Rachel Mash

WE ARE THE GUARDIANS OF NATURE The Diocese of Lebombos (Inhambane Archdeaconry) had a service dedicated to the Season of Creation under the theme “Jubilee for the Earth” The service took place in the Chambone Mission, with 25 participants. including  the Venerable Emanuel, Father Buque, Father Uqueio and the Diaconisa Fatucha. Green Anglican District Directorate was  launched, followed by a  blessing and planting of  shade trees at the Manche Manche Masemola de Chambone School.

Please find the new Season of Creation materials for 2020 available for download at this link https://www.greenanglicans.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/manual-2020online.pdf  

HEARING INDIGENOUS VOICES The Anglican Communion Environmental Network has committed itself to hearing the voices of indigenous people. During the month of August, the Anglican Indigenous Network has prepared sermon notes which can be found at www.sustainable-preaching.org Archbishop Mark Macdonald, National Indigenous Anglican Bishop for the Anglican Church of Canada, Says this “A number of years ago, I was sitting with a group of Indigenous clergy at a regional church gathering, a gathering largely populated by and representing the perspective of non-Indigenous people. The discussion at the gathering was about the now common proposal that we follow a “Season of Creation” in our schedule of daily and weekly Scripture readings. The season would identify texts that are specially focused on Creation and our relationship to it. As the discussion proceeded, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked behind to see the whole group of Indigenous clergy with very confused looks. One finally said, “I thought all of Scripture was about Creation.” I am a supporter of a “Season of Creation.” The Indigenous point, however, is vital. An Indigenous reading of the Scripture is not filtered through the centuries of Western Scientism and Materialism and the progressive alienation of human beings from the rest of Creation. The alienating trends that have spread through the globalizing culture of money have made it difficult for people to see the underlying “Creationism” in every text of Scripture (Creationism is the best word I can find to describe a primary cosmological element of Scripture, the embedded point of view that there is an essential communion of humanity with the rest of Creation.). This view is primary and basic to Indigenous Peoples around the world. The symbiotic relationship between humanity and Creation is a defining feature and an existential commitment to the People of the Land and Seas. I have heard many people say that we must import other more earth-friendly ideas to enhance our reading of Scripture, assuming that Scripture shares the basic cosmological assumptions of globalizing Western society. I would heartily endorse the application of science and other disciplines of knowledge and life in the illumination of Scripture. It is urgent, however, that the underlying Creation cosmology of Scripture be appreciated again, uncovered again. We must read it with this always in mind. The communion of Creation, so much a part of the Indigenous cosmology, is infused in every word of Scripture.” Notes for this Sunday can be found at : http://sustainable-preaching.org/2020/08/02/proper-13-9th-sunday-after-pentecost/ Reverend Dr. Bradley Hauff, Indigenous Missioner for The Episcopal Church, Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota http://sustainable-preaching.org/2020/08/16/proper-15-11th-sunday-after-pentecost/ if you would like to sign up to receive “sustainable preaching” notes for the Revised Common lectionary by email each week, please sign up at : http://eepurl.com/gnIlCj  

67 Minutes for the Earth for  Mandela Day On the 18th of July to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s birthday, the call was for people to celebrate the 67 years of public service with 67 minutes of working for the earth This year with COVID-19, the actions had to be a bit different, and many did #separatebuttogether events during the course of the day to avoid large groups Auriel from St Joseph’s Macassar hosted a Mandela day event at a park where they  do a  soup kitchen. Cleaned the rubbish, rescued the plants that were overgrown by weeds and ended the day with lunch and party packets. Members from St Timothy’s factreton and  Good Shepherd Kensington planted Avos from Anglicans! Members of  St Stephens Pinelands joined the #separatebuttogether  spekboom planting on the Elsies Kraal river and others picked up litter and bottles from the river The Bernard Mizeki guild (mens guild ) from Eluvukweni Church in Crossroads did a big plastic bottle sort out for their recycling fundraising project

Eleven Archbishops and sixty bishops have signed a Statement by the Anglican Communion Environmental Network on Environmental Racism – When #Blacklives don’t matter. Black lives are disproportionately affected by police brutality; COVID-19 sweeps through crowded vulnerable communities unable to  socially distance; toxic dump sites are placed next to poor communities of Black people; indigenous people are forced off their land. The world is slow to respond to climate change, hanging on to an increasingly precarious and unjust economic system. It is predominantly  Black lives that are being impacted by drought, flooding, storms and sea level rise. The delayed global response to climate injustice gives the impression that #blacklivesdontmatter. Without urgent action Black lives will continue to be the most impacted, being dispossessed from their lands and becoming climate refugees. We stand at a Kairos moment – in order to fight environmental injustice , we must also fight racial injustice. “If you are neutral in times of injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” In the words of Archbishop Tutu The Anglican Communion Environmental Network (ACEN)  calls attention to environmental racism. We issue this urgent statement today, June 19 2020, a day known as Juneteenth in the United States, marking and remembering the official end of slavery in that country in 1865. We call attention in particular to the  impact of environmental racism on indigenous peoples decimated  by the effects of colonization. Tribes of people were enslaved, and annihilated by harsh conditions and by diseases for which they had no immunity in the first decades of colonization. Later indigenous groups such as the Taíno in what is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic were replaced by enslaved peoples from Africa. From the Gwich’in in the Arctic Circle to the many tribes in the Amazon River Basin, indigenous people continue to be subjected to intense, sustained racism. Unjust economic structures and extractive industries subject indigenous peoples and traditional Black communities to forced, violent removal from lands with which they have been integrally connected for centuries. Prominent indigneous leaders – defenders of the land – from tribes such as the Guarani in Brazil, have been murdered and  tribes terrorized . For example in  Panama, the Guna and Embera were granted land rights under the Comarcas (Reservation). However, land grabbers – non indigenous farmers – seize this  land for their own farms,  leading  to escalating levels of violence from house burnings to murders. ACEN also witnesses  the growing and alarming rise in the number of people becoming  refugees due to climate change. It is estimated  that there are 40 million climate refugees in the world today, and by 2050 that number could reach one billion. Communities are being forced from their traditional lands due to drought and sea level rise. Climate change can lead to increased conflict as farming communities are forced off their land into cities. In Central America thousands of indigenous people have been made climate refugees. Upon  reaching the United States, they  are often subjected to double discrimination, firstly for being refugees and then as people whose first language is a tribal language rather than Spanish. Pacific islanders in places such as Tonga and Fiji face the destruction of their homes and cultures due to sea level rise.  Even in the midst of the wealthiest countries Black people bear the brunt of environmental racism. Dumpsites for toxic chemicals are situated near poorer Black communities. These communities become food deserts-  lacking both access to nutritious food and safe water. Take action for climate justice to show #blacklivesmatter  June 19, 2020 God of love and peace, God of justice and fire, when the orders are carried out with bullets and bullies, hear those who shout, “I can’t breathe.” When a loving embrace twists into violence of rape, hear those who cry “I can’t breathe” In the midst of corporate control and the conspiracy of lies, we are choking in poverty and plead, I can’t breathe.” As a virus raids a slum and insidiously tracks a migrant camp, have mercy on those caught who cough and struggle, “I can’t breathe.” As the cars return and the airlines receive huge government subsidies, listen to the earth gasping, “I can’t breathe.” The waters rise, God of sea and sky, but dominions do not rest from their wrecking power. Heed the world as it cries, “I can’t breathe.” When we continue to inhale and exhale as if the suffocation did not matter, as if our breathing were somehow separate from the struggles of others for air, align our lives with our prayer. Forgive us all that does not honour your love,all that does not live gratefully from the gift of your grace,all that restricts the communion that your Spirit extends far and wide.Alongside all those who can’t breathe,we seek the fresh wind over the chaos of our lives,setting us free, setting all your people freeto breathe, through Jesus Christ. #Amen. (Sunday Prayers Service of Evangelical Lutheran Church of Geneva (English) , Terry MacArthur and team) As the Anglican Communion Environmental Network we commit to : Listening to voices of indigenous people. Recognising and challenging white privilege in society and the Church. Recognising the colonial past of the Anglican Communion, its ongoing Euro-centric values and the dominance of English. Identifying the need for further study and active listening around issues of racism. Recognising and challenging theological ideologies and social norms that perpetuate racism Acting in solidarity with vulnerable populations experiencing eco-injustice by actions such as: advocacy for policy change at national and regional levels; nonviolent protest; boycotts. Acting as  a mediator between  indigenous people and farmers or  extractive industries, understanding the legal frameworks involved. Signed Archbishop Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury Archbishop Julio Murray, Primate, Anglican Church of Central America Archbishop Mark Macdonald- National Indigenous Archbishop of Canada Archbishop Naudal Gomes, Primate, Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil Archbishop Don Tamihere Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia. Archbishop Philip Richardson, Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia. Archbishop Winston Halapua, […]

WHAT IS OUR HOPE TODAY? A Sermon by Tsobotsi Toby Koloti for Youth Day: Romans 5;1-8 What is our HOPE today? In the midst of COVID 19, GBV, Death, Online learning, environment degradation, what is our Hope? Where does our help come from in times like these? I think we need not to look far for answers, our Anglican Prayer Book answers these existential questions in our Catechism. We all remember those questions we had to answer in our confirmation classes, “What are we by nature?” “What does it mean to be created in the image of God?” “What help is there for us?” “What do we learn about God as a creator of heaven and earth?” “what does this mean about your place in the creation” “what does this mean about human life?” What does the Prayer Book (Catechism) say? We are part of God’s creation, made in the image of God. It means we are free to make choices; to love, to create, to reason, and to live in harmony with creation and with God. Our help is in God. We learn that there is one God, the creator of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. This means that the environment is good, that it is the work of a single loving God who creates, sustains and directs it. It means that creation belongs to its creator, and that we are called to enjoy it and to care for it in accordance with God’s purposes. It means that all people are worthy of respect and honour, (and dare I say regardless of their gender, race, class, ethnicity or sexuality) because all are made in the image of God. Our hope and help come from an understanding of two fundamental relational principles:  a) a reverence for life must go beyond anthropocentricism and must include ecological insights; and b) the oppression of women and the oppression of nature are interconnected. We cannot understand the relationship between humanity and God without understanding and transforming the relationship between humanity and creation. We cannot understand the relationship between humanity and creation without understanding and transforming the relationship between men and women. The ways of thinking that have led to a destruction of the earth and an exploitation of animals are often the very ways of thinking that have led to an exploitation of women/marginalised people in the world. To overcome male-centeredness is also to overcome human-centeredness. The oppression of women and the oppression of nature are interconnected One way to talk about the connections between women and nature is to describe the parallel ways they have been treated in a patriarchal society. First, the traditional role of both women and nature has been instrumental. Women’s role has been to serve the needs and desires of men. Traditionally, women were not considered to have a life except in relation to a man, whether father, brother, husband, or son. Likewise, creation or nature has provided the resources to meet human needs for food, shelter, and recreation. Nature had no purpose except to provide for human wants. In both cases the instrumental role led to instrumental value. Women were valued to the extent that they fulfilled their role. This reminds me of the Masters project by one of my colleagues where she poses the question: “Was her worth only in her womb?” Where she argues that women’s bodies are controlled by patriarchal culture through heteronormative readings of certain biblical texts such as Revelations 12:1-6, which is usually used to celebrate motherhood. She calls this a Christianized patriarchy which aims at making patriarchy look attractive and legitimate and thus regulates how we today view female bodies.   Nature was valued in relation to human interests either in the present or the future. Women and nature had little or no meaning independent of men. This type of attitude towards women and creation is not in line with Paul’s Hope that leads to grace. This hope which is a result of good character can only be achieved or realized through a life that is surrounded by grace. The type of grace that is not marked by earthly successes at the expenses of nature, at the expenses of women. It is a type of hope that does not condone any violence against women and girls. It is a kind of hope that does not tolerate any patriarchal rule, capitalism or consumerism which is at the heart of our earth degradation. As with any Hope or Vision of a good society, it requires you and I to buy into it. In short, what feminist theological ethics encourage us to do is to recognize that a better hope for the world can only be understood through the three fundamental relationships we ought to give the highest care. These three relationships are: — between human beings and the nonhuman world, between human beings and God, and among human beings —  all defined by an ethic of care and dignity. What we must see is that the way in which human beings treat each other has an implication on these other relationships. What we must remember is that no one or two of these relationships will be transformed without the transformation of all three. Thus, the access to true faith with Christ imbedded in Grace, has a password which is ‘transformation’. THAT IS OUR HOPE AND THE GRACE WHICH WE LEARN ABOUT IN TODAY’S READING. I said it before; I’ll say it again.  I’m not an environmentalist. You will not hear me advocating any kind of compulsory restrictions on people’s enjoyment of God’s creation.  However, what you’ve heard today and what you will CONTINUE to hear is a person of God imploring you to CHOOSE to perform one of the primary jobs God placed people here to perform: caring for God’s creation the way God would care for it, the way God showed us throughout scripture to care for it.  Choose to participate in God’s desires and efforts to care […]