The Eco Church NZ Project is a bold new initiative of A Rocha Aotearoa New Zealand to support churches to actively care for God’s earth as an integral part of their mission.

We are responding to three biblical challenges:

1. Living a faithful life - following Jesus

   Caring for God’s earth is an integral aspect of Christian discipleship. It is first and foremost a response of faithfulness and gratitude to the One who created the earth in love and entrusted humans to care for it.

2. Loving our neighbours in a resource-limited world

   Demand for the natural resources that humans depend on has doubled in the last 50 years. At the same time, global diversity is in steep decline, the scale and rate of climate change impacts are increasing, and ecosystem processes are being disrupted beyond their ability to recover. The earth’s ability to support human life is being rapidly depleted, and the poor are suffering most.

   We want to achieve transformational change for our natural world, and by doing so create a better world for both people and nature - our neighbours.

3. Reflecting and protecting the glory of God

   Caring for God’s earth is an essential part of the church’s mission in the world. We know that churches can be agents of restoration and healing in their local communities. Churches can be places where Christians model ways of living sustainably that give hope.

   Whether individually or collectively - we can all make a difference. Many people have already connected to A Rocha in a variety of ways - and together we inspire and motivate each other to connect the good news of Jesus to the pressing environmental issues of our day. Working in partnership, we are uniting together to address the most challenging issues of our time.