Earth Has Its Voices And Dream A Future

Earth has its Voices, but are we attuned to listening? Dream a Future, but do we focus on how we could make the future better?

To bring us back to fuller awareness of the wonders of creation and environmental justice the Justice Peace and Service Programme of the Conference of Churches in Aotearoa New Zealand (CCANZ) has produced both a video and a CD under the evocative title, Earth has its Voices.

To heighten the awareness of the young people who will help to form our world in this new millennium a song Dream a Future based on The Millennium Resolution has been recorded on CD and sent to all schools.

Environmental Justice I talked to Chris Nichol who directed the production of the video. He and the group planning the video shared their ideas. They chose the theme of environmental justice and decided that three stories from different parts of New Zealand, including one that reflected a Maori perspective, would best highlight this overarching theme.

Kaikoura whales Deep emotional responses to the wonder of creation Chris has vivid memories of filming the first section relating to the Whale Watch off the Kaikoura Coast. Viewing the whales would inspire a sense of wonder and introduce a Maori perspective with Marcus Solomon, Manager of the Whalewatch, talking about how passengers on the boat reacted when they saw the whales.

Wonderful shots of whales Chris and Graeme Ritchie, the cameraman, heard at 10.30 p.m. one night that it would be an opportune time to film the whales early the next morning. They left for Kaikoura at 2.30 a.m. and by 5.30 a.m. they were preparing to leave in the boat and film some of the forty whales off the coast that morning. Despite seasickness Graeme took some impressive shots.

Reforestation at Havelock North An action group making a difference to the environment The next sequence was shot in Havelock North where an ecology group from the parish of St Columba’s had taken on a major assignment reforesting an old river bed which is now a flood overflow channel. This area at first glance was ugly but the bird life is still there, and the group saw that it had the potential to become beautiful if it were restored to something like its original condition. This meant engaging with bureaucracy and overcoming some opposition, but with some enthusiastic supporters they gained permission to replant the area with native trees.

The weather was cloudy when Chris and Graeme visited Havelock North, but that has not spoilt the film. The grey skies heighten the sense that this is not a video advertising New Zealand but a genuine picture of people at work.

The people who took on the project were not all young, but they tackled the hard work involved with enthusiasm, even though a very dry summer meant that they had to carry heavy buckets of water uphill to protect the plants from the drought.

Recycling on the North Shore Citizen participation in a local body initiative This sequence was shot at a rubbish tip and fluent commentary was provided by a man who was due to retire in a week. The shots combined with the commentary to show the huge advantages of recycling.

Professional cameraman and video editor The material which Graeme filmed was edited by Chris Jones and the result is a professionally produced video.

The video is available at CCANZ for NZ$15.00.

Earth has its Voices – the CD The meetings of the Justice, Peace and Service Programme begin with a reflection, and at one meeting a member played the Dawn Chorus and this bird song inspired the group to plan a CD which looked at the wonder of creation through song, poetry and story.

The songs chosen were by New Zealanders – Shirley Murray, Colin Gibson and Roger Lusby – and the poems, reflections and stories by Joy Cowley, Meighan Morrison, Patricia Allan, A. M. Leaker, Rob Cooper, Bill Wallace, Dyan Sheldon and Gary Blythe. The choirs of Durham Street Methodist and Oxford Terrace Baptist Churches and a group of Christchurch readers presented the songs and readings about the voices of the earth.

Professional production Expert professional help for the technical production of the CD was provided by David Glenn of Plains FM 96.9 Christchurch.

The CD is available for purchase at CCANZ for NZ$15.00.

Posters on theology of life The pictures were chosen to stimulate ideas and discussion about themes like life and death, justice and power, faith, hope and love.

Sets of the posters have been used by many groups. They are still available at CCANZ for NZ$10.00 for the pack.

Dream a Future – Millennium outreach to schools To celebarate the millennium on behalf of the member churches the CCANZ Executive took on a new initiative – a CD of a Millennium song, Dream a Future, based on a millennium resolution produced by Churches Together in England.

"Let there be respect for the earth, peace for its people, love in our lives, delight in the good, forgiveness for past wrongs and from now on a new start."

Professor Colin Gibson of Dunedin wrote the song, and instrumental backing was arranged by Tony Ryan of Linwood High School, Christchurch, and LHS instrumentalists played the backing for singing from the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art in Christchurch.
The song is presented in three arrangements – in three parts with descant, in one part with a descant and in three parts without a descant and there is also a recording of the instrumental backing without singers.

The CD and a millennium poster with the resolution on it has been sent as a gift to all New Zealand schools. Children are now singing the song in schools all over New Zealand.

The Dream a Future pack of music, posters and CD can be purchased from CCANZ for NZ$10.00.

Millennium Resolution bookmarks Bookmarks with the resolution printed on the front and suggestions for millennium celebrations on the back are available for a donation from CCANZ.

CCANZ poster Click here for a larger version

Quality resources This initiative by CCANZ has produced quality resources and it is to be hoped that they will help to heighten our acknowledgement of the value of creation and our place in it as we look forward in this first year of the new millennium.

Contact Conference of Churches in Aotearoa New Zealand at P. O. Box 13 171 Christchurch 8001 New Zealand

Phone (03) 377 2703 for calls within New Zealand Phone (64) 3 377 2703 for calls from outside New Zealand

Email ccanz@clear.net.nz

Website www.ccanz.godzone.net.nz