Welcoming Shore Grace church to the Eco Church whānau
Written by Raewyn Pattemore, A Rocha local group committee member in Auckland.
ARANZ trustee, Stephen Pattemore was invited to speak at Shore Grace church on Sunday 28 March 2021 to celebrate their joining the journey of becoming an Eco Church.
The church, under the leadership of their pastor, Mike Yates, has a history of being very involved in their local community, and partners with the Greenhithe Community Trust (GCT) which they founded. This includes the Greenhithe Ecology Network, Greenhithe Neighbourhood Support, and the Greenhithe Youth Collective (which complements the church’s youth and children’s programs). Many of their members are in these groups at leadership level. Shore Grace also runs the Hope Shed Op Shop at the site of St Michael’s Anglican church, where the vicarage is also leased by Shore Grace for offices and ministry activities plus a community hub for GCT.
Nick Mayne (one of the committee members of the A Rocha local group in Auckland) and his family have been a member of this fellowship for about ten years.
Shore Grace meets in the local school hall in the pleasant leafy valley of Greenhithe on a small peninsula that juts out into the upper Waitemata harbour. It is bordered on two sides by major arterial routes, including the Upper Harbour motorway. Michelle Yates commented to me that one of the unusual benefits of having the motorway running along one side of Greenhithe is that it is a useful barrier to pests which helps with their local pest control programme!
On the Sunday we joined them, they were running one of their informal Café services entitled a ‘Neighbours Day Café’ – community plant swap. The pastor’s coffee van was parked outside so people could get their coffee, either in a mug from the kitchen or a Keep cup. Tables were set up by the door into the school hall for the plants and the community had been invited. The tables were buzzing with happy people looking at the plants and the jars of feijoa chutney. Any plants or produce that was left at the end would be taken to the Share Shed outside the Anglican church.
Stephen spoke on Psalm 8 and the Christian Commitment to Sustainability. One point he made which spoke to me personally, was the thought from 2 Peter 3:13: that, in keeping with the Lord’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. In other words, where righteousness is at home; where the right order belongs in our home, the world, and will one day be perfectly restored.
Before he spoke, Stephen had presented the Eco Church NZ sign to Mike Yates, welcoming Shore Grace to the Eco Church whānau. With all their involvement in areas of sustainability and creation care over several years, they have been leading the way in many respects already.
We were blessed and encouraged by our happy fellowship with them on this special day.