6 June 2022
The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, has planted a tree in the garden of the Anglican Communion Office – the London-based secretariat for the worldwide Anglican Communion – as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy. The Anglican Communion Office is based in a former convent that was home to the Sisters of the Community of Saint Andrew. The site’s enclosed garden is used by staff and visitors to the building in Notting Hill, London.
The tree planted in the Anglican Communion Office garden is an Acer Palmatum Dissectum Viride – a Japanese Maple shaped as a rounded bush, which has deeply dissected lime green leaves in the spring and summer before turning into a deep golden yellow in the autumn. Staff gathered in the garden for the tree planting ceremony which took the form of a simple liturgical act of worship.
The Revd Rachel Carnegie, Executive Director of the Anglican Alliance, one of the bodies based at the Anglican Communion Office, said: “we are so inspired by churches around the Communion in South Africa, India, Malaysia and many other places that are planting trees for significant events, whether its baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and so forth, honouring people in those significant moments and honouring God, because tree planting is part of our call.
“In the Mark of Mission we talk about ‘Safeguarding Creation and sustaining and renewing the life of the Earth’. Protecting Forests and Restoring Forests is one of the very important things that everybody can do towards protecting our environment and trying to deal with climate change.”
The Queen’s Green Canopy is the UK’s response to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy – a unique network of forest conservation projects in the 45 countries of the Commonwealth. The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy brings collective credibility and integrity to individual Commonwealth initiatives. The schemes are part of the celebrations to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
A four-day extended weekend has just concluded which marked the key central Jubilee celebration events in the UK. Events are taking place throughout the year to mark throughout the UK and elsewhere in the world to mark the Queen’s 70 years of service as Monarch and Head of State of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
ENDS
Note to editors: Free-for-editorial-use photos of the tree planting at the Anglican Communion Office can be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/3xmCK6b
For further information contact:
Gavin Drake
Communications Director
The Anglican Communion
Landline / Office: 020 7313 3908 / +44 20 7313 3908
Mobile / Cell: 07795 570301 / +44 7795 570301