Let’s work together to promote and encourage action around thefour R’s of Reduce, Re-use, Recycle and Rejoice,” said Harare Bishop Chad Gandiya. Photo: Shutterstock
The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has introduced a new course on”greenhouse theology” to empower priests with knowledge about creation,the environment and its preservation.
Harare Bishop Chad Gandiya announced this yesterday at a pressconference held at St Mary and All Saints Cathedral in Harare which wasattended by many high-level government officials including the Ministerof Environment, Water and Climate, Saviour Kasukuwere.
“The course on greenhouse theology is taught to all those trainingfor the ordained ministry in the Anglican Church and it is our hope thatthe priests will take this to the parishes they will be assigned to intheir dioceses,” said Bp Gandiya.
He emphasized the importance that Anglican Churches around the worldattach to the environment. He cited the Anglican Communion’s fifth markof mission, which encourages Anglicans to “strive to safeguard theintegrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.”
The Bishop also announced that the youths in his diocese would bespearheading a clean-up campaign on October 26 in Harare. He said, “Wewill not only be cleaning certain parts of our city, but even moreimportantly, raise awareness in our capital city, and indeed in Zimbabweas a whole, about caring for the environment through proper or smartdisposal of our waste.”
The Church will also hold other localised campaigns in all urban andrural Parishes. “We want everyone to take action for a green, cleanenvironment,” said Bishop Gandiya. “For this to happen we need acomplete change in everyone’s mind-set, hence the importance of raisingawareness.”
He added, “All we are saying to all Zimbabweans is Keep It Clean,Zimbabwe. Let’s work together to promote and encourage action around thefour R’s of Reduce, Re-use, Recycle and Rejoice.”
The Diocese of Harare is a partner of the Green Church Movement,which is co-ordinated by Environment Africa, a body that encourages allFaith Based Organisations (FBOs) to get involved and take action onenvironmental issues.
“Together let’s take care of our planet earth by respecting andprotecting our forests, our animals, our water, our air, our soil, andour flora and fauna,” said Bishop Gandiya. “Let’s stop polluting andpoisoning God’s creation. Let’s start caring for God’s world because asustainable future is possible.”