Press Releases03 May 12

‘God’s Creation – Our Responsibility?’ theme of Eco–Congregation Ireland’s inaugural conference

Eco–Congregation Ireland (ECI) is holding its inaugural conference in Dromantine Retreat and Conference Centre, near Newry, Co Down, on September 14 & 15 2012, and warmly invites all those interested to attend.

The theme of the two–day event will be ‘God’s Creation – Our Responsibility?’ with talks and workshops on a variety of topics related to faith and the environment.
 
The line–up of speakers includes:

Prof David Horrell – teaches modules on a wide range of New Testament topics in Exeter University, including New Testament ethics and the Bible and environmental ethics. He is co–author of Greening Paul: Rereading the Apostle in an Age of Ecological Crisis.

Dr Alastair McIntosh – Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology, Glasgow, Honorary Fellow of the Schumacher Society and Visiting Professor of Human Ecology at the University of Strathclyde. His books include Rekindling Community: Connecting People, Environment and Spirituality.

Rev Peter Owen–Jones – Anglican clergyman, author and television presenter. His 2009 BBC documentary, How to Live a Simple Life, saw him turn his back on consumerism to follow in the footsteps of St Francis.

Dr Anne Primavesi – Fellow of the Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion, Birkbeck College, University of London. A systematic theologian focussing on ecology, her books include Cultivating Unity within the Biodiversity of God.

Prof Stephen Williams – Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological College, Belfast. He has published in different areas in biblical studies, theology and intellectual history, including Revelation and Reconciliation: a Window on Modernity.
 
Workshop topics will include God’s Creation and poetry, Celtic spirituality, ecology and the eucharist, ethical investments, ecology and the economy, climate change, how to become an eco–congregation and helping children and young people nurture respect for the earth.

Workshop facilitators will include Dr Una Agnew SSL, Rev Grace Clunie, Robert Cochran, Mary Kate Hagan RSM, Alex Hill, Hugh O’Donnell SDB, Tony Weekes and Fitzroy Presbyterian Caring for Creation Group as well as Dr Alastair McIntosh and Rev Peter Owen–Jones.

ECI chairperson, Sr Catherine Brennan, looks forward to welcoming a broad section of people to the conference from both north and south of the border. “The stark sign of our time is a planet in peril at our hands and it is poor people who suffer most from environmental impoverishment,” she says. “Commitment to the poor and commitment to the well–being of life on this planet must go together as two inter–related dimensions of the one Christian vocation.

“The great incomprehensible mystery of our transcendent God is also the dynamic Spirit at the heart of the natural world and its evolution. When people begin to think about God in relation to this world, it leads to a whole new approach in theology, biblical studies and everyday spirituality.”

Participants are welcome to attend all, or part, of the conference. See http://ecocongregationireland.com/archives/3349 for further details and to download a booking form (also available here. There will also be a public lecture followed by an open forum at 8pm on the Friday evening (September 14).

ECI is an ecumenical project that encourages churches, communities and individuals to adopt an eco–friendly approach to worship, lifestyle, property and finance management, community outreach and contact with the developing world.

It was initiated in 2005 by the Church in Society Forum, a standing committee of the Irish Inter–Church Meeting, in co–operation with the Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland, Methodist and Presbyterian churches and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Ireland.