Welcome to the A Rocha Leaders’ Forum 2025!
From 10-17 May, leaders from the A Rocha Worldwide Family will gather in the Philippines for a week to worship, connect, learn, discuss and make decisions together. The world is changing fast and needs A Rocha more than ever. Our prayer and theme for the week is ‘Your Kingdom come, on earth’ and our Bible reflections will take us through the Lord’s Prayer together each day. We hope and pray that through the worship, friendships, workshops, good food and nature we experience that the Holy Spirit will strengthen, connect and equip us for our shared mission into which we are called.
From 10-13 May, we also welcome representatives from the Friends of A Rocha Network and groups in the region who are interested in potentially working with A Rocha.
We look forward to an inspiring and meaningful time together!
Cavite
Forum Schedule
Session descriptions are below (in process!).
Scroll down or click on the relevant sessions for info.
Introduction:
What is the A Rocha Leaders’ Forum?
A Rocha Fora are very special gatherings – a residential week every three years to gather A Rocha leaders from around the world. The purpose of our coming together is fourfold (as taken from the Covenant):Â
- To meet together for worship, Bible teaching, prayer and fellowship Â
- To share experiences and lessons learned in our own area of the A Rocha Worldwide FamilyÂ
- To pray for one another, enable encouragement and share ideasÂ
- To seek together God’s guidance for the strategic direction of the A Rocha Worldwide FamilyÂ
We have important work to do together over this week, all in the context of worship, biblical teaching, prayer, fellowship, and supporting and encouraging one another. A Rocha’s calling to demonstrate Christ’s love through caring for all He has made has never been more important or relevant. It is a remarkable blessing and privilege to serve and worship God through the care of his creation, and to gather together from across the world to share it together. Â
KEY COMPONENTS OF THE FORUM:Â Â
1. Worship and Bible reflection: we will start each morning with collective worship and reflections on the Lord’s Prayer. Â
2. Fellowship Groups: time is allocated daily in assigned small groups to reflect further on the Bible teaching and pray together. Each group has a facilitator to help guide the group.   Â
3. Covenant in Action sessions: discussions on the following specific themes with which the family is prayerfully engaging. Â
- Safeguarding: looking to agree minimum standardsÂ
- MAFCs (Minimum Annual Financial Contributions): reviewing the last three years and looking ahead and pledging for the next threeÂ
- Brand integrity committee: a proposal to include the family more in the development, review and championing of our brand across the familyÂ
- Dispute resolution committee: a proposal to create a committee to arbitrate disputes in the A Rocha family that otherwise cannot be resolved between two parties. This could be helpful in fundraising protocols and brand integrity.Â
- Clause U2 (in the A Rocha Covenant): a proposal to develop family-wide fundraising protocols, as per clause U2.Â
4. Learning Circles: our new title for workshops! Four sessions where you are invited to explore a particular theme. Â
5. Prayer space: we plan to have a dedicated prayer space where you are welcome to pause and pray. See the schedule for specific prayer times with others (and one prayer walk) in the mornings and evenings.Â
6. A Rocha Showcase: at each Forum, time is set aside to share with each other about our work in some specific way. To lighten the pre-Forum workload, we will all be making posters on site to create something through which you can share who and how you are.Â
7. Posters: each represented ARO or group will make a poster to create a vehicle to share something about themselves and their work over two evenings.Â
Opening Plenary
Covenant in Action introduction, hopes and dreams
– DANIEL HALL –
Ed Walker (ARI)
Ed will give an introduction to the week, an overview of our work, vision and mission together, and a reminder of our strategy and why we are all here. Don Buckingham will then give an overview of the conversations we have been holding on the Covenant in Action themes, which will also serve as an introduction to the Covenant in Action sessions.
Being A Rocha
Jo Swinney (ARI) & Sarah Walker (ARI)Â
What does it mean to ‘be A Rocha’? We share a name, mission, vision and commitments, and live them out in a variety of contexts and cultures. Many of us seem to recognise a person, project or experience as distinctively ‘A Rocha’. But what does that mean?
On this, the first day of the Forum, gathered from around the world, we offer a team-building activity – a serious and silly opportunity to get to know one another and A Rocha better. Our hope is that laughter and creativity will unpack the foundation of what is beneath. We’ll think about ‘being’: what does it mean to you to be part of A Rocha? What words do you use to describe A Rocha? Who is this family of which I am part? And we’ll dream up some A Rocha creatures to give expression to our ideas. Come ready to play!
Conservation Inspiration
Church Engagement & EEÂ Inspiration
Monday & Wednesday: Inspiring tales from the field – Conservation
Tuesday & Thursday: Inspiring tales from the field – Church Engagement & EEÂ
Jeremy Lindsell & Kuki Rokhum with many ARO voices: Seth Appiah-Kubi, Colin Beale, Dave Bookless, Marcial Felgueiras, Colin Jackson, Jo Herbert-James, Avinash Krishan, Mel Ong, Ursula Peutot, Bob Sluka, Kristel van Houte, Luke Wilson… Â
The goal of these sessions is to inform and inspire you, to have you return home brimming with stories to share with your team and communities. In two of the sessions, we will hear conservation stories that demonstrate the excellence of our work and set a good standard. In the other two, we will hear stories of church engagement and EE. Overall, we hope these stories will offer a good cross-section of issues, approaches, contexts and learning to educate and inspire.Â
Women in conservation breakfast
Kristel van Houte (ARANZ)
Are you a woman working in the field of conservation? WWF’s 2020 Gender & Conservation Report shows women make up less than 30% of global conservation professionals. Kristel will facilitate a conversation over breakfast to hear from the women attending the Forum about their experiences working in conservation. Men are very welcome to attend but will be asked to put their full attention into listening to their sisters, rather than joining in with the conversation verbally.Â
Decision-making Meeting
Paragraph R of the Covenant explains the role of the Decision-making Meeting: this is the occasion where the Family makes its formal decisions. While all are welcome to attend, only board chairs (or their designates) of the AROs and ARI can vote. Every effort will be made to make decisions by consensus. Â
We have four main items on the agenda, flowing out of the Covenant in Action themes:Â
- Agreement of minimum safeguarding standardsÂ
- Agreement of MAFC pledges for the next three yearsÂ
- Approval of the creation of the Brand Integrity Committee and its Terms of ReferenceÂ
- Agreement of fundraising protocolsÂ
We will close the meeting with a communion service.Â
Wednesday Local Outing
On Wednesday morning, we have some time off for rest and play! Our hope is to visit a local lake and volcano – how close we want to get, given its recent restlessness, is to be confirmed. We will finalise plans once on site.Â
Covenant in Action
Every family, small or large, has issues and decisions to work through. So too does every organization. The larger the family and the more responsibility bestowed on it, the larger the issues. Our A Rocha family is structured and covenanted to take major decisions collaboratively. We have a long history of working well on issues together – in recent years the Covenant and the shared strategic direction document are shining examples of this.
This year, after much prayerful discussion, we are tabling the following Covenant in Action themes, described below. Decisions will be made at the 16 May Decision-making Meeting.
During the course of the week we will cover these themes across a minimum of four Covenant in Action sessions, responding to the level of attention needed. Thank you for your prayerful discernment and wisdom on these matters!
| ROOM | TOPICS |
|---|---|
| Moses Hall |
Safeguarding
We are looking to agree minimum standards on this. Chaired by João Martinez da Cruz (ARI) |
| Joshua Hall |
MAFCs (Minimum Annual Financial Contributions)
Reviewing the last three years, and looking ahead and pledging for the next three years. Chaired by Seth Appiah-Kubi (AR Ghana) |
| Pavillion |
Brand integrity committee
A proposal to include the family more in the review and championing of our brand across the family. Chaired by Don Buckingham (AR Canada) & Jo Swinney (ARI) |
| Daniel Hall |
Clause U2 (in the A Rocha Covenant) and fundraising protocols
A proposal to develop, as per paragraph U2 of the Covenant, family-wide protocols for fundraising. Chaired by Marcial Felgueiras (AR Portugal) & Annemarthe Westerbeek (AR Netherlands) |
Learning Circles
The new name for workshops! Four sessions where you are invited to explore a particular theme.Â
| DATE | OPTIONS |
|---|---|
|
Sun 11 May
Learning Circle 1 16:45-18:00 |
1A. Conservation evidence: how do we understand we are making a difference?
Facilitated by Jeremy Lindsell (ARI), Colin Beale (ARUK), Carmela Española (CIC), Marcial Felgueiras (A Rocha Portugal) & Avinash Krishnan (A Rocha India) ROOM: Daniel Hall Strategic enabler 1 of the ARWF is focused on enhancing our effectiveness. If we are to enhance the effectiveness of our conservation work, we need to know how effective we are being, as well as find ways to be more effective. We are not alone. The use and generation of evidence in conservation is an issue of growing interest and concern in the research and conservation communities. Although there are many successes in conservation, and conservation can be shown to work (though that can often be difficult), there is still a sense that we need to find new and better ways if we are to achieve transformational goals. Furthermore, it is not always the case that conservation practitioners fully integrate lessons learned from elsewhere when planning interventions, nor always report their own outcomes in a way that can be learned from by others. The aim of this Learning Circle is to engage in a practical discussion about how evidence is used, could be used and could be generated to increase the effectiveness of our conservation work. We will explore where we are doing this well already, where we could be doing more, what the barriers are to uptake and what sorts of changes we could make to help us progress in this area. |
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1B. Prayer’s role in discernment: how do we make decisions and move towards God’s kingdom in a deeply prayerful way?
Facilitated by Luke Wilson (A Rocha Canada) ROOM: Joshua Hall We know that following God’s ways and leading is fundamental, if not essential, in creation care work. But so often you and I lean on our own strength because we are human. Prayer, beyond being a good tool and strategy, is our relational link to restoring relationships with God, ourselves, others and all creation. In this shared-learning experience we will both practice and share on the question, how do we make decisions and move towards God’s kingdom in a deeply prayerful way? |
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1C. Developing A Rocha’s capacity-building engagement structure
Facilitated by João Martinez da Cruz (ARI) and Ken Brown (ARI) ROOM: Moses Hall Seeing so much need but feeling unable to do more? Eager for change but not sure where to start? Loving the hands-on work but struggling with the admin and governance? Worried you won't be able to pay this month's salaries? If this sounds like you, or you would like to be able to support those in such situations, then please come along to this learning circle to hear about and input into the plans to increase our capacity and to share knowledge and skills. This session will introduce the Learning Together programme and will give you an opportunity to help shape the mutual support, joint learning and growth of each member of the A Rocha family. Do come ready to share ideas! |
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Mon 12 May
Learning Circle 2 14:00-15:10 |
2A. Growing together: cultivating the next generation of creation care leaders
Facilitated by James Beck (A Rocha Aotearoa NZ) and Luke Wilson (A Rocha Canada) ROOM: Daniel Hall What does it look like to engage young people meaningfully in the mission of A Rocha – and to form them as leaders, not just helpers? How do we nurture the next generation without losing the heart of who we are? James and Luke will draw on their experience to open a conversation about raising up young leaders in creation care. Together, we’ll explore how to build pathways for leadership, create space for intergenerational collaboration and foster a culture that welcomes new voices while honouring the legacy of those who’ve gone before. The session will be story-driven and practical, with room for honest dialogue about the challenges and possibilities of succession, innovation and mission alignment. Whether you’re involved in leadership development already or wondering how to start, come ready to listen, share and reimagine how we grow the movement – together. |
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2B. Environmental education: sharing best practice and moving ahead as a family
Facilitated by Petr Pokorný (A Rocha Czech Republic) ROOM: Joshua Hall This workshop supports ARI’s ongoing listening exercise on the future of environmental education (EE), a core part of A Rocha’s mission and the Worldwide Family strategy. We remain committed to EE and, through this workshop, aim to gather diverse perspectives on how it can be sustained and strengthened across the family. The workshop will equally offer an opportunity to share good practice and stories which celebrate our inspiring EE work. This 70-minute session will be divided between the listening exercise and the sharing segment on practical EE approaches. Drawing on your own ARO’s experience, please come prepared with ideas for the future of EE across our network, as well as ideas for ARI to possibly take forward. |
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2C. Responding to a changing world in light of current political shifts
Facilitated by Rachel Calvert (A Rocha France) & Ed Walker (ARI) ROOM: Moses Hall The world, it feels, has shifted this year. Wars, trade wars, huge cuts to funding to the poorest, more money being spent on armament while less is coming to the environment. Even science and education institutes are under threat. We are a science-based movement, with knowledge and education in our charitable aims. Meanwhile, the poor and nature continue to suffer at alarming rates. Many are feeling shaken and looking for anchors. How do we ‘show up’ in this space? How does one ARO’s communications affect another’s? What does ‘prophetic’ mean for us? Do we lift our voice in words or are our actions enough? Are there opportunities as well as threats for us? Let’s make the most of this time to listen to each other and look ahead together. |
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Tue 13 May
Learning Circle 3 14:00-15:10 |
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3A. Conservation evidence: how do we understand we are making a difference?
Facilitated by Jeremy Lindsell (ARI), Colin Beale (ARUK), Carmela Española (CIC), Marcial Felgueiras (A Rocha Portugal) & Avinash Krishnan (A Rocha India) ROOM: Daniel Hall Strategic enabler 1 of the ARWF is focused on enhancing our effectiveness. If we are to enhance the effectiveness of our conservation work, we need to know how effective we are being, as well as find ways to be more effective. We are not alone. The use and generation of evidence in conservation is an issue of growing interest and concern in the research and conservation communities. Although there are many successes in conservation, and conservation can be shown to work (though that can often be difficult), there is still a sense that we need to find new and better ways if we are to achieve transformational goals. Furthermore, it is not always the case that conservation practitioners fully integrate lessons learned from elsewhere when planning interventions, nor always report their own outcomes in a way that can be learned from by others. The aim of this Learning Circle is to engage in a practical discussion about how evidence is used, could be used and could be generated to increase the effectiveness of our conservation work. We will explore where we are doing this well already, where we could be doing more, what the barriers are to uptake and what sorts of changes we could make to help us progress in this area. |
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3B. Climate Programme: progress and looking ahead
Facilitated by Jean-François Mouhot (A Rocha France) and Stuart Blanch (A Rocha Australia) ROOM: Joshua Hall Is your ARO observing the impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems? Have you noticed corporations or governments walking away from ambitious climate targets or trying to silence climate science? Does your work involve supporting communities impacted by more extreme weather, or young people suffering climate anxiety? Are Christians you engage with considering the climate as part of their discipleship in Christ? If yes to any of these questions, we invite you to learn about progress in drafting objectives, activities and outputs for the A Rocha Climate Programme, which was agreed at the 2022 Forum. Come and learn about the steering group’s work to draft the AR Climate Programme’s four objectives, proposed activities and draft outputs. We will present the results of the family survey sent out in 2023, update you on progress and seek your comments and suggestions on the draft programme and how to ensure it is effective and helpful to AROs in the face of the interlinked nature and climate crises. |
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3C. Developing A Rocha’s capacity-building engagement structure
Facilitated by João Martinez da Cruz (ARI) and Ken Brown (ARI) ROOM: Moses Hall Seeing so much need but feeling unable to do more? Eager for change but not sure where to start? Loving the hands-on work but struggling with the admin and governance? Worried you won't be able to pay this month's salaries? If this sounds like you, or you would like to be able to support those in such situations, then please come along to this learning circle to hear about and input into the plans to increase our capacity and to share knowledge and skills. This session will introduce the Learning Together programme and will give you an opportunity to help shape the mutual support, joint learning and growth of each member of the A Rocha family. Do come ready to share ideas! |
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Thu 15 May
Learning Circle 4 14:00-15:10 |
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4A. Shaping the donor journey
Facilitated by Jo Swinney (ARI) and Jacob Ämterlind (A Rocha Sweden) ROOM: Daniel Hall A Rocha relies heavily on charitable donations from individuals, and fortunately we have some loyal and generous supporters. How do we encourage new people to give, and look after those we have? How does a one-time donor become a regular giver who champions us to their own networks? This will be a practical, interactive session aimed at equipping you to care for your supporters, grow your individual donor base and become a more effective fundraiser. |
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4B. Church engagement: opportunities and challenges
Panel discussion: James Beck (ARANZ), Rachel Calvert (A Rocha France), Sara Kaweesa (A Rocha Uganda), Jo Herbert-James (ARUK) & Kuki Rokhum (ARI) ROOM: Joshua Hall Across the A Rocha family, church engagement (CE) is taking root in a wide variety of ways, shaped by each country’s context, culture, and history. In this Learning Circle, we invite participants into a conversation about how CE is being expressed in different A Rocha Organizations (AROs) and what we can learn from each other’s experience. From Canada’s Good Seed Sunday to France’s ambassador programme, Eco Church initiatives in places like New Zealand, Ghana and the UK to unique partnerships in the USA and rural outreach in Uganda, the diversity of models reflects both creativity and contextual wisdom. Our hope is that this Learning Circle will spark ideas, deepen mutual understanding and encourage each of us in our shared calling to engage the Church. Whether you are just beginning this journey or have years of experience, this is a space to explore how CE can flourish in different soils – and how we can support one another along the way. |
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4C. Open workshop space
ROOM: Moses Hall Open workshop space – if further discussion is needed on anything or if a topic spontaneously arises. |
Bible Reflections on the Lord’s Prayer
| DAY & TIME | SPEAKER | THEME |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 9:20-9:50 *flexible | Sara Kaweesa & Kuki Rokhum | 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name': putting worship of our holy, creating, saving God at the heart of all we do |
| Mon 9:20-9:50 | Rachel Calvert | 'Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven': conservation and loving our neighbours as kingdom work |
| Tues 9:20-9:50 | Bishop Efraim Tendero | ‘Give us this day our daily bread’: thankfulness, dependence and careful stewardship of resources |
| Wed 14:20-14:50 *flexible | Rodel Lasco | ‘Forgive us our sins as we forgive others’: reconciliation with God, self, neighbour, creation (shalom) |
| Thurs 9:20-9:50 | Dave Bookless | ‘Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory’: returning to worship as the offering of our whole lives; seeing our work in A Rocha – whatever we do – as worship |
| Fri 16:20-17:00 *flexible | Dave Bookless | Final reflections on the Lord’s Prayer before closing with communion. How do we carry what we've experienced back to our teams and apply it in our contexts? How do we keep the big vision of God's kingdom central in the busyness of the everyday? |
Prayer Space
We plan to have a dedicated prayer space where everyone is welcome to pause and pray, open 24/7. See the schedule for specific prayer times with others (and one prayer walk) in the mornings and evenings.
A Rocha Showcase
We’re always looking for a way to share with each other about our work. As in 2022, we will have a session where each represented ARO or group will make a poster to share something about themselves and their work. You’ll be given flip chart paper and pens to answer the following questions:Â
- What would you like the gathered A Rocha family to know about your work / your current reality / your challenges / your dreams for the future?Â
- What impact do you hope your work will have?Â
Monday afternoon 16:45-18:00: we will create our posters. Â
Monday and Tuesday evenings 20:15-21:30: we will mingle together around the posters, like at a scientific conference: one person from each group will stand by their poster to answer questions as people move around the room. For those with only one delegate, we’ll make it work! By doing this over two evenings, we hope everyone will have a chance to engage with all the posters. Â
These won’t be professional posters: that’s completely fine! Have a think now what you’d like to share, talk with your team and bring along any photos you may wish to include. (P.S. Printing is not available on site.)  Â
Fellowship Groups
Everyone will be assigned to an (optional) small group which will meet after the Bible reflections to unpack the topics further and pray together. The Bible reflection speakers will provide a few discussion questions as a support, if desired.
Questions Cafe
Come and ask any question you may have! About God, nature, conservation, ethics, dealing with tricky volunteer situations… anything. We’ll have a panel of people ready to share their thoughts, and a roomful of colleagues with whom we can all reflect together.
Examples from past Fora: will anything from A Rocha’s work last into the new creation? How can I build a team when we work remotely? Is biodiversity conservation an ethical issue? Who flies faster – angels or Peregrine Falcons?
Open Microphone Night
A chance to step away from cerebral thinking and analysis and to explore the diversity of A Rocha in music, poetry and song! Bring along a song or dance, read a poem, tell a story, perform a piece of music from your country or that means something to you – the more participatory and interactive, the better. We will have limited instruments, but we have feet, hands and voices! Â
Friday Night Dress Up for Dinner
We would like to close the Forum with a dress-up dinner on Friday night. If your culture has a traditional formal dress, we’d love it if you wore it! We will then have an evening to relax, continue conversations and perhaps have the chance to look at the stars, enjoy a campfire or some relaxed way to connect as we close the week. Thank you all for coming! Â
John Stott Memorial Birding Day
On 10 May 2025, teams around the world will take part in the John Stott Memorial Birding Day organised by A Rocha to commemorate and celebrate our great friend and supporter John Stott’s legacy as a theologian, pastor and birdwatcher. Why not form a group while at CCT Tagaytay and join in the bird race?
