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GREEN ANGLICANS IN WASHINGTON Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya (bishop of Swaziland ) and Canon Rachel Mash (Environmental Coordinator – Anglican Church of Southern Africa were invited by the Episcopal Diocese of Washington – Southern Africa Partnership Committee to spend a week sharing the challenges of Climate change and the Environmental Ministry of ACSA. It was a busy week! The week started with a lovely welcome celebration dinner with the organising committee. Sunday began  with worship in the beautiful National Cathedral –  the stained glass windows include the “space window’ which has a small piece of moon rock embedded in it! The service was followed by a Forum with members of the Cathedral Creation Care team and members from four other churches. In the evening we visited the Spanish Speaking Congregation of  St Stephen and the Incarnation where Rev Rachel preached in Spanish. On Monday we visited the Virginia Theologica Seminary and led a Forum with the seminary students. Tuesday saw a visit to the Bishop John Walker School leading chapel on Plastic pollution. This was followed by a roundtable discussion hosted by the  Episcopal office of Government Relations with Creation Justice Ministries and Interfaith Power and Light. Wednesday  started with an interview with Voice of America Tv. Bishop Ellinah then met with the Bishop of Washington – Bishop Budde. Thursday was a busy day of lobbying on Capitol Hill meeting with Staff from Senator Rubio, Congressman Christ Smith and Senator Whitehouse’s, offices.  As well as having lunch in the Senate canteen from single use plastic  (yes really) Bishop Ellinah preached at the All Saints service at Christ Church Georgetown and this was followed  by a Forum presentation and festive dinner Friday Rev Rachel met with the DCM (second in command to the Ambassador) at the South African Embassy and one of the topics of conversation was the IPCC report and why the government has not yet discussed it. Lunch was a round table discussion with members of the State Department including  the Director for Africa, the Desk Officer for South Africa, the Desk Officer for Swatini and Mozambique, the OES, Department of State, the Policy advisor for Africa – Office of Religious affairs, and the Office of Democracy, Human Rights. A fascinating discussion was held looking at the role of faith communities in combatting climate change. After that we met with Melanie Muller, Creation ministries for TEC In between meetings we managed to visit some of this beautiful city – the Martin Luther King Memorial, the African American history Museum, see trick  or treating , visit the Capitol, Lincoln Memorial and enjoy the autumn colours of the trees. We also ate a lot of amazing food! We learned a lot about how complicated US politics is and tried (and failed) to understand why climate change denialism is so rife in this country The visit ended with Bishop Ellinah preaching at St Johns Lafayette Square just opposite the White House and a forum gathering there. A huge thankyou  to the incredibly generous Partnership committee for your wonderful hospitality, organisation, ‘ubering’, laughter, love and prayers.

ECO RETREAT – DIOCESE OF GEORGE The Clergy of the Diocese of George attended an “Eco-retreat’ in the beautiful setting of Carmel Christian Conference. The retreat was conducted by Rev Canon Rachel Mash – provincial Environmental Coordinator of ACSA The retreat started with the theme of biodiversity – hearing the voice of God in Nature. We were reminded that the Early Church Fathers and Mothers reflected the early voice of African Christianity in North Africa. They believed that there are two books of God – the book of Nature and the written Book of God.  We need to slow down, immerse ourselves in nature and hear the voice of God. This will did during Eucharists in the open air, meditative walks on the mountain and the ocean. The next day we reflected on the theme of water – mentioned 722 times in the Bible – for cleansing, healing, purifying and as a symbol of the Holy spirit. The following day was the tree – which are for the healing of the nations – both spiritually and physically. The last day we reflected on the theme of land- mentioned 2000 times in the Scriptures and a key part of our covenantal relationship with God. Photo credits  Anglican Diocese of George

THE DIOCESE OF KHAHLAMBA PLANS TO BECOME THE GREENEST DIOCESE IN THE PROVINCE The Anglican Diocese of Khahlamba held it’s Diocesan family weekend from the 12th to the 13th of October 2018 in Queenstown. This day saw many people from different parts of the diocese come together to celebrate one diocesan family. The Provincial Green Anglicans formed part of the family weekend program were together we discussed issues of the environment especially within the Diocese of Khahlamba, with reference to the diocesan Vision   “To undertake a journey of renewal and development, to fulfil our call to remain a Christ-centered, mission-minded and developmental diocese”. Environmental challenges continue to pose a big problem to our people especially amongst those living in rural areas as they greatly depend on agriculture and clean water for survival. The diocesan Bishop +Moses shared his favoured scripture reading from John 3:16 (For God so love the world that He gave His only son ….) and in this passage we hear of the world meaning all that is in it and not only humankind. Bishop Moses said we need to start journeying together into making Diocese of Khahlamba the greenest diocese within the ACSA Province and also to use this opportunity to fight against property within local communities. During the Gala dinner the in his address the Bishop spoke of five main priorities and one of them was addressing environmental challenges within the diocese .  The Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries donated 50 trees which will be planted in all parishes within the Dioceses, these trees symbolise the begging of the a commitment to healing God’s creation. Bino Makhalanyane

FEEDING THE FIVE THOUSAND? JESUS SAID – LET THERE BE NO WASTE When Jesus fed the five thousand he said in John 6:12. All the left overs were collected and give to those in need. We face big challenges when catering for Church events or conferences – how can we be faithful stewards of God’s Earth and avoid those piles of Styrofoam and single use plastic? Green Anglicans was involved in two large Conferences – Anglicans Ablaze and The Justice Conference, with both had more that 2000 participants. What did we learn? Firstly- plan ahead: it is important to discuss with the conference organisers well in advance, so that the caterer can be advised they must use paper or compostable materials.  They can be told not to use straws, to use paper coffee cups with no lids. Secondly – have a good system to sort the waste and recyclables.. If food waste goes into your bag of recyclables, then it might all get thrown out. Remember that waste separation is education – stand over the bins and explain what goes where. Otherwise people just chuck things anywhere! Thirdly – purchase re-usable items and avoid single use plastic. At Anglicans Ablaze they purchased solid plastic cups which everyone washed and re-used. At the end of the conference they were donated to pre-schools or taken home. At the Justice Conference re-fillable water bottles were provided – with a marker to write your name on to avoid getting confused. Fourthly – goodie bags aren’t usually good news for the planet. Reduce them down to non plastic items or small gifts that help unemployed people. Give a re-usable shopping bag. Fifthly – you will need a budget for some of the items. Big hats off to Anglicans ablaze and to the Justice conference for being willing to spend some money for the sake of caring for Creation. Sixthly – have fun!! Our green teams had a lot of fun, got to meet lots of people and we all had a blast! #greenanglicans #anglicansablaze #justiceconference

“Irreversible catastrophic changes are now a possibility” –Three Archbishops from Africa respond to the IPCC report The announcement  from the UN’s panel on Climate Change is apocalyptic –  irreversible climate changes are a possibility unless we act very quickly. Millions of the most vulnerable of the  peoples of our Earth will be affected by devastating  drought, flooding and  sea level rise . Some Christians who believe that we do not need to act-  for the Bible tells us “ I see a new heaven and a new Earth , for the first heaven and the first Earth had passed away” (Rev 21:1) Salvation is an escape to a new earth, it is not our role to get involved in saving the Earth. However, this is not what the Bible teaches – In Greek there are two words for new – “neos” and “Kainos”. Neos  means brand new – throw away the old and bring out the new. Kainos – means renewed, restored to a better state than before. This is what the  bible tells us – “ I see a new heaven and a (kainos) renewed Earth” (Rev 21:1). There is no Planet B – we are called to renew this one. So we as Christians are called the renew the earth. The very first commandment that we were given as human beings was to care for the Earth (Gen 2:15) – “work the Earth and look after it” So how can we do this?- The IPCC indicates that we need to  cut greenhouse emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and eliminate them by 2050. This means that all of us must act – we must put pressure on our governments to stick to the commitments they made in line with the Paris agreement (Nationally determined contributions – NDCs) It is time for us as Christians to take action The Bible tells us that Creation is groaning as in child birth. (Rom 8:22) This is a very positive image – the Earth is in serious pain at the moment but we are in the process of ‘birthing’ a better future- with clean energy, clear rivers and fresh air for our children and grandchildren. We also know that Creation is standing on tiptoe waiting for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed (Rom 8:19) – it is time for us to act. As Churches of Southern and Central Africa we are committed to the following: Encouraging churches and families to reduce their carbon footprint in travel, energy and food choices That Church buildings should be models of energy efficiency for the community to see. Developing small scale solar farms on some church land. Divesting our funds from fossil fuels Planting trees The Archbishops also are committing to personal lifestyle changes to reduce their carbon footprint: Most Revd Dr Thabo Magkoba, Anglican Archbishop of Capetowna and Primate of the  Anglican Church of Southern Africa I pledge to use more gas at home than electricity, to tree planting after major travelling and to continue abstaining from eating meat. Most Reverend Albert  Chama, Archbishop of Anglican Church of the Province  of Central Africa “ I pledge where possible to eat locally grown food , to plant as many trees as possible and to reduce my use of energy as much as possible” Most Reverend Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town. I pledge to using aircon and heating less, to only use my car when absolutely necessary and to continue to reduce, recycle and re-use. And, of course, I will plant trees whenever possible.