Highlights of the Season of Creation at Hemi Tapu
Contributed by Lois Baldwin from Hemi Tapu (St James Anglican, Mangere Bridge).
Five weeks in September.
We green-decorated the church with dried foliage, and pot-plants - with fresh daffodils for a splash of colour each week…
Communion bread for the 5 weeks was home-made – yum …
Our opening prayer each Sunday:
Tirohia atu koe ki runga tō moana,
te Mānuka o Hoturoa,
ngā tai a Rakataura, te motu a Hiaroa
All praise be yours, our Lord, through all that you have made.
Kids’ church focused on creation themes with the help of trees, birds, worms …
Winetasting with our own local vintner one Friday evening …
Coastal wander with teens from two local churches, skirting Ambury Farm on a Saturday evening …
Kids’ enquiry and community support of the local Te Ararata Stream project on a Saturday morning …
We kept the focus on celebration of creation rather than on the harm we humans are doing, and we offered only a few events beyond our normal Sunday service times. This leaves us now with the two questions:
When and how do we draw attention to pollution, global warming, depletion of resources and loss of species?
How to engage people outside of the Sunday gatherings?
One answer for both these may be to develop further the 5-minute slot JUST ONE THING that we offered at the end of each service: An individual was invited to talk about just one thing they have committed to that helps care for creation. Examples we heard about were ‘use soap instead of shower gel’, ‘grow flowers’, and ‘put egg shells under citrus trees’!
So we end our first Season of Creation confident that our gentle celebrations hit the spot and laid the groundwork for further creation care.
