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MOBILISING YOUR DIOCESE                       The Environmental Coordinators together with key young Environmentalists attended a cluster meeting in Benoni, to look at ways to mobilise their Dioceses. Representatives attended from Johannesburg, Christ the King, Highveld, Pretoria and Matlosane Dioceses. Here are some strategies that were discussed! Perhaps you will find them helpful in your Diocese.. How to change hearts Problem: people pick up litter or turn of taps when you nag, how do we get them to do it for love? It is a leadership issue: we need to identify those (20%) who have got the heart and use them as role models. The language of the heart is not facts but art , music, poetry, love. Get the ‘inspirers’ together Read “Laudato Si” the Pope’s encyclical – he talks about conversion , we need to expand Christianity beyond just God and People Remember the Cry of the earth is the Cry of the Poor. Link Environmental issues with Social Justice. Work through your organisations – eg Mother Union. They are active and givers   Social Media Strategy Provincial – we need to explore a Green Anglicans Instagram account. Branding – posters should be up in church which invites people to join our FB or twitter account Leaflets are needed Allow the Green Anglicans logo to go on any other branded items; leaflets, tshirts etc of other events organisations Diocesan: The Cluster will start a whatsapp group. It is not a good idea for a Diocesan Enviro-desk to start its own FB page. Rather post onto the Diocesan FB or Diocesan Youth FB so you reach more people. Make sure that your info/contacts are on the Diocesan website.   Mobilising Youth Make it vibey, attractive, fun be visible at Youth Conferences, ask for a slot, wear your tshirts Make sure enviro actions and days get added to Diocesan youth year planners we have the challenge of ‘getting our hands dirty’ whereas youth like fancy clothes Link tree planting with confirmation class   Mobilising Clergy remember that clergy are too busy and this ministry should not be seen as an extra burden but something that feeds them Eco-retreat for clergy An enviro-outing or hike on a Monday when they are on day off and spouses are working Think of alternative venues for church meetings eg Bishops forum, get them out of dark church halls to a nice place where they can stay afterwards for a short walk. Wear casual clothes to the meeting Lectionary – Season of Creation must be highlighted inside the lectionary most people don’t look at the back Set up a database of clergy who have studied enviro subjects, publicise their names they could be invited to preach on these subjects Remember knowledge is power – always keep them in the loop and cc them so they cant say they didn’t know. Let them know about things in advance. Give them attention , pop in say hi, greet for birthdays etc. Remember the self supporting clergy often feel out of the loop Train clergy at theological college Working in “hot spots” These are parishes in the Diocese who have severe environmental challenges. Often the Diocese does not visit them because of challenges of lack of toilets, kitchen facilities, clean water etc. identify a ‘hot spot” parish with a ‘green priest” it wont work otherwise Existing better off resourced green parishes can assist – coming to plant a garden or subsidizing water tanks etc. Give back to the community eg veggie gardens Anglican Schools often have resources or eco-clubs who can help make the parish feel special, eg next meeting hold it in their church Get lay ministers involved – some will have extra time on hands Get the Bishop to buy-in Bring motions to synod.

EUCHARIST IN THE WETLANDS In celebration of World Wetlands day, a group of intrepid worshippers joined Fr Bob Commin in a “walking” Eucharist through the wetlands of Glencairn Valley. We lifted up our voices with nature in the words of the Benedicite South Africana “Tabled and peaked mountains, channelling rivers to the sea: mysterious in cloud, in mist, in snow Give thanks to our God who is good O Love that endures forever” The service started close to the beach and took a moment to consider the impact of humanity on God’s Earth. In our time of penitence we considered the damage we have done to God’s Earth and to God’s people as we ‘other’ them calling them vagrants or bergies. The readings and Psalm had new meaning as we read them looking up at God’s creation, hearing the cry of the birds and the wind in the reeds: Psalm 19 had new meaning: “The heavens declare  the glory of God;     and the firmament[a] proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech,     and night to night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words;     their voice is not heard; 4 yet their voice[b] goes out through all the earth,     and their words to the end of the world” As the gospel was being read a group of geese joined in with their cry of joy! Instead of a sermon, we were given the readings and a time of personal meditation around the lake. How infrequently in our busy lives do we have a chance to spend time with God and Nature and to listen to God speaking to us through the book of Nature. The group then crossed the wetland (rather wet in some parts!) and arrived cheerful and muddy at the Dell by St Andrews Church where we shared the simple Eucharist together. The familiar words had new meaning in the sanctuary of Nature. Let us treasure our wetlands. Water is a scarce resource and in many instances, the provision of this incredibly precious resource is as a result of wetlands.  The majority of our wetland areas have been mindlessly destroyed for agriculture, afforestation and settlements and in many instances this is the reason that our country is suffering under such horrendous drought conditions in some areas and flooding in others at present. Wetlands are able to reduce the severity of droughts and floods by regulating streamflow and also absorb large amounts of water which is released over a period of time, maintaining a constant supply to the environment. Wetlands purify water through filtration and provide habitat for many different plants and animals. Wetlands also recharge groundwater, control soil erosion and act as carbon sinks, trapping CO2 which otherwise would have been released into the atmosphere contributing to climate change. Internationally, wetlands are considered vital for human survival as they are among the world’s most productive environments; cradles of biological diversity that provide the water and productivity upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival. Rev Rachel Mash (Wetlands information courtesy of JAEI)

LEAVE ONLY YOUR FOOTPRINTS   Forty four youth (and recycled youth!) joined the first Green Anglicans hike of the year. It is always great to start the year off with some physical activity and this year we explored Tygerberg Hill Nature Reserve. Most of us has seen the large Radio & TV antennae on the hill, as we drive along  the N1 highway…but few have probably been able to get up close to it. We started our hike  with a prayer and a short intro to the importance of only leaving “our footprints” to preserve the hiking trail for everyone to enjoy. We took  the “Duiker Trail” which leads towards the small dam in the reserve…   One of the highlights of the trail was seeing a Cape Weaver bird’s nest suspended quite high from one of the trees. After hiking for about one and a half hours the group we reached the top of Tygerberg Hill to the great  relief of those hikers who were panting all the way to the top!   We were rewarded with a spectacular view of Table Mountain, Devils Peak, Lions Head , Signal Hill  and   Robben Island. All at one go…wow!!!!   We serve an awesome God, who created all this..let’s appreciate and take of it!! Join us on our next ‘Green Anglicans hike” 23rd of April as we climb Lion’s head – one of the most beautiful hikes ever!! Neil Adams

What is a carbon fast for Lent? For Anglicans, Catholics and many others, Lent is the time when we remember the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness, facing challenge and temptation. It is a time when we reflect on God’s purpose for our life. This year we challenge you to take a carbon fast – to reduce the actions which damage God’s Creation. Find more details of each day’s action, as well as a daily scripture and prayer here –www.greenanglicans.org or on www.facebook/GreenAnglicans A one pager with the  40 actions is available at this link Carbon 2016   God bless Rev Rachel Mash

December 2015

The Anglican Youth Ministries in the Diocese of Free State had an AYM Camp , which took place from the 1 till 4 December 2015 at Golden Gate Wilgenhof Environmental centre.  The camp was a great success where, they had 40 young people and 1 Priest attending the event. The program went according to plan as all speakers and topics were on point addressing under the theme “I’m a young Anglican and I’m Proud, We are part of Creation, save water and live longer. Upon arrival an orientation  of SanParks was led by their host Nelly who told them more about the History of Golden Gate , the animals they have and what SanParks stands for(note : Golden Gate is a grass Park therefore only grazing animals are kept at the park ). After that they moved to the camp site to take on the Brandwag trail which is the most longest and hardest trail for  groups. This exercise took 2h30min to complete and the hero of the day was baby Tswanelo (four year old) boy who joined his dad on the trail and walked up the hill. On the tip of the cliff you can sight the beauty of the reserve as this is one on the top points. The ended with fun games and canoeing.  In the late afternoon one of the youth member and Green Anglican activist Mokhobo Finger took them through a two hour guided retreat under the theme connecting with nature and closed off with a prayer for good use of water in our land. On one of the sessions Rev Mokheshe Koma led a special morning prayer under the theme “Don’t let generational habits get to you.”  His talk was encouraging to the young people, some of the things he mentioned were that it might not be our fault that the earth is in the state that it’s in currently, but we are to blame if we grow up and die living it worse or the same way we found it. We need to stand up and show our repentance towards nature, and nature will itself heal.  Members were asked to show a sign of repentance by taking a 3km walk, to the cathedral cave in complete silence, where the silence was ended with a creative Eucharist service. Bino Makhalanyene, youth coordinator for the diocese said “The highlight of the week would be the last day walk, in which at we prayed for rain that morning and asked our members that we should take that walk as a sign of repentance towards creation asking God for rain. Straight after the Eucharist, God provided and showered us with drops of rain, we all could not complain for we had asked and He provided.” -Bino Makhalanyane