Sleepover for climate: family, fun, and eco-action all in one

Just over 100 members of our St David’s Naenae whānau had a wonderful kingdom experience on their church site during Palm Sunday weekend. It was a Palm Saturday/Sunday Sleepover and Climate Change Prayer Vigil on the St David’s church site, with plenty of activities, food and fun.

According to the Priest in Charge, Archdeacon Martin Robinson: “We wanted an event to bring our diverse congregations together with a focus on climate change. We also wanted an event with easy access for our wider neighbourhood, as well as plenty of family involvement - all for the smallest fraction of [the cost of] a typical church camp. Praise God - it really worked!”

So, what happened?  “People slept marae-style and in tents on the church site. There were big meal times, volleyball, and plenty of family-friendly, climate-themed activities such as making paper and eco-lunch wraps, seed planting, Climate Commission submissions, and group discussions about how each of us could take a next, meaningful eco-step in loving our world and neighbour.”

As darkness fell, people began to pray in the all-night prayer vigil, while others sat round the braziers singing songs, enjoying a cuppa and conversation late into the night.

On Palm Sunday - after “an amazing brekky” - we walked down to Waiwhetu stream for reflection and prayers at a site where a St David’s team have planted 600 trees. Martin told us “we watered those new plants and cleared for more planting in a few months.”

Martin said: “It was such a rich and blessed time, with so much diversity. Because it was so successful, we have decided as a Vestry to book it in for mid-March 2022!”