John-Paul Roberts

The AYSA Diocese of Mthatha team gathered for a day of adventure at the Port St. John’s Military Airstrip on Saturday 14th September. The day was broken down into different phases meant to cultivated encounters that celebrate our creation and encouraging  spiritual conversations and encounters. The day kicked off with the hike where three (3) teams were formed. These teams were colour coded with relevant natural earth elements. Red team symbolized rocks, yellow being water and green represented trees. The assignment whilst on the trail was to find how these elements linked to our Anglicanism and a Bible passage that spoke of these elements. Arrival at the top of the mountain signified the start of the Eucharist Service to celebrate creation. This was where the theme, found in Romans 8:22, was unpacked. Our theme spoke on how creation is groaning in pain. Closing the session, the Diocesan Anglican Youth Guild (AYG) hosted a prayer picnic that boasted of testimonies, word discussions, an abundance of prayer and worship whilst snacking on food in between. The day ended on a free-spirited note with games enjoyed by all. By : Kwada Makiwane Photo credit : Ayabonga Maroloma

On Friday the 13th of September the youth and confirmation candidates from St Paul, in the Diocese of George were visited by some of the Diocesan Eco-Champs. Some of the activities of the day included teachings about recycling and our responsibility to take care of God’s creation.  The young people also planted the vegetable seeds, which they must look after and bring the project back to the church once the seed germinates. After all green-fingers and hard work, they each ate a nice sausage roll and played games. We want to thank teachers Bonita Potgieter and Simone Jansen for their distribution to our parish’s young people and for making them aware that we are responsible for taking care of God’s creation. By : Corne Robertson

As part of celebrating the Seasons of Creation under the theme: To Act and Hope with creation. On Sunday 8 September 2024 parishioners from St Paul’s Conville in the Diocese of George brought freshly grown fruits and vegetables to the alter for a blessing and thanksgiving. As per the Season of Creation theme of 8 September which called for Acting in Solidarity with the poor, the church donated all the produce to the Rotary home for the Elderly in Rosemoor!

May the struggle of Green Anglicanism continue. As part of responding to the Seasons of Creation call from Sunday 8 September ( Acting in Solidarity with the Poor ), on Tuesday 10th of September the Parish of St. James in Knysna,  launched a herb garden as a kick-off project for their soup kitchen, which will be up and running soon. These group of committed men are Br Charles Laminie, Br Billy Laminie, Br John Moolow, and the young man, who is the groundsman of the Church who will ensure the garden is well looked after . Forward with Solidarity with the poor!!

On the 6 September the Green Anglicans Cape Town with the Together4Creation team hosted a youth launch for the Season of Creation. The gathering took place at St John’s Catholic Church in Maitland. We were blessed to have 150 young people come together for the launch of this amazing season. Our host for the evening was Dominique Yon the Youth Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Cape Town, and our special guest speaker was Rev Shaun Cozett who inspired us to be people who usher hope into our communities. We started off with a ice breaker by the host youth leader Claudio as we got a chance to get to know one another. We also had time to engage on our responsibility of caring for creation after Rev Shaun’s talk. The youth evening ended with a para-liturgy with young people from different denominations being involved. Our next Together4Creation ecumenical gathering for the Season of Creation is our hike taking place on the 28th September at 9am in Cecelia Forest. If you and your youth group would like to join in you can register at the following link.. https://bit.ly/T4CHike2024

As part of the Global Mothers Union 120 years celebration for its community work in various countries and communities, the Mothers Union of the Diocese of Johannesburg together with the Parish of Christ the King held a one day cleanup and awareness campaign. This took place in Coronationville, Johannesburg on the 27th of July 2024.  The aim was not only to observe the day but to show when organizations join forces with the local community members a lot can be achieved. The main message of the day was to highlight the importance of a clean environment and its impacts on the health and well-being of human-beings. The Mothers Union in the Diocese of Johannesburg calls on all of us to recognize that:  “We have destroyed the healthy relationship our ancestors had with the environment and most of the creatures on it. They knew the importance and the value of these relations for our physical, mental and spiritual well-being. We have ourselves thinking that we are the owners of this earth and of the creatures living on it. We think we can do as we wish with them without accountability, but the current state of our planet proves otherwise. Let us change our attitude towards Mother Earth and give the respect and care it deserves as people with ubuntu and as honorable citizens (refer People shall govern)”. One of the main lessons from this clean up is that community engagement and participation is important when it comes to the matter of caring for creation as this is our common home.