From study to stewardship: St Andrew’s journey with the Rich Living - Water resource

Lance Kendrick, convenor, Social & Ecumenical Action Committee shares about how engaging with the Water book from A Rocha’s Rich Living study series led to learning and action for a group from St Andrew’s Church in Hamilton.

St Andrew’s has a longstanding commitment to caring for God’s creation. We see it as a Gospel imperative and a central part of what we are called to. It is part of our Parish’s Mission Plan which embraces the “Five Faces of Mission” (the Mission Statement of the PCANZ)

The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand believes it is called by God to work with others in making Jesus Christ known through –

• Teaching and nurturing people in Christian faith

• Loving service responding to human need

• Proclaiming the gospel

• Seeking to transform society

• Caring for God’s creation

A Rich Living study series - one way we’ve put Creation Care into practice at St Andrew’s

Each year we offer the opportunity for parishioners to be part of a study series. The special topics for these groups have been wide-ranging, but the past two we have focused on an aspect of creation, using A Rocha’s Rich Living series.  In 2023 the SEA Committee set up a night-time and a day-time group looking at A Rocha’s study booklet on “Food”, spread over 4 weeks with 22 participants. That was excellent. For Sept 2024, we thought that following the same pattern using A Rocha’s booklet on “Water” would be especially timely, given evolving changes mooted for service-delivery of three-waters in New Zealand, and with increasing storms, floods, pollution and droughts. In July 2022, the SEA Committee had submitted to Parliament on the Water Services Entities Bill, being largely supportive - although making suggestions for improvement. During this study series on Water, some of us reflected even more on the lost opportunity for full water reform in our own country.

Re-reading familiar Bible passages about water, through the lens of this booklet, led to new understandings. The four key themes resonated: Water, the gift of life; Water under threat; The politics of water; and, Waters of hope.

In one study, we were challenged to use water footprint calculators in relation to our own households and we thought that the results were staggering, as was learning that NZ has the second-highest water use per capita of all OECD countries.

Looking at real life situations with water in locally and further afield further fuelled our interest. Our leaders supplemented the booklet with information about Hamilton City’s sophisticated water services, including its three-waters water treatment systems, and 9 reservoirs (some unknown to us!).

We also looked at one of the first projects that A Rocha Aotearoa New Zealand became involved in a decade ago, the Oakley Creek/Te Auaunga restoration project in West Auckland. It’s a very interesting story and generated much discussion amongst us. https://vimeo.com/185406179 

We then learnt about an A Rocha Uganda project, which offers an example of how creative responses can enhance the health and wellbeing of human communities and broader creation. As in many developing world contexts, the water available to slum communities near Kampala is unsafe to drink. A Rocha Uganda provides easy to use bio-sand water filters (plus training) to produce clean and safe drinking water for these communities, at a cost of NZ$180 each. People taking part in our two St Andrew’s study groups decided to club together and purchased one. One such filter can enable 5 families (25 people) to have access to clean, safe drinking water. In addition to health benefits, women gain the equivalent of 15 days pa – previously spent boiling water over charcoal – for income-generating enterprises or employment. Also a positive, a year’s worth of charcoal (for 5 families) no longer destroys 30 trees. For more information, see: https://shop.arocha.org/product/bio-sand-water-filter-uganda-plus-regular-health-check/

Our participants found the studies to be readable, challenging, and led to significant discussions. One member commented in our church’s newsletter: “I would encourage everyone concerned about justice and peace to get hold of a copy and read it, and to ponder the Scriptures referred to.”

There were a number of outcomes from having engaged with the Rich Living Study, including:  

1. Thinking and praying.

2. Funding a Ugandan village’s water filter.

3. Increased keenness to use Eco Church Action Planner for environmental self-assessment at St Andrew’s Church.

4. Two members attended the Eco Church Gathering at Chartwell Cooperating Church Hamilton on 8 March 2025, with its focus of “engaging with sustainability and creation care leading to wider expression of the Kingdom in our communities”.

5. One member organised a plant-based morning tea on Sunday 9 March, which was also the day that Rev Mo Morgan led Children’s Time and preached at the English-language service, talking about the work of A Rocha. The delicious morning tea was accompanied by an information sheet “Climate-Friendly Morning Tea”.

6. We are going to make a case to our Parish Council, for St Andrew’s to begin the journey to become an Eco Church!