After the May 2021 floods in Canterbury, the Papanui Baptist Earthcare Group checked on the riparian planting they did along the Ōtukaikino Stream in Sept 2020. They were relieved to find that their trees survived well, and are in fact thriving under a fresh bed of silt, and the first hints of new leaves are starting to appear!

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.

Look at that bunch of children and parents with spades and buckets. They’re above Te Auaunga (Oakley Creek), on the Auckland isthmus and it’s a Saturday afternoon, children from Cityside Baptist Church. They’re celebrating Matariki, the Māori New Year, with this midwinter tree-planting.

Mary Hutchinson, A Rocha trustee, had the pleasure of joining in the Eco Church launch celebrations of Karori Anglican at St Mary’s Anglican Church in Karori. Read on to find out about what activities they did during and after their launch service.

St. Peter's Anglican Church in Kaikōura are volunteering with and financially supporting the work of Kaikōura Ocean Research Institute (KORI). For six weeks (early June-mid-July, 2021), some parishioners are also helping with the Great Kaikōura Whale Count. Volunteers are stationed on a hill on the peninsula to spot whales passing by, especially humpbacks on their northern migration. The hope is that, over time, we'll get a baseline of data regarding movements and behaviour of the migrating humpbacks that can inform future conservation decisions.

The Anglican Diocese of Auckland, a denominational partner of Eco Church NZ, has an ongoing commitment to reduce their carbon footprint and care for creation. As part of this commitment, the diocesan staff organised a half-day planting working bee on 12 May at Matuku Link. Fifteen diocesan staff from Neligan House attended the event. They were joined by clergy from Henderson-Swanson Parish.

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. On the Sunday we joined them, they were running one of their informal Café services entitled a ‘Neighbours Day Café’ – community plant swap.

In January this year, members of the St. Barnabas Youth Group exercised their faith and kaitiakitanga as they helped eradicate wilding pines. The camp took place at Glenroy Lodge near Hororata last weekend, with a Caring for Creation theme. The young people rolled up their sleeves and got involved in removing wilding pines from an area near Porters Ski Field entrance.

We at the Tribe Church are at the beginning of our journey exploring what it means to be stewards of creation. The journey started when our bible study group went through Tearfund's The Good Lives Project. This study really opened our eyes to seeing how our everyday actions can be an expression of our faith. It inspired us to see what changes we can make at church so we can have a lighter impact on the earth.