Ncumisa

Transforming the Diocese’s that care’s for all into Diocese that care’s for God’s creation Guided by the fifth Mark of mission members of the Anglican Communion Environment network strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the earth. Anglican Youth conference continue to be an event that brings together all different Archconries for spiritual worship and commits to take care of God’s creation. About 50 delegates attended the conference who are now ACTing on environmental issues within their daily lives; we had different views about environment but we managed to reach one goal which is “ taking care of God’s creation” our first commandment “LOOK AFTER MY EARTH” GENESIS 2:15. We dedicated our angelus prayer to environment and talked about how important for young people in the Diocese of Kimberly & Kuruman to be Green and they have listened to “the cry of the earth” and they are committed to reduce their carbon footprint with actions such as: Cycling or walking, showering rather than taking a bath, Recycling or Reuse, celebrating Environmental days and they would be aware of climate change and praying for justice and change and the diocese is now praying and preaches about Gods creation through celebrating environmental days. This was indeed an auspicious occasion for all of us who attended and we are now taking an extra mile in making sure that all Anglicans understands what is “Green Anglicans” and I am proudly to say Diocese of Kimberly & Kuruman is now ready to participate positively towards environment. -Floyd Finger

The diocese of Grahamstown Youth Guild hosted their Bi-annual conference on the 03-05 October 2015. The conference was held in St Augustine’s Parish  situated in Joza, Grahamstown.  Eleven Archdeaconries attended the conference which included East London (EL) East, EL West, EL Central, EL South, Grahamstown, Alice, King East, King West, Scenery Park, Kidds Beach, Albany, with the theme: “but I put no value on my life, if only at the end of it I may see the work complete which was given to me by the Lord Jesus, to be a witness of the good news of the grace of God” The Green Anglicans office attended the conference and the different archdeaconries promised to be stewards of nature as Archbishop  Thabo Magkoba requested of them. The archdeaconry from East Lond East which comprises of St Phillips parish in Gompo and St Lukes in Nxarhuni made a resolution that they will hold workshops on saving of water within the communities, start a vegetable garden to assist in feeding families within their parishes, communities to alleviate poverty and also raise funds to install a (Jojo) tank in their parishes to save water bills. They explained how both parishes come from a large contingency of Informal settlements (shacks) where government has strived to provide clean water by installing taps. The Youth from Ease London East believes that hosting the workshop on 12 of March (world water day) will make the people at church and the community be aware of the importance of water. Alice archdeaconry also mentioned having water conservation workshops. They also planning on involving the department of environmental affairs in their workshops. East London East Archdeaconry made a resolution that on World Environmental Day They will have a clean-up campaign and clean local school and community grounds to improve their recreational facilities, and provide categorized rubbish bins for recycling purposes which the plan to be an ongoing project for fundraising purposes. King Williams Town East and East London Central also mentioned doing something on World Environmental Day, They planning on planting trees and also teaching Sunday school children how to keep the environment clean. The Archdeaconry of King Williams Town west talked about earth hour and mentioned teaching people about environmental awareness and the importance of recycling. The DYG mentioned that they are all interested in environmental functions but the need assistance in funding, resources, promotional materials. The Green Anglicans would to thank the DYG executive, Sub-Dean Dyantyi and the conference organisers for everything, and we hope the resolutions that were taken by different archdeaconries will be implemented soon. -Percy Matanda 

  The Anglican youth southern region of the diocese of Namibia held their annual conference on the 2nd -4th of October 2015 in Luderitz.  Arriving early morning on Friday the conference commenced with a morning prayer and an official opening for the weekend. With a huge attendance from the southern parishes the environmental talk became an important and close to home topic to the young people as they have experienced environmental changes over the years. Green Anglicans sparked a lot of interest to the youth to a point where the planned presentation was put aside and discussions over  local issues were a priority. Interest groups were then formed after the presentation to meet casually to discuss action plans for all the environmental issues that were tagged as urgent. Saturday the conference split for a clean-up, some went up to an old church and others went to the streets Luderitz. As a way forward the southern region decided to on the following actions: Environmental Services Environmental education Environmental office within the executive Work with the diocesan environmental coordinator The youth committed themselves on reducing plastic use as it’s still free in the country and create an awareness on its effects on the environment. The reality of selling livestock still continues as it’s becoming more expensive to maintain a farm. All of these have been identified as priority issues and will be looked at.

At the Diocesan Synod of the Diocese of Saldanha Bay, Bishop Raphael Hess address the challenge of exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources. “We certainly can see this ideology of the false-self in the rampant and callous exploitation of the world and her resources. Environmental degradation is but a symptom of this callous exploitation. It is this ideology that sees climate justice as an inconvenience truth and so denies its reality. For decades, as an example, the mining sector has lived by this false ideology, proclaiming that the earth and its contents belongs to those powerful enough to control the land. For years and years in our own country, that ownership has resided in the hands of a few, usually internationally connected corporate players, largely enriching European interests. In the ideology of the false-self, the earth becomes an object to be owned, controlled and dominated, its wealth to be exported and serve the interests of an elite. This ideology has no conception of the earth as ‘our common home’ (our oikos) as Pope Francis has described it in his searching and prophetic encyclical on the environment. Listen to how the encyclical Laudato Si puts it. Describing our attitude towards the earth, he says: “We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will “Confirming climate change as a major issue, the Holy Father continues: “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, and political and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day. If present trends continue, this century may well witness Extraordinary climate change and an unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequences for all of us.”12 The flagrant disregard of the consequences of our actions; the unwillingness to put people before profit; the mad rush to extract all of the earth’s contents  all of this behaviour flows from an ideology void of moral principles, lacking in an understanding of community and unwilling to work for the common good. That, I’m sure Merton would have said, is the cult of the shadow! “We don’t inherit the Earth from our Ancestors”, the great Chief Seattle is reported to have said, “we merely borrow it from our Children”

The Diocese of Capetown launched their stewardship campaign at St Georges Cathedral on St Francis Day. Often we think in terms of stewardship campaigns as focussing only on money, but the stewardship team has brought in the broad sense of the word, from stewardship of our gifts, resources and caring for God’s Creation. A full Cathedral enjoyed the vibrant worship led by St Aidan’s Music Ministry , a  jazz band and Fezeka  High School Choir. The materials consist of an eight week series of sermon materials and Bible studies on the various themes. Check out “stewardship of our Waste” The resource booklet can be downloaded at : https://carbonfast2014.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/stewardship-season.pdf

A group of intrepid youth (with some “recycled youth”) braved a chilly wet St Francis Day to climb Echo Valley above False Bay coast, to celebrate St Francis Day – the patron saint of environmentalists. A beautiful hike took place up the valley to the stunning ‘ampitheatre’ of rocks and we held our St Francis service in a wooded glade. reflecting on the life of St Francis was meaningful as we learned that he had come from a life of great wealth and was spoilt as a youth. Then he was attracted to a life of violence and became a knight. In his early twenties, he felt the call to radical service of Jesus, and went up into the mountains. He combined a care for the poor, love of the Earth and a desire to transform the Church of God. What  a challenge to our young people – like Francis, we face the pull of consumerism, others face the pull of gangsterism and violence.  If we can commit to a simpler lifestyle, a life of peace, compassion for the poor and love of God’s Creation, then we, like Francis can have a part in reviving God’s church