Since April this year, Co-Missioners Caro Willis and Maria Kirkland have seen the transformative power of community unfold at St Matthew's, Taitā, through their weekly commitment to the church’s community garden. The turning point came when a member of St Matt’s, a teacher from Capital Training who works with rangatahi (youth), approached the Missioners with a question: "Do you think I could bring my young people to the garden each week?"

Since then, a group of 4–6 rangatahi from Capital Training has joined the community gardening sessions each week for the last two school terms. They’ve gotten their hands dirty, participating in planting, harvesting, and cooking with produce from the garden. Each session concludes with shared kai (food) and whanaungatanga (connection time), bringing the participants closer together.

For St Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Whanganui, caring for a new inner city park has provided them with a tangible way to express their commitment to caring for God’s creation. It has given them the opportunity to make community connections, and a way to be practically involved in creation care.

Situated on 15 acres of land held in a trust, Peacemakers is a tranquil space, with stunning stars on a clear night and birdsong at dawn. The three kaitiaki of the land Andrew, Susannah and Shannon have lived in intentional community here for 8 years and have recently been joined by Joshua. We all have a deep love for the land and follow the principles of permaculture. We are committed to planting natives and nurturing the orchard and food forest. Anyone is invited to join us for our volunteer days to experience the property.

In a recent conversation, Professor Simon Kingham, a leading urban geographer from the University of Canterbury, shared his extensive knowledge on wellbeing, transport and the common good. With six years of experience as the Chief Science Advisor at the Ministry of Transport, Kingham's expertise offers valuable insights into creating more sustainable and equitable communities.

Christchurch's Urban Forest Plan is a Council-led and community-driven effort to create a greener, more equitable city. By planting, nurturing, protecting, and involving the community, Christchurch is well on its way to becoming a greener city - ensuring all of the benefits of trees are available for us and for generations to come. Churches are encouraged to contribute to a thriving urban forest by planting trees on their properties and engaging their congregations in environmental initiatives.

At Eco Church, we believe that caring for creation is a divine calling, one that connects us with God, creation, and our neighbors. Grow Forrest Hill is a beautiful embodiment of this mission. The project which was started by Dave and Phoebe Atkinson, is nestled in the heart of Auckland’s North Shore. Grow Forrest Hill is more than a garden — it's a space that nurtures and nourishes connection and community. Dave said “This garden is a physical space within a community, recognizing that placemaking is really part of human flourishing. It's a place where our kids can experience what it feels like to be loved, to be connected to your place, to know your neighbours."

In true Waikato fashion, Saturday morning 23 March was wet. Proper heavens-open sort of rain. Yet that didn’t stop 35 people gathering at Anglican Action Mahi Mihinare to hear from several speakers about conservation and sustainability. Read what attendees have to say about the event...

Nothing beats the joy of when a plan becomes reality. Especially when those plans have been a long time in the making! On August 24th and 25th the team from Lightforce came to Chartwell Cooperating Church to install 20 solar panels. This project started a long time ago and has been passionately supported by Warwick Silvester, Jack Brinkman, Erica Harris and the late Jock Crawford.

St Peter’s Anglican Church in Gonville Whanganui are creating space in their front garden for a whole lot of connecting and growing. St Peter’s Garden is more than just a garden – it’s a space where the community can connect, make friends, grow veges… and play chess!

St John’s Anglican Church Timaru represented in our own Eco Church stall at the South Canterbury Sustainability Festival. We gave out chocolates and succulent plants with a message of hope and shared what Eco Church was about to anyone who was interested. We even made the paper.

Chartwell Cooperating Church is a seasoned traveller on the sustainability journey and as shown from the excerpts below - already has so many stories to share with the Eco Church whānau. Read on to find out more and be inspired to start a creation care initiative at your church!

St Andrew’s Community Food Gardens were established to promote sustainable organic gardening practices to produce edible produce for the community. In 2018, the late John Allen, a parishioner of St Andrew’s, was our Sustainability Fieldworker and he spearheaded the team that established the food gardens. View a photo tour around our community vegetable garden as it’s been developed over the years!