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Climate change, a concern for the church? The women of Little Akaloa Rural churches ignite fresh initiatives Farming for sustainability Diocese of Christchurch ISSUE FORTY – FEB/MAR 2016
Contents
BISHOP’S ADDRESS
ISSUE 40 Feb/Mar 2016
BISHOP’S ADDRESS: Stewardship
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CURRENT EVENTS
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AnglicanLife is published bi-monthly by the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch.
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ART ESSAY: I Am
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DIALOGUE: Building missional communities
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WORKPLACE: Farming for sustainability
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CULTURE: Stewardship: through Lent with Mark Frozen Oriental beef salad
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CLOSING ESSAY: Small footprints
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Editor – Jo Taylor-de Vocht Contributing Writers – Cathy Maslin, Rev’d Indrea Alexander. Contributors +Victoria Matthews, Truus Dingemanse, Rev’d Jolyon White, Christiana Talbot, Stefan Downs, Les Brighton, Jayden Smith, Diana Langdon. Advertising Enquiries Ivan Hatherley – ihatherley@clear.net.nz Joanna Taylor-de Vocht – editor@anglicanlife.org.nz Design – www.baylymoore.com Printed by – Toltech Print Sustainability – AnglicanLife is printed on recycled paper using vegetable-based inks.
The Transitional Cathedral, Latimer Square FLOWERS IN TRANSITION
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AnglicanLife Issue 40
“Stewardship involves our use of time, talent and treasure, and it asks us to re-consider how we live our whole life.”
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FEATURE: Climate change, a concern for the church? 06 LIFESTYLE: The women of Little Akaloa Rural churches ignite fresh initiatives You are probably going to get old “Unplugged”
Stewardship
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The new Lenten study by Peter Carrell and Helen-Ann Hartley is on the theme of Stewardship in Mark. Stewardship is also the theme for this year in the Diocese of Christchurch. When the theme set at our Synod was “prayer,” there was a lot of activity. Ditto when the theme was “discipleship.” However, when we decided to focus on “thankfulness,” the response from most of the ministry units was quiet, and it is the same with the theme of “stewardship.” When I ask myself why this is, I have to say that both the attitude of gratitude and stewardship are comprehensive topics. Stewardship involves our use of time, talent and treasure, and it asks us to re-consider how we live our whole life.
Stewardship involves how we interact with the creation, our neighbour who is hurting, and our God who is sovereign. Stewardship reminds us at every turn that we don’t own anything, including our life on earth. Stewardship teaches us that climate change is caused by exceptionally poor stewardship. Stewardship teaches that poverty near and far continues because of greed. This edition of AnglicanLife will arrive in your ministry unit just before Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent. However, I am writing it just before Christmas. The malls are full and anxiety is high. Almost everywhere you look there is evidence of poor stewardship. Nevertheless, just occasionally, there is a
brilliant breakthrough and one glimpses the joy of giving for no other purpose than to give glory to God. When that happens the angels rejoice and the heart overflows. As we enter Lent I encourage you to try to let Christ’s teaching about stewardship transform your life, your relationships, and your practices. To God be the glory.
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Current events LOCAL / NATIONAL / WORLD
Installation of the Very Rev’d Lawrence Kimberley as the 14th Dean of ChristChurch Cathedral WORDS & PHOTOS: JO TAYLOR-DE VOCHT
New support for first-time parents in Addington WORDS & PHOTO: TRUUS DINGEMANSE More than 2,000 babies were born to first-time parents in Christchurch last year. Becoming a parent can be a lonely journey, and many new parents find themselves unguided, un-informed, and isolated. Community connections can be especially challenging in post-quake Christchurch. That is why Anglican Care Community Development has launched the SPACE programme (Supporting Parents Alongside Children’s Education) at St Mary’s Anglican Church in Addington. SPACE helps first-time parents build new connections and access parenting information. At SPACE, parents have the opportunity to connect with other parents and share their experiences. It provides a safe place for parents to explore different perspectives on child development and parenting so they can choose what works best for them. Weekly sessions include the opportunity to meet and get to know other new parents; discussions about child development and parenting topics; play sessions with equipment that supports baby’s learning and development; and rhymes, music, and books for babies. Qualified facilitators along with other professionals share their collective knowledge and experience with the group. “It has been very helpful,” says a mother attending a SPACE programme. “As a firsttime mum it’s a bit like ‘I don’t know what to do.’ They have heaps of information, and you can share stories and tips with each other which is really good.” Kathryn Byfield, Family Community Development Worker in Addington, believes SPACE is an important part of continuing to build community in the area. “We hope to start another group out of the Anglican Care Community Development office in St Martins,” she says. Further information about the SPACE programme can be found at www.space.org.nz. For information about joining a SPACE programme in Christchurch contact jan.chris@accd.org.nz or phone 03 332 7143.
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Parents and babies at the Addington SPACE programme.
On Sunday 22 November the Very Rev’d Lawrence Kimberley was installed as the 14th Dean of ChristChurch Cathedral. Lawrence looks forward to taking on this new challenge at a critical time for the city. “I came to Christchurch as an organist. I never expected that one day I would be Dean of a Cathedral,” says Lawrence. “I know this city, I love this place, and I love this church. I am greatly looking forward to beginning the role.” Lawrence follows Dean Lynda Patterson, who died in July 2014. “Dean Lynda was a brilliant preacher and theologian. She leaves big shoes to fill,” says Lawrence. “I hope to be able to contribute to the theological capital of the Diocese as Lynda did, and others did before her.”
His main priorities will be strengthening the life of the Cathedral as a house of prayer and hospitality, and working with the Church Property Trustees and the wider community to re-establish a place of worship in Cathedral Square. “My hope is for a Cathedral that is the heart and soul of the city, offering beautiful worship and a place where people experience the presence of God,” says Lawrence. The Installation Service was held at the Transitional Cathedral. Afterwards, children from St Mark’s School performed a dance item to honour the time Lawrence spent as Chaplain of their school. Bishop Victoria, Cathedral Chapter, and the wider Diocese warmly welcome Lawrence to the role.
Clockwise from top right: student from St Mark’s School; the Very Rev’d Lawrence Kimberley; St Mark’s students performing dance item; the Ven Anne Russell-Brighty, Bishop Victoria Matthews, and the Very Rev’d Lawrence Kimberley taking communion.
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CURRENT EVENTS
Bishop Justin Duckworth calls for sustainable social services WORDS: JO TAYLOR-DE VOCHT The Anglican Care Annual General Meeting had the honour of hosting Justin Duckworth, Bishop of Wellington, as its guest speaker. Justin spoke about the need for re-orientation in the way that social services and churches work with the lost, the last, and the least in our society. Particularly, he highlighted the need for a greater focus on care rather than cure when building personal well-being. While maintaining the obvious necessity of professionals in supporting and empowering those in need, Justin emphasized the danger of over-professionalising the care of people. According to Justin: “As agencies and professionals we are often very concerned with cure. For example, we focus on counselling, medication, budgeting advice, etc. in our dealings with people, which—don’t get me wrong—are all important services. However, only about 20% of human mental health and well-being is cure, and about 80% is care.” When referencing care, Justin is talking about the network of people in our lives that care about our health and well-being, whether that be friends, family, neighbours, church members, or other members of the community. Justin believes there is real
danger in taking the care aspect of our health away from the community and outsourcing it to paid professionals. He recalls a recent discussion with a Youth Pastor who relayed a conversation with a vulnerable and upset young person in his office. This young person had come to the realisation that every person in his life that cared about him was paid to do so—including the Youth Pastor. As Justin points out, there are simply not enough professionals or money to pay for the community of care that people need. Even if there were, this is extremely difficult to deliver from a paid position. There are however, enough Christians and churches to provide a community of care. As we go into the New Year, let us consider what being part of a network of care means for us as individuals and as churches. For instance, what is our current involvement with the Anglican social service agencies: Anglican Living (care of the elderly), City Mission, Anglican Advocacy, and Anglican Care Community Development? What would it mean for these agencies to increase their interaction with the church? These are important questions for us all to consider as we plan our busy calendars in the year ahead.
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FEATURE
Climate change, a concern for the church? WORDS: THE REV’D JOLYON WHITE PHOTOS: NAOMI HAUSSMANN
“Like the frog in the slowly boiling water, perhaps we are simply not hard wired to take action when disaster looms slow.” Climate change parade in Christchurch.
In November of last year 31,000 people turned out to the climate change parades and marches around New Zealand—about 1,500 in Christchurch alone. And while Christians would have certainly been present, for the most part, churches did not come out to support the event. I found myself wondering why? Most Christians seem to be worried about climate change and want to see decisive action to limit its effects; yet, when it comes to public action, churches are reticent about getting involved. In this instance, it may just be the issue. After all, numbers at the parade were generally low. That may sound odd when 31,000 people attended, but imagine if the impacts of climate change were happening over one week instead of decades. I think the response would be vastly different. Is it simply that a slow train–wreck is harder to become motivated by than a sudden event? Like the frog in the slowly boiling water, perhaps we are simply not hard wired to take action when disaster looms slow. However, the big difference between our situation and the boiling water story is that the boiling water 6
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story is a myth. A frog in water, slowly increasing in temperature, does actually leap into action—proving perhaps that a single much–maligned frog has a better developed survival instinct than humanity on mass. This was demonstrated on a global scale at the recent Paris summit. The agreement was a better result than many expected, but political leaders still stopped short of consenting to an enforceable obligation to keep their word about emission targets. Paris was an acknowledgment that the water temperature is rising—but certainly not an indication that we will leap out before it boils. It may be that we think as a small nation we are doing enough politically. That, although our per capita emissions are relatively high, our overall contribution is so small we are neither culpable, nor able to make a difference. However, in international politics where a nation’s sovereignty trumps international agreements, moral leadership is vital. It helps to influence and shift global norms about how we treat each other and our environment. This
is especially important for a country that sees itself as a leader in one of the regions first to be impacted. And that impact will be on everyone, not just the low–lying islands. Even the most enlightened refugee policy in the world would not be able to cope with the desperate mass of people coming. Refugee legislation considers the claims of individuals. There will need to be an entirely different set of thinking to allow the movement of an entire people group if their culture, history, and heritage are to be preserved. Maybe the climate march is a bad illustration. It might just be that people don’t like the idea of marches generally because they seldom accomplish anything. Political action and voice is not as narrow as just marching. And yet, we still talk about the Hikoi of Hope as a high point for our church. However, that was almost 18 years ago and there have been few, if any, mass expressions of collective church action since. Have we bought into the idea that individual rather than collective action is a more appropriate Christian response to pubic issues?
In the area of climate change this seems to be the case. We believe that if we act like good Christians and change out our light-bulbs, recycle, and drive less, that will be enough. Some have called this the “Lorax effect.” “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” says Doctor Seuss. The problem is, when it comes to climate change, the best individual efforts, while necessary, will never be sufficient. This kind of thinking lets big players like corporations, governments, and organisations off the hook. The “Once-ler,” the character who causes the destruction and also passes on the last Truffula seed in The Lorax, absolves himself of responsibility for the damage caused by investing hope in the individual actions of the next generation. Most of our biggest emitters in this country are not individual households, but whole sectors and industries. Creation needs us to be good stewards collectively, not merely individually. The Bible contains endless references to collective responsibility. There is such a sense of collective responsibility 7
FEATURE
in the First Testament that an entire nation is punished for the actions of Achan in Joshua 7. In the New Testament, collective language of being “one body” is the norm. Even passages taken to be about personal faith often use the plural rather than the individual pronoun: “Christ is in you” (Colossians 1:27) collectively. As a church body, our weekly liturgical worship presses us to acknowledge and repent of our collective sin. The Confession is a collective confession of our wrongdoing as a community. Community repentance should lead to collective action. Political participation is simply about how we organise our collective life. We cannot afford to individualise our participation in society. Nowhere is it more urgent to find a shared political voice than in the area of climate change, which is having the greatest impact on those who are the least responsible for its cause. Maybe reticence for political action is not the reason there has been so little church led action on climate change. Likely, it is more complicated than that. And yet, I still think that reticence exists, and it is a shame. In the social sector I increasingly hear
of scientists, researchers, civil servants, and front line service agencies unwilling to speak up because of fear of losing funding, career damage, or personal attacks. The church has a unique opportunity to take political action and regain a strong prophetic voice that is not captured by either left or right. I wonder how we could build an influential public voice based on our collective life, which points towards the Kingdom of God.
Lifestyle FAMILY / SOCIAL JUSTICE / ENVIRONMENT / SUSTAINABILITY / SPIRITUALITY
The women of Little Akaloa WORDS & PHOTOS: JO TAYLOR-DE VOCHT
It was 1961 and rural New Zealand was flourishing. The baby boom had reached its peak, and strong growth in agricultural trade was generating prosperity for rural communities. Voices from the outside were still distant; television was only just beginning to enter mainstream New Zealand households. Traditional family life was cherished. The scene in little Akaloa, a tiny bay in Banks Peninsula surrounded by beautiful hills and farmland, was idyllic. This is the year that twenty-one-year-old new bride Allison left the city to begin a new life as a farming wife in Little Akaloa. She was in love, naïve, but hopeful. Allison had no local friends, and no idea about most aspects of rural life—or the expectations that came with her new position. Cooking nutritious meals for 8
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hoards of shearers was a new challenge. This could have been an extremely difficult transition for Allison. But, it wasn’t. “The women of Little Akaloa took me under their wing,” says Allison. “Women from St Luke’s Church in Little Akaloa like Mrs. Dorothy Menzies, Mrs. Doris Waghorn, Ms. Zelma Waghorn, Mrs. Jilll Waghorn, Mrs. Gay Menzies, Mrs. Kylie Harris, Mrs. Linda Gilbert, and Mrs. Noela Earl, immediately included me into their community.” The women of Little Akaloa taught Allison recipes to cook in bulk, shared their knowledge of rural life, and introduced her to the other women in the area, even driving her to surrounding bays to meet new people. “Their friendship and support meant a tremendous amount,” says Allison. 9
LIFESTYLE
Isolation was a major challenge for rural women like Allison. Phone calls outside of the bays on the Peninsula were toll calls, making communication further than immediate neighbours expensive. Transport was also difficult. Roads were only just starting to be sealed and families often had only one farm vehicle. So, the women of little Akaloa did life together. They raised families together, went to church together, celebrated together, and shared each others’ burdens. They created the kind of church community that acts as an essential lifeline for rural families. For Allison, these women modelled how to live a good life. “Not a happy-clappy, madly religious life, but a good example of a life well lived, whilst acknowledging God’s part in that,” says Allison. These women were in it for the long haul, providing faithful stewardship of their church and community for 40–50 years at a time. Allison is still the People’s Warden of the Parish of Akaroa/Banks Peninsula,
St Luke’s Church in Little Akaloa.
Little Akaloa Bay.
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and has just been given an award for 50 years of service to the Red Cross. This is typical of the women in her bay. Into the future, Allison is not sure what it would take to re-create this era of community in small rural villages like Little Akaloa. Population decline and changes in family life have created new challenges for traditional churches such as St Luke’s. Allison hopes that the next generation will step up to become the new stalwarts of the community. However, she believes that this will take adaptation and change from the church. “I think we need to open up more, become more casual to suit today’s young people. We can’t cling to the old comfortable ways. We need to think in their mind-set and about what will attract them,” Allison says. The women of Little Akaloa, including Allison, are shining examples of leaders who lived out Christian community at its best. Their stories are an inspiration for generations to come.
Rural churches ignite fresh initiatives WORDS: THE REV’D INDREA ALEXANDER In unexpected corners of New Zealand and England, the Rev’d Indrea Alexander has uncovered new rural initiatives springing up. The South Canterbury Vicar offers examples including a church seeking to install a grocery vending machine in its bell tower to serve a rural community without a general store, or a disused farm building that has been transformed into a centre for art and spirituality. Then there is a church offering a Saturday morning café as a gathering point for its rural community—four generations of one family come together every week. Another church offers a weekday morning café, where church members support special-needs students to gain skills as baristas, wait-staff, and checkout operators. In other places, church members are building bridges into schools through a five-day SoulSpace project. A spare classroom is transformed for the week into a space where students can engage with issues, ideas, and prayer through stillness, art, and action. Staff in secular schools
have changed from being dubious to enthusiastic about the project as students claim the space and the experience for themselves. One community is reaching out to dairy farm workers by providing free dinners at a disused pub once a week for the two months around calving. Dairy workers welcome the break from the demands of the season, and the hosts seek to respond to any additional needs that emerge such as English lessons, advocacy, warm clothing, driving lessons, or friendship groups for partners. The ideas for rural initiatives keep on coming: 30 cakes in 30 days delivered to people in the community, “Breakfast with the Bible” groups, “Who Let the Dads Out?” groups that offer activities to encourage and affirm dads in their parenting, “Hot Potato” evenings eating baked potatoes and chatting about “hot potato” issues. As every idea seems to spark more ideas, Indrea decided to create an ideaSparkers card game. She hopes the resource will encourage more people to
ignite an idea that blesses their community. Indrea saw three key elements in the successful initiatives she encountered. Firstly, an identified community need; secondly, a joint church and community response; and thirdly, an undergirding of prayer. “Rural churches tend to be small, but as their members engage the community in meaningful and transformative action, their impact is amazing,” says Indrea. Indrea is Vicar of Waimate District Cooperating Venture and can be contacted at indrea@xtra.co.nz.
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LIFESTYLE
You are probably going to get old
“Unplugged” A reflection by Christiana Talbot
WORDS & PHOTO: JO TAYLOR-DE VOCHT
WORDS: CHRISTIANA TALBOT Most of us live in a determined state of denial about growing old. We understand in a foggy, abstract sort of way that it is the probable outcome of the years passing by, but rarely do we fully envision the reality. And it is, indeed, a reality. The average life expectancy at birth in New Zealand is now 83.2 years for females and 79.5 years for males—and it’s increasing all the time. It’s time to ask an important question, what do we want this reality to look like? For some of us, pondering this isn’t merely an intellectual exercise. Julia Everest and Kathleen Anderson see the joys and challenges of old age every day. Julia Everest has worked in the servery of Bishopspark Retirement Village for twenty years. Kathleen Anderson has been an administrator for thirteen. Both are the kind of compassionate, loving, practical women you hope will be taking care of you in your later years. For them, aged care is more than just a job, it is a vocation. “Bishopspark staff like Julia and Kathleen make sure the older people have a sense of being worthwhile and respected. They are made to feel that they are of value,” says the Rev’d Jan Brodie, Bishopspark Chaplain. In practice, this means going the extra mile for residents. Kathleen and Julia do things like pick up residents’ groceries while they buy their own, drop off post to residents in the hospital on their way home, and come in early to leave time to chat before getting into their daily tasks. “These small kindnesses show the residents that they matter, that people still care about them and admire them,” says Jan. “I just think, how would I like to be treated?“ says Kathleen. “I would want dignity, respect, and to have a little fun!” “You wouldn’t want your mother treated badly,” adds Julia. “That’s what I always think about.” Julia and Kathleen’s work is also where they live out their Christian faith. When I ask the pair if they ever feel they need to “check their faith at the door” at work, they both look at me in 12
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astonishment. At work they are just being who they are, women of faith, not workers putting on an impersonal “professional hat.” “You don’t walk in here a different person than the rest of the time,” says Kathleen simply. They talk about what Christ would expect from places that care for the elderly. “Jesus would want the needs of the elderly met in every way,” says Kathleen. “He would give them dignity,” says Julia. And that is exactly what these women do. But they need help filling the gaps. “We used to have so many volunteers,” says Julia, “now we only have one lady. It would be great to have more volunteers to do things like take residents to appointments or just come for a chat. These extra things make life so much easier for people,” she says. Talking to these women, one can’t help but think: “I hope there are people like Julia and Kathleen around when I am older and in need of support.”
At the end of 2015 I attended “Unplugged,” a silent retreat for young adults run by the Rev’d Spanky Moore. The retreat involved 17 or so young people heading away for the weekend to spend 40 hours seeking God in silence. Within the first hour of “Unplugged,” Spanky had stripped us of all of our personal ambitions for the retreat. He was brutally honest: “God may not even speak to you. This isn’t a weekend to find answers to your life questions or catch up on thinking time.” Being a person who likes to achieve, this was rather gutting. Basically, nothing may happen—it could be a wasted weekend. My personal ambitions frankly slaughtered, I now had to approach the retreat differently. So I took a very tentative step in making this weekend an act of obedience to God—for His will, not my own.
It wasn’t easy. The hardest thing for me wasn’t the silence, the composting toilets, or the lack of cell phones/civilization as I had originally thought it might be. It was the overwhelming challenge to be still and wait on God. When we shared our experiences at the end of the retreat, it was interesting to find that those who expected the least found the most. There was also an overwhelming sense of community as we journeyed. For most of us it was our first time waiting in silence for God. For me, to my surprise, I did find God, but not in the way I expected and not on my terms. The itch to cultivate this experience definitely hasn’t left me.
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Julia Everest and Kathleen Anderson at Bishop’s Park Retirement Village.
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ART ESSAY
I Am Stefan Downs shares the artwork from his project “I Am” for CPIT. GRAPHICS AND WORDS: STEFAN DOWNS Visual expression is a very important mode of communication in today’s society. Our attention spans are shorter than ever. I believe nonChristians are often put off reading the Bible because of the seemingly dry content. Its size and tiny body copy condensed into thousands of thin pages can be daunting. “I Am” is a self-directed project, one of my final assignments while studying visual communication at CPIT. The graphics seek to communicate the identity of Jesus to a visual generation by representing each of the seven “I Am” statements from the Gospel of John. I have used symbolic imagery and typographic expression, accompanied by a short section of the relevant passage. Through these images I hope to give the reader a glimpse of the identity of Christ. Stefan Downs has just completed a Bachelor of Design, Graphic Communication at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.
Dialogue THE REV’D INDREA ALEXANDER WITH THE REV’D MATT WATTS Bumps and Babies Group at the Burnside– Harewood Parish.
Building missional communities The Rev’d Indrea Alexander talks to the Rev’d Matt Watts about putting discipleship and mission back into the hands of ordinary people. WORDS: THE REV’D INDREA ALEXANDER PHOTOS: THE REV’D MATT WATTS Two new missional communities have been planted in the Burnside–Harewood Parish as a consequence of Vicar Matt Watts’ recent study leave in Wellington and England. “Bumps and Babies” and “International Friends” are setting out to reach peers in the community—specifically people with babies or babies-on-the-way, and migrants. “Bumps and Babies” had a strong starting point, “seven couples in our church had a baby or were expecting a baby,” says Matt, including himself and wife Jacqui. A core group formed and monthly meetings began, with additional activities such as dads— accompanied by their babies—watching rugby at the pub. “Bumps and Babies” will shortly begin inviting other people along to the group and become a “fully fledged missional community.” International Friends has a core of eight committed disciples from international backgrounds—Malaysia, Singapore, Zimbabwe and Iraq. Their missional community meets once a month for an international meal with people who are “not yet Christians” for whom English is not their first language.
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At the first gathering everyone brought a dish to share. After this, one of the core group shared their testimony, and then, unplanned and unexpected, everyone present shared quite deeply. According to the model Matt has taken from 3dm, the training organisation he visited in Sheffield, UK, a missional community is: “A group of disciples who are seeking to reach a particular neighbourhood or network of relationships with the good news of Jesus.” The missional community meets in different ways over a month to incorporate the three dimensions of discipleship—“Up, In and Out.” “Up” is God-focussed, “In” is focussed on walking alongside other Christians, and “Out” is focussed on inviting people who are not yet Christians. In Sheffield, Matt participated in two missional communities, one focussed on families with young children, the other on people recovering from addictions or getting out of debt. “What impressed me about both communities was that they offered a place for people to belong on the fringes of the group before going deeper in exploring the Christian faith.” In presenting his study leave findings to the parish, Matt underlined that intentionality was key. Why are we doing this? And, does everyone know why we are doing it? “The aim is to get a church to a point where everyone is being discipled and is discipling others … In the long term it is the culture not the structures of a church that are important for its growth.” For more information about 3dm, check out 3dmeurope.com or contact the Rev’d Matt Watts or the Rev’d Spanky Moore. 15
Workplace FINANCE / CAREER / STEWARDSHIP / ETHICS
Farming for sustainability WORDS: CATHY MASLIN Over the years Marion Foster has witnessed a lot of changes in farming methods and the impact farming has on the environment. “It is not just town dwellers who get angry that they can no longer swim in their local rivers,” she says. As a science teacher and a farmer, climate change and the resulting consequences such as extreme weather, and an increase of weather patterns like El Niño, are well known to Marion. The hot, dry conditions accompanying El Niño, as experienced in South Canterbury over the last two years, make attention to the sustainability of the ecological environment and preparation for times of drought even more important. Marion believes there has been a subtle shift in the attitude towards farming over the last two decades. There has been a change from accepting the variations of the elements to trying to control them. According to Marion, the expansion of the agricultural industry has meant that dairy farmers in particular can find themselves in a vicious cycle. Millions of dollars of investment into irrigation, along with big outlays, result in the need to work farms to capacity in order to manage debt—regardless of weather variations. Unfortunately, the environmental cost has been an increased amount of nitrates seeping into the ground water table and rivers polluted with E. coli produced algae. A risk to humans, animals, and native fish species.
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Marion Foster, Lay Minister at St Peter’s Anglican Church, Temuka.
So, what needs to be challenged and changed from within the farming industry in order to protect our land and ensure it remains a viable food source for future generations? Marion has some pertinent suggestions:
“This can’t wait, or be seen as a take it or leave it option. It needs to happen now.” • She urges us to “take the blinkers off” regarding what is happening to the environment. Access to the information is there. It is a matter of being prepared to face it and admit there is a problem. • Acknowledge that there is a cost to anything worthwhile. Once a healthy ecological balance has gone from an area, it is very hard to improve it. • Re-think the logic of intensive farming. Irrigating areas of land once unfit for farming increases the demand for irrigation. • Re-consider farming right up to the boundary lines of a property and removing trees from farms. This interferes with the holistic balance of nature. • Use resources prudently. Resources are used foolishly at times, for example, irrigating in warm Northwest winds. These measures are short term solutions with long term consequences. Marion also suggests the Government should legislate for penalties for the infringement of environmental regulations such as riparian strips. These are three-metre strips of trees or bush between farmland and river boundaries. They act like blotting paper, removing some of the more toxic run off from farmland before it reaches the river. According to Marion: “This can’t wait or be seen as a take it or leave it option. It needs to happen now.” She says that environmental penalties could also help farming communities frustrated by farm owners in their midst who overlook the wider picture and focus on profit alone. Marion believes we should re-consider overseas ownership of New Zealand farms. The social, environmental, and economic implications of selling off control of our food chain to outside interests needs to be evaluated from a long-term point of view. She says that a healthy ecology needs balance. International markets go in swings and roundabouts, so avoiding farming mono-culture style (the predominance of one form of farming over all others) is necessary for farmers’ long-term economic stability, as well as maintaining a balanced ecology. As the saying goes, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” From a young age and later as a farmer with her husband, Marion embraced the idea of stewardship of the earth, taking responsibility for its care and protection as we were charged by our Creator. In her words, “The earth is a spaceship we travel on. If we destroy it, we go with it.”
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Culture FILM / MUSIC / LITERATURE / WEB / FOOD / EVENTS
Stewardship: through Lent with Mark A sneak peek at the 2016 Theology House Lenten Studies series Stewardship: through Lent with Mark, by Helen-Ann Hartley and Peter Carrell. WORDS: LES BRIGHTON Do your eyes sometimes roll when you hear the Gospel for the day and realise that you are about to experience your twentieth or thirtieth sermon on the parable of the sower or the feeding of the five thousand? Some of us have heard these stories from childhood—what more can they possibly have to say to us today? If the idea of a series of studies on Mark’s gospel makes you feel like that, then think again. What makes this study series fresh and interesting is the theme of stewardship. The care of our time, our money, our relationships, and of God’s good earth, along with what both Jesus and Mark might have to teach us about it. It is an extremely helpful way of looking at a gospel: instead of discussing familiar stories in isolation, the writers show how the idea of stewardship runs through the whole story as a key practical implication of being a follower of Christ. And what might a summer without hay fever, a mountain of fried eggs, or being on the receiving end of street witnessing in a shopping mall have to do with Mark’s gospel? You will have to use the studies in your group to find out.
Frozen “The movie Frozen has blown like a snow drift through the youngest generation of our land.” WORDS: CATHY MASLIN My first encounter with this movie was through my niece singing the song “Let it Go.” Despite missing a few words, no one misses the “here I stand” part as she stamps her foot with more than a little vigour. Intrigued I set out to be entertained by a land of fantasy. At times I laughed out loud—“the Duke of Weselton indeed!” Make believe it may be, but it also came with a good dose of witty reality checks. Do not get engaged the first day you meet someone. Got it. [Warning! Reading past this point will give away the plot.] Queen Elsa fears her “gift” of making ice will end up harming those she loves. She sees no way of ever being able to live a regular life. Worse still, she ends up losing her cool (excuse the pun) and freezing the heart of her beloved sister, Anna. Wounded Anna and her co-opted ally Kristoff consult matchmaking trolls. They suggest true love is the answer to
saving her life. However, a quick trip back to find Anna’s fiancée Hans unfortunately exposes him as a fraud in the love stakes. What to do? Elsa, despite her self-exile, rushes to her sister’s aid. And the ultimate moment of suspense, Hans hovering over Elsa with a sword and Anna blocking its downward stroke. Before it hits, her body freezes and the sword strikes ice. Anna’s action of true love, willingly laying down her life for another, causes a ripple effect as the snow and ice begin to melt. Elsa’s fear of causing harm dissolves as she realises love gives her control over her gift. Anna still lives, and her relationship with her sister is restored. Even dear Olaf the snowman gets to live in the sunshine, courtesy of his own personal snow-cloud. The overarching theme I glean from the storyline is the impossible being made possible. Christian undertones? I will leave you to supply the answer. P.S. Thomas Nelson Publishers has a Children’s “Frost Bible.”
Stewardship: through Lent with Mark is a six-part study series designed for group or individual use. The cost is $6 for orders placed before 15 January, 2016, $7 thereafter. Ordering information is on the Theology House website: www.theologyhouse.nz. 18
AnglicanLife Issue 40
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CULTURE
CLOSING ESSAY
Oriental beef salad
Small footprints
Recipe by Jamie Oliver, as seen on Food Busker
WORDS: DIANA LANGDON
WORDS: JAYDEN SMITH, CO-OWNER AND BAKER AT THE LITTLE TREAT COMPANY Oriental beef salad Serves 2 Difficulty - medium The oriental beef salad is a must try meal this summer. As we all know, summertime and salads go perfectly together—and no salad is complete without a generous serving of meat! Delicious, zingy, and crunchy, this vibrant and colourful salad definitely knows how to pack a punch. Perfect for that summer BBQ. Make sure you read through the instructions before you start as there are a few complicated steps to this meal. When comparing difficulty, flavour, and cost I gave this recipe 4 1/2 stars out of 5!
Ingredients/Steps 1. Pickled vegetables 100g castor sugar 100ml white wine vinegar 1 large carrot (cut into fine slices) 1/4 of a cabbage (cut into fine slices) Mix together the castor sugar and white wine vinegar in a medium sized bowl. Throw in the chopped vegetables and let it sit for an hour to pickle. 2. Steak 1 large rib eye beef fillet 1 tbsp. canola oil 1 tbsp. Chinese five spice powder Drizzle the olive oil over both sides of the beef. Rub it in until it is covered all over. Next, dust both sides of the steak with a light covering of five spice powder. 20
AnglicanLife Issue 40
Get a pan onto a high heat, don’t put any oil in the pan! Carefully place the piece of beef in the searing hot pan (you want to hear it sizzle!). Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, flipping the steak once. Once cooked, put it to the side and let it rest for 2-3 minutes on some clean baking paper before you slice it. 3. Salad 2 small radishes cut thinly 2 small shallots cut thinly 1 small handful of basil, mint and coriander leaves (make sure you use fresh herbs and leave the stalks out) 1 red chilli, seeds out then slice thinly 1 handful of beansprouts
4. Dressing 1 tsp. garlic paste 1 lime, zest and juice. 1 tbsp. of mirin (rice wine vinegar) 1 tsp. fish sauce 1 tbsp. vegetable oil 5. Make your salad! Drain out your pickled vegetables, make sure you squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. Place into a large bowl. Add in all your chopped vegetables and herbs. Using a sharp knife, slice your beef into 5mm thin slices. It should be medium rare on the inside (which is perfect for a salad). Put the beef in the bowl with the vegetables and pour over the dressing. Give it a good toss to evenly coat everything and serve!
At the age of 21 and in my final year of my undergraduate degree, I had an article published on the topic of climate change in the academic journal Global Environmental Change. The fact that this event even occurred is a miracle to me! Over a decade later, I find myself as the Strandz Enabler for the Anglican Church. Strandz is the hub of children and families ministry for Tikanga Pakeha. Strandz encourages and equips the church to grow young disciples with a strong, passionate, and lasting faith in Christ. For many years, my academic study was juxtaposed to the work I did for the church. When I explain what I studied at university, and what I do now, the common reaction is: “Well they are very different! What has climate change got to do with children’s ministry?” Jesus shares the greatest commandment, which can be found in Mark 12:30-31: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’…” In Faith Forward, a collection of articles from a children’s ministry conference in Washington D.C, Ben Lowe explains how care of creation is essential to forming faithful disciples, who incarnationally share the love of God. “We cannot love God fully unless we take care of the world God created, sustains, and loves. And we cannot love our neighbours as ourselves unless we protect the environment that we all depend on for survival and well-being,” says Ben. If we are to fully form our children as disciples of Christ, we need to embed environmental stewardship into the life and mission of the church—and this needs to happen from the very start. As we unpack Bible stories for children, we are sharing the greatest story of God’s redeeming love and grace for all of humanity and creation. We are created to be intimately connected to the land, people, and creatures around us. When you are looking at your home energy options as a family, starting a veggie patch, teaching children
the names of native New Zealand plants, or even sorting out the recycling—you are showing them how to live incarnationally, as responsible agents of renewal and reconciliation. While our children will be the most technologically connected generation on earth, this can ultimately bring isolation and disconnection from the real world. In feeding their curiosity and love for creation in everyday, ordinary life, you help prevent your children from becoming the greatest threat to the environment, and instead, encourage them to be its greatest protector.
Three top tips: Teach it: Start young—don’t wait until they are old enough for a sermon before they are challenged about how they care for creation. Our moral foundations are generally in place by the time we are nine years old, with spiritual beliefs formed by the time we are thirteen years old. Experience it: Get kids outdoors exploring, camping, and tramping, and experience God’s creation together. Children’s ministry doesn’t have to be confined to the church hall! Do it: Care for creation isn’t something we talk about, its something we live out. Involve them in looking at the ecological footprint of your church, and how to become part of a creative solution. So walk with kids on their journey of faith, growing their love for their Creator and His creation. And this is our prayer, that God would find us faithful as “we nurture new generations to inherit God’s good but groaning world.”—Ben Lowe in Faith Forward. 21
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