Mission
St Mark’s Church
Anglican Parish of Opawa-St Martins
Five Marks of Mission
The Anglican Communion’s common commitment to, and understanding of, God’s holistic and integral mission.
The Five Marks of Mission are:
To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
To respond to human need by loving service
To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation
To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth
(Bonds of Affection-1984 ACC-6 p49, Mission in a Broken World-1990 ACC-8 p101)
City Mission
Parish volunteers cook the evening meal on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month at the Christchurch City Mission.
Parish volunteers cook the evening meal on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month at the Christchurch City Mission
Instructions:
Collect the key from Thorpe House situated next door to the City Mission.
A swipe tag and key will give you access to the Night Shelter.
The swipe tag gives access to the gate farthest away from Thorpe House (the closest gate to the Night Shelter entrance).
Swipe tag will give you access to the night shelter (all other doors are opened by the key).
White board in the hall area will advise how many meals are required and what the meal for the evening will be. Usually around 30 meals.
Meat will be in the walk in fridge/freezer. Light situated to the left inside the freezer.
Supply cupboard is situated next to the fridge/freezer and will be locked (use key to open).
Use whatever vegetables are available in the fridge. Potatoes are usually in a box under the white board.
Bread/rolls are usually in the supply cupboard. Butter and place plenty of rolls or bread on the tables prior to the clients arriving.
Dessert/pudding is optional but always appreciated by the clients.
Serve approximately 5pm – Check with the supervisor who arrives approximately 4.30pm.
Dishes are washed by the clients.
Mission
Ten Trees
We aim to plant 10 trees a year for every person on the parish roll.
Tekau Rakau
There are a million reasons to plant a tree this year.
Plant One. Plant Ten.
"10 Trees" is a response to the declaration of the climate change and ecological emergency in Synod 2019 motion 11.
We aim to plant 10 trees a year for every person on the parish roll by volunteering at community tree plantings.
The challenges of climate change can feel overwhelming.
There are practical things you can do.
Make a difference and plant a tree.
Plant 10 trees a year for every person on the parish roll
Recent Plantings
Community planting days at Mairehau, Travis Wetland, Horseshoe Lake, Styx Mill, The Groynes, Southshore Reserve, Halswell Quarry Park and Orton Bradley Park have been run by Trees for Canterbury and Christchurch City Council.
Volunteer
Planting a future forest requires land ownership, long-term maintenance and protection, planning and organisation. When we volunteer at a community planting day, all the hard stuff is done for us. All we have to do is dig.
Volunteers aged from 3 to 83 have taken part. If you can walk 500 metres over rough ground then you are fit enough to lend a hand. In less than 2 hours you will be relaxing in the sun, enjoying a bbq.
The hardest part of volunteering is turning up. You have to get out of bed, find some gumboots, travel to the event. By yourself, you're probably not going to do it. Turning up requires a sense of shared mission, that your morning effort is contributing to something worthwhile.
What have we achieved?
One of the biggest plantings is in the Cranford flood basin on Philpotts Road, Mairehau.
In the future forest at Mairehau, kahikatea saplings are nurtured into adolescence. Their seed was collected from Putaringamotu - Riccarton Bush and grown into seedlings by Trees for Canterbury.
We joined the community planting days at Mairehau over many months in 2020 and 2021. In 2022 we returned to join the volunteers adding companion plants to nurse this floodplain into a forest ecosystem.
Only the strongest seedlings planted in the sweet spots between the stop banks and field drains survive, but these mōrehu will seed many descendents. 40,000 forest giants will grow here.
The first fruits of this work are beginning to take shape. Shelter plants like Ngaio are reaching waist height. The Kahikatea is at knee height. Within 10 years these future giants will be taller than the tallest adult.
What can you do?
Trees for Canterbury publishes an annual list of events during the planting season. All you have to do is turn up.
Previous Events:
Related Sites:
