On Thursday 7th September 2023, the Communion Forest hosted two webinars exploring Trees in the Spiritual Life of the Church. It was wonderful to have people from across the whole of the Anglican Communion on the calls, to hear and engage with the speakers’ absorbing reflections. From comments in the chat it was evident how much participants appreciated the talks and we encourage you to watch the recordings.
In the first session, we heard from:
Revd Canon Rachel Mash, of Green Anglicans and the Anglican Church of Southern Africa Environmental Network on Spirituality and Trees. Rachel looked at trees in the Bible and then described how different churches in Africa are incorporating tree growing and ecosystem conservation into their spirituality.
Dr Paulo Ueti, The Anglican Alliance’s Theological Adviser and Latin America Facilitator on Indigenous Spirituality. Paulo explored how values and practices of indigenous spirituality have influenced the Anglican Church of Brazil in tree growing and ecosystem conservation.
In the second session, our presenters were:
Archbishop Marinez Bassotto, Primate of the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil and Bishop of Amazonia, who spoke about how indigenous spirituality has influenced the Anglican Church of Brazil in its ministry of creation care.
Attorney Floyd Lalwet, Executive Director of Episcopal-CARE and General Secretary of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines on values and practices of Indigenous Spirituality in stewardship of creation in the Philippines.
Recordings of the complete sessions and the individual speakers are available as outlined below:
The full recording of the first session, including the questions and answers, prayers and updates is available in English here and in Arabic here.
Rachel’s presentation is available in English here and in Arabic here.
Paulo’s presentation is available in English here and in Arabic here.
The full recording of the second session, including the questions and answers, prayers and updates is available in English here, in Spanish here and in Portuguese here.
Atty Floyd’s presentation is available in English here, in Spanish here and in Portuguese here.
Archbishop Marinez’s presentation is available in English here, in Spanish here and in Portuguese here.