwell Cooperating Church is a seasoned traveller on the sustainability journey and as shown from the excerpts below - already has so many stories to share with the Eco Church whānau. Read on to find out more and be inspired to start a creation care initiative at your church!

Have you got unused or surplus clerical wear in your homes or churches? Ven Julie Rokotakala is collecting any unused clergy shirts or vestments for self-supporting priests of the Diocese of Polynesia. A practical way we can partner with and support our brothers and sisters in Polynesia.

St Hilda's Island Bay Playgroup considered the environment when they set about creating a safe and fun playground for children in their community. The playgroup was able to collect old play equipment and rubber tiles from the Wellington City Council and repurpose them for their new playground, all at no cost to the church.

Two Todman is a community space hosted by Brooklyn Anglicans that includes a chapel, co-working space, community space, and thrift shop. Recently they launched a refillery - a spot where people can come to get top-ups of common household consumables without creating more waste from plastic packaging. The concept came from consultation with their local community on what was missing from the main street and would add value to their neighbourhood.

A long awaited evening, postponed due to COVID, Tawa Anglican Church finally had the opportunity to host Liam and Hannah from The Rubbish Trip in Nov 2022. Around 40-50 people (both from the church and from the wider community) attended to hear about a huge variety of methods for living without a rubbish bin. An inspiring evening from the dynamic duo who walk-the-talk on their zero waste journey.

A Rocha hosted an Eco Church Kōrero about plastic waste with a focus on the UN Global Plastic Treaty in Nov 2022. The kōrero also included discussion on ways our faith communities can be part of this global initiative. The kōrero featured guest speaker Dr Trisia Farrelly from the Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance (APPA). Read on to find out more including a link to the recording and further resources to explore.

Hannah Blumhardt and Liam Prince of The Rubbish Trip presented a talk on how to reduce waste during the Christmas season at Ngaio Union Church recently. Topics discussed included gift giving and gift wrapping, Christmas dinner and table settings, decorations and travel. Read on to explore the tips…

Season of Creation is celebrated annually all around the world, in different denominations, and many parishes in the Anglican Diocese of Wellington joined in this year. Read about the different ways Season of Creation was celebrated this year around the diocese, including an intergenerational pet celebration service, beach clean-up, eco-theology sermon series, and waste workshop.

Soon after Chartwell Cooperating Church joined the Eco Church whānau, they arranged for Paul Murray from Para Kore to come and share about the Para Kore kaupapa and gave an introductory wānanga about zero waste to the church.

As part of the Simplify series at Massey Community Church, members in our Sustainability Group took turns to produce a video about an aspect of their own sustainability journey. There are videos on groceries, transport, clothes shopping, making things at home, being sustainable on a budget, and more.

At Wellington South Baptist Church we’ve been imagining new ways to engage with our local community, to share something of God’s amazing reconciling vision for the world. This past Sunday, we partnered with a local charity, EkeRua/ReBicycle, to host a ‘Free Bike Fix Up/Repair/Swap’ event. After a shorter ‘normal’ service on the Sunday morning, we transitioned into a space of welcome for whoever was going to attend, including the bike workshop, a morning tea spread, and a place for kids to hang out while their (or their parent’s) bikes were getting fixed up!

During 2021 Tawa Anglican Church became an Eco Church, making a corporate statement that we want to actively care for God’s earth as an integral part of our mission. We were pleased to join the Eco Church movement to access support and resources as well as a connection to a network of other Eco Churches throughout Aotearoa. We share with you some of our initial action and longer-term goals.

At Pauatahanui Anglican parish, one of our four core values is legacy. For many years prior to the launch of Eco Church, a group called God’s Earth Our Home operated within the parish, fostering a deep spiritual sense of ecological responsibility within parishioners and nurturing environmental action. This provided a natural launching pad for the parish to join the Eco Church movement at the start of 2021.

Girls Zone’s Got WOW! Considering eco-awareness, a show presenting outfits made only from recycled and upcycled items was held at Karori Anglican Church. This was themed on the Creation Story in Genesis. Psalm 8 pulled together the foundation of the project along with the Genesis creation story to "teach" GZ what an amazing world we have been given and entrusted with.

How to get children engaged in sustainability? Baking! Our Kids' Church have been learning about the wonder of Creation, how it's struggling, and how we can participate in God's healing work. When asked how we could reduce our waste at Kids' Church, the children had the fantastic idea of doing some home baking to replace the plastic packets of biscuits they consume each week for morning tea.

St Michael’s Anglican Church in Kelburn recently had a first go at calculating their church’s carbon emissions. We corresponded with Caitlyn Lee, a parishioner at St Michael’s who worked on the carbon calculation for the church about the process.

In November 2019, ADJust - Diocese of Auckland Young Anglicans for Social Justice, put out to churches in the Auckland Anglican Diocese a "Green Up and Give Challenge". St John’s Anglican Royal Oak took up this challenge and set up a Pātaka Kai (community pantry) and community garden which is now contributing greens to their monthly community meals. Cathy Bi-Riley, the Sustainability Fieldworker from the Anglican Diocese of Auckland visited the church and talked to Sarah Pidgeon from the gardening team who shared with us their small beginnings and future hopes!