Over the school holidays, we held our first He Māhuri Tōtara gathering in Ōtautahi Christchurch. What a week it was! with rangatahi from across the motu coming to explore caring for creation, leadership, Te Ao Māori and the Bible, and how those things are connected. He Māhuri Tōtara is a Christian environmental leadership development courses are for young people, young adults and youth leaders. The course explores the unique environmental challenges and opportunities of our world and the biblical imperative to care for creation.

Rachel Doragh, Eco Church kaihāpai at Tawa Anglicans created a beautiful altar panel art for Season of Creation 2023 using the theme of the year: “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5: 24)”

“…by putting these images in front of us as we worship it will help us keep in mind that we are joining our voices in worship with those of all creation, and also to ponder on the image of the river and what justice and righteousness might look like for us in our world right now."

Saint Columba’s Havelock North Environment Group (SCHNEG) has a long and impressive history, being created in the early 1990s and continues its valued work today, some 30 years later. We share some of their highlights over the years.

When Chartwell Cooperating Church worked on the Eco Church self-assessment worksheet, when it came to monitoring their church’s water consumption, they got Heather Kikkert, a water engineer, to carry out an audit of their church’s water consumption. Heather shares some tips for other churches who might also want to audit their water consumption.

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.

The Tawa Anglicans youth group (the Tribe) has taken an innovative approach to the challenge of creating printed hoodies and t shirts. Rather than paying for screen-printed clothing, they have created a patch that can be sewn onto any pre-existing item.

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.

Cityside Baptist community had long wanted to enhance the gardens around their building. They also wanted to extend them, with a couple of gravelled spaces at the back of the church calling out to be planted. In 2021, they began a programme to explore what being a regenerative church could look like. At the same time, they joined the Eco Church movement and the garden project sat easily at the intersection of these initiatives. After years of dreaming and months of planning, in August last year, the community got stuck in to make the new garden happen. Even one or two self-proclaimed “non-gardeners” got their hands dirty.