For over 30 years, St Andrew’s Epsom has been growing fresh produce for the Auckland City Mission. With new generations of volunteers getting involved, the community garden continues to flourish, now with two new apple trees.

Island Bay Presbyterian Church is discovering what creation care can look like in its own neighbourhood, helping bring people together to care for a piece of unused Council land on Tiber Street – and imagining how the idea could grow beyond this one place.

After more than two years of patient advocacy, Papanui Baptist is preparing to help establish a community fruit-tree planting in a neighbourhood park – together with local students and Christchurch City Council.

From building rat traps to sharing home-grown vegetables, the St George’s Epsom community is finding creative ways to live out Eco Church values. This story highlights youth-led conservation and a new approach to food growing that supports both creation care and local food security.

After the May 2021 floods in Canterbury, the Papanui Baptist Earthcare Group checked on the riparian planting they did along the Ōtukaikino Stream in Sept 2020. They were relieved to find that their trees survived well, and are in fact thriving under a fresh bed of silt, and the first hints of new leaves are starting to appear!