Caring for Corwen Park: One way a Whanganui church is showing their commitment to Creation Care

For St Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Whanganui, caring for a new inner city park has provided them with a tangible way to express their commitment to caring for God’s creation.

St Paul’s became an Eco Church earlier this year. As they talked about how they might express this in action, they realised they felt called to care about the local environment in their inner city neighbourhood. St Paul’s minister Shirley Spooner says, “Members of the eco church team noticed that an inner-city green space was being established down the road from the church on land made available by Richard White, a real estate agent and property owner in Whanganui. A member of the Eco Church team approached the Whanganui District Council to see if the church could take care of the park as a community project.  The Council were enthusiastic about the church being involved in caring for the newly established Corwen Park, and provided us with equipment to undertake the task.“

For St Pauls, spending time caring for God’s creation at Corwen Park has given them the opportunity to make community connections, and a way to be practically involved in Creation Care. A group from St Pauls regularly spend time at the park, tending to the gardens and chatting to people who spend time there.  Last week, as part of the Season of Creation, some of St. Paul's Girls Youth Group and their leaders went to Corwen Park to weed the gardens. They had fun while weeding and even found time to play hopscotch on a design printed on the pavement nearby.

Caring for Corwen Park has been a great way for St Paul’s to show their commitment to being an Eco Church and show the city that they are a church that cares about the local environment in their neighbourhood.