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HAPPY TENTH BIRTHDAY DIOCESE OF KHAHLAMBA –  BE GREEN IN THE CORNER WHERE YOU ARE! Ten years ago the Diocese of Khahlamba was launched and a wonderful weekend of Celebrations was held. The day started with a fun walk and then people were invited to join a strenuous aerobics session – a good work out even as the day turned hot! Canon Rachel Mash was invited to address the Diocese on the theme of caring for creation. She first introduced us to our “Mother” Earth and explained how we must care for our Mother, for Mother Earth cares for us. We are abusing our Mother in the way we throw rubbish, make rivers dirty and cut down trees.  Gen 2:15 says “Work the earth and care for it” but we do not care for the Earth. The Green Team of the Diocese was introduced and led us in singing of “Be green in the corner where you are” We also said that if we believe in the God the creator then we should act like it “ Umntu okholwayo simbona ngezenzo – a believer should be seen by their works”. Actions can be tree planting, clean ups, vegetable gardening, pulling out alien plants, saving water etc. In the afternoon the activities continued with soccer and netball. An inter- archdeaconry competition of junior traditional dance, adults traditional dance and modern dance kept everybody entertained Archbishop Thabo and Mama Lungi joined the wonderful event and the Anniversary cake was cut. The visiting Bishop of Grahamstown blessed 60 trees and the Archbishop handed them to the archdeacons for distribution to the parishes. The celebrations continued with a beautiful Gala Dinner and a wonderful service on the Sunday with the Archbishop preaching to a completely packed Cathedral The confession for the day was: “Holy and merciful God, we confess that we have failed to honour you by rightly claiming our kinship with all your creatures. We have walked heavily on your earth, overused and wasted its resources, taken for granted its beauty and abundance, and treated its inhabitants unjustly, holding future generations hostage to our greed. Have mercy on us and forgive us our sin. Renew in us the resolve to keep and conserve your earth as you desire and intend, with grateful and compassionate hearts, through your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen” Halala Diocese of Khahlamba  – you are  truly being Green in the Corner where you are – and leading the way for other Dioceses!!

Anglican youth from four Dioceses – Mzimvubu, Mbashe, Mthatha and Khahlamba met for the Eastern Cape Youth Cluster from the 10th to 12th of October at the All Saints Cathedral Ngcobo. During the opening Eucharist service, Dean Fikizolo blessed a tree as a symbol of new beginnings for the youth of the Eastern Cape, the tree was later planted on the church grounds. During the day, the Green Anglicans team challenged delegates to respond to Archbishop Thabo Makgoba address to the Taize pilgrims at the closing Evening Prayer of the Pilgrimage of: Trust in Cape Town Archbishop which reads “Please, young people, don’t wait for the rest of us. Show us the way as you have always done. Show us what unity in action means. Show us what hope means. Show us what just economic relationships mean. Show us the way on climate justice. Show us that there is no Planet B. Show us that the poor will suffer most when water levels rise. Show us that serving Mammon will only lead to our destruction and that we should speak out on behalf of the trees and the birds and the animals. Ecological destruction is all around us and if we are not careful, we will soon not have enough fish all around us and clean air and clean water. Help us to defend and preserve this.” During this time, the young people from each Diocese acted out how mankind continue to cause harm to God’s creation and how the poor continue to suffer. Different groups were given a platform to act out different scenarios. Group one:  the messages that came was that, even during this time of water shortages , some people still continue to waste water for luxury use forgetting that, there are people who are less fortunate and rely on the same water being wasted for survival. Group two: The theme was air pollution, showing us how the poor living in air polluted areas continue to suffer as they catch all types of illness caused by the chemicals in the air and to make matters worse the public health system in our country is not really coping currently and loss of life is experienced. Group three shared an act based on a true story of how a family in Namibia lost a loved one during the draught, while trying to dig up a blowhole for water. T Group four – the  theme was on plastic and its harmful effects: because we continue to throw plastic all over and the fact plastic is not biodegradable , it harms the soil making it hard for those who depended on the land for survival due to low quality production, we also saw how people lose their livestock from eating plastic. From the different topics and themes that were covered, one can confidently attest that the young people are ready to save God’s creation and should be given the support needed for them to execute and implement this goal. Bino Makhalanyane

ECO CAMP KLEINMOND At the beginning of the Season of Creation an Eco Camp was organised by A Rocha ZA which brought together campers from different denominations. A group of three Green Anglicans from the Parish of St Matthews Delft and 3 from St Joseph’s Macassar joined the group at VCSV Campsite in Kleinmond. There were tremendous activities but the main two activities that stood out were the hike in the Kleinmond mountains where camps were taught about  fynbos and lot of plant species . The second wonderful activity was  rock pools when campers were given  a manual of the species they should look for like sea urchins,  etc .T On the Saturday evening groups had to present their group names and gave a short description about it. We shared what we have been doing in Delft, the clean ups, the veggie garden etc. Sunday 8th September 2019 the camp end with a worship service in mother Natur We had a fantastic time  with A’Rocha Diego Adonis

THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF WASHINGTON ADOPTS SEASON OF CREATION The  Episcopal Diocese of Washington in January 2019 adopted a resolution at its annual convention encouraging parishes within the Diocese to celebrate a Season of Creation.  his action followed the visit to Washington last October of Bishop Ellinah from the Diocese of Swaziland and the Rev. Dr. Rachel Mash, Canon for the Environment for the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.    We are pleased to report that Bishop Mariann has now approved five Season of Creation liturgies for use within the Diocese of Washington (this October or at any time during the year) addressing topics of water, land, biodiversity, stewardship of God’s creation, and dishonoring God’s creation.  The liturgies can be found at https://www.edow.org/forms-and-resources/liturgy-sacraments  The Southern Africa Links Committee and the Environmental Network developed these resources over the summer and the Bishop authorizes them for use in our congregations this October, or at any other time of the year. The resource includes a letter from the developers, and extensive lectionary on with different thematic focus, and prayers for various parts of the Eucharistic liturgy.  We have borrowed from the foundational work of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in preparing these liturgies. Abbott McCartney Southern Africa Link Committee Episcopal Diocese of Washington

GREEN ANGLICANS TEAM AT TAIZEThe Taize Pilgrimage of Hope took place in Cape Town. The Green Anglicans team were hard at work right through the Conference, collecting, waste, recycling and caring for Creation in actionThe team also ran a workshop on Caring for Creation. The workshop started with a funny drama from the group from Pretoria. Rev Rachel shared some of the theology of caring for creation and we broke into groups for Bible study. We then looked at the root causes of certain environmental challenges such as plastic, air pollution, water pollution – using the problem tree methodology.. Fr Lasarus Ngube shared the reality of drought in Namibia Yolanda shared some of the actions they have taken in Mzimvubu such as spiritual environmental hikes and clean ups and JP shared about the big beach clean up held with False Bay. Thankyou to the team for their hard work! Yolanda Ursh Mcaula Azola Ludidi, Kalipa Bavuyise Naledi MaBhala Mdingwa Kgosietsile McKagisho Phetlho Lakhe Dwenga Kagisho Dladla Semakaleng Mabena, Moses Mogapeloa, Sakhile Matiwane, Ayabulela Pinzie and the team leader John-Paul Roberts

Never, never and never again must young people beg us adults to care for creation. Archbishop Thabo Makgoba addressed the over 2000 Taize pilgrims at the closing Evening Prayer of the Pilgrimage of Trust in Cape Town Please, young people, don’t wait for the rest of us. Show us the way as you Please, young people, don’t wait for the rest of us. Show us the way as you have  always done. Show us what unity in action means. Show us what hope means. Show us what just economic relationships mean. Show us the hope means. Show us what just economic relationships mean. Show us the way on climate justice. Show us that there is no Planet B.   Show us that the poor will suffer most when water levels rise. Show us that serving how us that serving  Mammon will only lead to our destruction and that we should speak out on behalf of the trees and the birds and the animals.  Ecological destruction is all around us and if we are not careful, we will soon not have enough fish all around us and clean air and clean water. Help us to defend and preserve this.   When Nelson Mandela  was inaugurated as our president, he declared that ““never, never never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.” ” Never, never and never again must our disunity be a stumbling block Never, never and never again should we suffer corruption and the abuse of power in Africa or elsewhere; ; Never, never and never again must one person think of him or herself as more important than others; as more important than others; Never, never and never again must young people beg us adults to care for creation. Always live the joy and the hope that Christ has planted in your hearts And let me conclude with a prayer  adapted from Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu: God bless our world Protect our children Transform our leaders Heal our communities Restore our dignity And give us peace For Jesus Christ’s sake, Amen.