At Synod last month we: “committed as a Diocese to uphold the safeguarding of all creation by encouraging all Mission Units to register as Eco Churches and inviting each Ministry Unit to complete the self-assessment for Eco Churches during 2023. That the Diocese will support this commitment by tracking the Eco Church membership and self-assessment process in Schedule A, to record the number of mission units committed to this creation care journey.”

This motion was passed in the middle of Season of Creation, which ran from 1 September – 4 October 2022. Season of Creation is celebrated annually all around the world, in different denominations, and many parishes here in Wellington diocese joined in this year.

Among other things, Pauatahanui Parish held an intergenerational pet celebration service, which aimed to help people reflect on what we learn about God through the non-human creatures in our lives. The service featured interactive stations instead of a regular sermon, including Q&A with a vet and trainee vet, the story of a parishioner who had travelled all over Aotearoa with his dogs, and a visiting rabbit!

Peninsula Parish in Miramar had a good time celebrating the Season of Creation with an eco-theology service, a creation/up-cycling event for kids at Shop 89, and a beach clean-up partnering with Places for Penguins on the peninsula. They also promoted an eco- theological lecture series from Dr. Andrew Shepherd of Otago University and one of the parish small groups did an A Rocha bible study.

Waikanae Parish held a three-week sermon series with speakers covering coordinated material across all three congregations in the parish, on the themes of:

• God and Creation

• Christ and Creation

• The Spirit, the Church and Creation

The latter topic included some reflections on the powerful Eucharistic theology of Orthodox priest John Zizoulous, which conceptualises humans as ‘priests of creation’, and reflects on the posture through which creation passes through human hands to be offered back to God in gratitude and worship. Dr. Andrew Shepherd’s reflections on Sabbath rest (‘passive activism’) and the role of liturgical practices in shaping imagination were touched upon, among other aspects of what it means to be ecological disciples in a Church context.

On the final Sunday the St. Luke’s congregation hosted a well-attended shared lunch following the service, which included a workshop exploring what it means to be an Eco Church and considering aspects of leadership, worship and teaching, buildings and facilities, land and grounds, community and global engagement and sustainable lifestyles.

St. Michael's Kelburn hosted a Para Kore Zero Waste workshop and integrated reflections on waste reduction as acts of worship into a Sunday service. Eco Churches can book this worship in for free, please contact Iris Lee (new.zealand@arocha.org).

Many other parishes also marked the Season of Creation whose stories are not included here.

Congratulations to all those who have taken great steps to acknowledge creation care as part of your worship and congregational practices during this Season.

A special welcome to those Eco Churches who have most recently joined the fast-growing network, such as Lyall Bay Community Church and Parish of Epiphany Masterton South!

Do get in touch with Matt Crawshaw (matt@anglicanmovement.nz) or Iris Lee (new.zealand@arocha.org) from A Rocha Aotearoa New Zealand if you would like to know more or register to become part of the network.