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Lenten Bishops' Appeal asks us to reconnect with creation
The Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal for World Aid and Development is encouraging parishes across the island to take part in its #Connect4Creation project for Lent 2021.
This initiative helps members of the Church to connect with God, who is in our midst, and with their surroundings and the natural world.
#Connect4Creation provides activities for taking time to learn about the wonder of bees, doing simple actions to support them, and getting involved in supporting communities and bees across the world.
Christian Aid, a Bishops’ Appeal partner agency, is working in communities in Zimbabwe where beehives form a crucial part of complex, flourishing ecosystem that contains bees, crops, woodlands and people; each needing to play their part for the flourishing of the whole. The resource has also been put together with help from Eco Congregation Ireland and Muddy Church.
Locally, parishioners can plant flowers to increase the number of habitats for pollinators, make bee hotels, and explore their local areas, using specially designed Muddy Bee Trail prompt cards full of interesting facts and Bible verses to help you wander and wonder this Lent.
Actions that can help to focus on global issues include fundraising (it costs around €67/£60 to fund the building of a beehive in Zimbabwe), prayer, and creating crafts, a bee trail, or honeycomb crunchie bars, which can help as a fundraiser too.
Donations can be saved up and sent in after the end of Lent; see www.bishopsappeal.ireland.anglican.org/give for options for bank details and how to increase the value of what you give through Gift Aid or charitable tax relief.
Have a great time exploring God’s creation over these next few weeks as spring starts and the days get longer. And feel free to share how you’re getting on with the hashtag #Connect4Creation.