Diocesan Environmental CommissionThe Diocese has established an Environmental Commission in response to a resolution passed at the last Synod requesting the Diocesan Council to explore proposals for enabling sustainable environmental practices to be put into practice within the Diocese. The current members of the commission are Judy Walsh, John Hazeldine, Bill Nicolle, Dr Kate Barton, the Rev'd Peter Tinney, Carl Lanham and Dr Geoff Rigby. The Commission has developed its current role based on the resolution of the Lambeth Conference of 1998 which recognized that “the servant hood to God’s creation is becoming the most important responsibility facing humankind”. In accepting this as its focus, the Commission considered that as Christians, we accept and affirm; As a result, the Commission formulated its present aim as:  Resources
Diocesan Environment Sunday ResourcesDiocesan Sunday was held on June 8 in 2008. Details can be found here. Issues in our RegionGeoff Rigby reports on the CCA Conference in Seoul which addressed key environmental issues in the Asia Pacific area. The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) was inaugurated in 1959 with a vision of churches in Asia participating in God's mission through building communities of peace for all based on justice, peace, healing and reconciliation, harmony, equality and unity. It was therefore a privilege to represent the Australian Council of Churches at the Conference on Ecology, Economy and Accountability in Choongnam, Korea in May. 26 theologians, scientists, engineers and NGO representatives gathered from around Asia and the Pacific to review a whole range of issues including climate change and its consequences, globalisation and its impacts and the theology of accountability in God's creation. Theological reflections encouraged us to think of the earth as a single household of life where all of God's creation need each other. We heard that the Bible does not separate human beings from the rest of creation; but a "God-centred" approach is different to a "human-centred" approach and that being human also calls for accountability and responsibility. Presentations reviewing the effects of globalisation on the world, and in particular on the poorer nations, suggested that while the architects of globalisation claimed that it would reduce poverty, many examples were presented to clearly show that in fact poverty has increased. The real issue in many parts of the world is not poverty, but wealth. We need to reassess our motives and the effectiveness of programs that seek to reduce poverty without addressing the wealth issue. This view was seen as very challenging and one that needs a great deal of reflection to identify appropriate actions. An "exposure" visit to the Taean National Park on the West China Sea brought us all face to face with this national disaster where 15,000 tonnes of oil had been discharged from a crane barge last December, completely destroying the livelihood of people living along 26 beaches over a distance of some 200 km. Inaction by the company involved resulted in the protestant Korean churches combining to clean up the oil spill, restore the ecosystem and participate in the pain of the victimised residents. So far over 1.5 million volunteers have assisted in this program and the work continues. Geoff Rigby Links of InterestAustralian Anglican Environmental Network Website of the AAEN designed to excite people with the many possibilities open to us and to encourage an active grass roots response throughout the Australian Anglican Church. |
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The Diocesan Office 
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