MMUK’s 2023 Creation Care Highlights

2023 has been an action-packed year for MMUK in terms of Creation Care. This year has seen some exciting successes thanks to the generous support from all of you.
Creation Care workshops at Exeter Cathedral
The year started with climate action workshops for Year 5 and 6 pupils at Exeter Cathedral led by our Care for Creation Officer, Marie Schlenker, and Canon Cate Edmonds. In total, 100 pupils from five different schools in Devon were engaged with the workshops. Pupils learnt about Creation Care, the science of climate change, weather monitoring, impacts of environmental change in Melanesia and climate change mitigation and adaptation. With this knowledge, the pupils developed their own ideas on how to make their schools more environmentally friendly and set-up their own weather stations. We would like to thank Exeter Cathedral who partnered with us on this initiative as well as all our lovely supporters who have made these workshops possible.
Visit to Solomon Islands
In April, our Care for Creation Officer travelled to Solomon Islands for six weeks to support the expansion of the ACoM Environment Observatories, which are helping communities to collect data on climate change and plan for the future. Together with local project manager, Freda Fataka, Marie visited communities in South Malaita and Guadalcanal to provide training and disseminate results of Marie’s PhD research on climate change. As a result, six new observatory sites were set-up in 2023, with more being planned for 2024. Furthermore, Marie shared her research findings with important stakeholders from government, civil society organisations and the Anglican Communion as part of the Oceania Regional Advisory Committee (ORAC), which advises the Oceania Anglican FONO comprised of the primates in the Pacific region.

MMUK Pilgrimage from Bath to Glastonbury
From 24th to 29th September, a group of MMUK pilgrims walked and unicycled 60 miles from Bath to Glastonbury to raise awareness about the climate crisis and fundraise for the environment observatories. Starting in Bath with a sending off from Mary Magdalen Chapel and a blessing at Bath Abbey, our pilgrims travelled along the Glastonbury Waterway, praying at churches and speaking to people they met along the way. Many thanks to the people and communities who welcomed us on our journey and our sponsors! In total, the group raised over £2,800 for MMUK’s work on climate change adaptation in Melanesia. Thanks to your generous support, we will be able to significantly expand our environment observatory project in 2024.

Creation Care Course
In November, we ran a three-week course on climate action for the Otter Vale Mission Community in Devon, in collaboration with Revd Lydia Cook, who had travelled out to Solomon Islands earlier this year. In two online sessions, attendees learnt about the theology and science of climate change, impacts in Melanesia, and options for mitigation and adaptation. Following the online sessions, the Mission Community made their own eco pledges during an in-person service at Ottery St Mary, which included inspiring people to care for the environment, rewilding their churchyards, exploring renewable energy generation for their churches and engaging with local politicians.
Review and Outlook
2023 has been an exciting year for Creation Care and we could not have done it without our incredible supporters. From all of us here at MMUK, we would like to extend a huge thank you for your engagement and support!
We are also proud of our Care for Creation Officer Marie for submitting her PhD thesis in November on climate change impacts in Melanesia. Unfortunately, this means that Marie will be leaving us in the coming months to take the next step in her career.
“I would like to thank everyone at MMUK for the incredible experiences that I have had working here. I appreciate the opportunity to grow in my career, learn more about Melanesia and be part of such a lovely team with wonderful staff, trustees, and supporters. Even though I am ready for the next step in my career, I won’t just disappear. I look forward to staying connected with MMUK and Melanesia in the future.”
Here are some more successes in 2024! We are very excited about the following projects that have been in the making:
Throughout the year, our Care for Creation Officer Marie has been busy developing teaching resources on Creation Carefor primary and secondary schools, which will be available on MMUK’s new website in the new year. If you would like to receive the resource earlier, please get in touch with us.
Furthermore, Marie has been working with stakeholders in Melanesia to develop climate adaptation guides for rural villages in Melanesia, which will be shared with ACoM’s religious communities for dissemination in 2024.
2024 will also see the expansion of the environment observatories to more locations in Melanesia under the coordination of ACoM’s environment observatory project officer, Freda Fataka.