St Michael and All Angels Newlands-Paparārangi has a legacy of care for local whenua, having planted thousands of trees over the last decade around local reserves.

The local area sits on high land above Wellington Harbour, and includes large stretches of land, including the former landfill site at Waihinahina Park and the Seton Nossiter Park gully which have benefited from previous tree-planting initiatives.

Having joined in the Eco Church movement in 2023, St Mike’s are continuing to look for ways to support local whenua. As the recent Season of Creation kicked off, each member of the church whānau were invited to consider making a fresh pledge for creation: one act which they would personally commit to in response to the call to be kaitiaki of God’s world.

Last Sunday as they rounded up Season of Creation, Sunday service decamped from the church building up to the nearby Nga Hau e Wha o Paparārangi Marae (NHEWOP). NHEWOP has an awesome nursery and planting programme and lead on regenerating the surrounding headland. After a short service of karakia, the St Mike’s and NHEWOP team (ranging from six months to 89 years) motored through planting out native trees and shrubs to supplement a shelter belt protecting the marae’s children’s garden. This was followed by a time of awesome manaakitanga and excellent kai to warm up.

And what of those pledges? During karakia time, each pledge was written onto brown paper and planted symbolically with a kōwhai tree. Some beautiful pledges included:

• Committing to a zero-waste lunchbox

• Picking up rubbish when out walking

• Choosing to buy plastic-free items even when it might cost more

• Thinking about the lifecycle of materials when planning new projects at work

The theme of this year’s Season of Creation was the mighty river of Amos 5:24 from which justice and peace flows.  Together the St Mike’s whanau were encouraged to remember that in the face of climate crisis, when it is easy to become despairing in the face of massive change, that while our individual actions might feel like just a drop, together they become powerful.