Celebrating Creation in Community at St Peter’s Anglican Church, Kaikōura
Story contributed by Nora Kahler.
St Peter’s Anglican Church in Kaikōura has enjoyed a joyful season of Eco Church activities — moments that have brought together people, pets, gardens, and gratitude for God’s creation.
Blessing of the Animals: A Beloved Annual Tradition
On 5 October, St Peter’s held its much-loved Blessing of the Animals Service. This yearly celebration is always a highlight, offering a warm welcome to parishioners and visitors alike — including those with fur and whiskers. Many dogs joined the service this year, accompanied by one very calm cat. For those whose pets couldn’t attend, bringing a photo offered a meaningful way to participate. One attendee shared how inclusive it felt to have their cat represented in this way. After the blessing, the fenced area behind the church hall became a lively playground for the dogs, while their human companions enjoyed morning tea. It was a beautiful celebration of the creatures who share our homes, our lives, and God’s world with us.
Photo: ‘Tulip’ the cat, held by Nora Kahler, being blessed by Rev Susan Baldwin. Photo courtesy of Nicky Woodill.
Working Bees and a Flourishing Garden
The first Saturday morning of each month, the grounds of St Peter’s Anglican Church in Kaikōura are filled with gardeners and helpers who volunteer to plant, water, weed, harvest, and tend our church gardens. This brings together parishioners, as well as friends and neighbours, who are all keen to help care for the land. We’ve found that having a monthly working bee is a great way to stay on top of garden maintenance, keep the momentum going, and also build connections with each other. We’ve had Kids Club and YWAMers participate with their energy and enthusiasm, as well as our seniors with their knowledge and dedication. It’s a real group effort, with faithful individuals helping out regularly with watering, weeding, and harvesting in their own time outside of the work bees.
Several years ago, we began a vegetable garden next to the church hall, and it has steadily expanded since then. We thought that since we have been blessed with the land, growing kai would be a good way to use some of it, rather than it all being lawn. This summer, we are growing a variety of kai including pumpkins, potatoes, kumara, carrots, lettuce, silverbeet, beans, tomatoes, capsicum, strawberries, and herbs. We’ve also planted several fruit trees. Much of the kai grown in the vegetable garden is shared at a produce table at our weekly Seniors Pop In, with lettuces being popular as of late. The produce sharing table enables people both to give away and take what they can use, whether it's from the church garden or their garden at home.
In addition to the vegetable garden, we also have a butterfly garden and a skink habitat. Our butterfly garden has swan plants, as well as flowering natives. It’s a delight to sit out on the deck having morning tea after church and watch the butterflies fluttering about and birds flitting to and fro. As time goes on, we hope to encourage more natives to find habitats here in which they can flourish. We're grateful to parishioners Will and Rose Parsons for their knowledge and efforts in leading us on these gardening initiatives.
