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.

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.

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.

The Papanui Baptist Earth Care Group wants to give a shout out of appreciation to Carol Aitken, our church administrator for the proactive and intentional things she is already implementing in the practical life and running of our church facility, that are at the core of what we are about – better stewardship, less waste and the promotion of beauty, in respect of God’s amazing creation!

The Wellington Abrahamic Council held a Workshop on the Climate Emergency on 20 June 2021 at Te Herenga Waka / Victoria University of Wellington. The event was attended by 50+ people representing Jews, Christians, and Muslims. From the initial presentations by representatives of each of the three faiths it was clear that the teaching of our Abrahamic traditions about sustainability and the natural world provides a rationale and motivation to address this defining issue of our time as a priority.

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.

St Andrew’s Community Food Gardens were established to promote sustainable organic gardening practices to produce edible produce for the community. In 2018, the late John Allen, a parishioner of St Andrew’s, was our Sustainability Fieldworker and he spearheaded the team that established the food gardens. View a photo tour around our community vegetable garden as it’s been developed over the years!

Karakia for our Climate (K4C) is a group of followers of Jesus, looking to empower the Church in supporting those who are lobbying for climate justice. In April, a day before the Schools Strike 4 Climate, Karakia for our Climate organised prayer vigils in Te Whanganui-a-tara Wellington, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and Ōtepoti Dunedin, joining as partners in both prayer and action. They prayed about climate change: for courage, for hope, for creative solutions, for unity, for justice.

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.

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!

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.