Saturday 5th May 2018- Conservation, the Environment and Theology: Views from the Southern Hemisphere. CRES Day at Ripon College Cuddesdon with Rev Dr Selwyn Yeoman and Rev Dr Rachel Mash REPORT
We had a wonderful and rather unusual CRES Day on Saturday 5th May 2018. Around 30 people assembled from all over England, including many of our students and their tutors. We also had a fair number of external people who had heard about the day from other sources.
After coffee, CRES Principal Tutor, Dr Martin Hodson, welcomed everyone and introduced the day.
Our first lecture was by Rev Dr Selwyn Yeoman (Head of the Dunedin branch of A Rocha New Zealand): “Green linings under the long white cloud: A Rocha in Aotearoa New Zealand”. Selwyn outlined the environmental history of New Zealand, and then considered the problems. It was very obvious that invasive species were a major concern. He went on to describe the development of A Rocha in New Zealand, and the type of work they were engaged in.
After a short break, Rev Dr Rachel Mash (Environmental Coordinator for the Anglican Church of Southern Africa) gave our second lecture: “Droughts and floods: the face of Climate change in South Africa?” This was a very different context to New Zealand, and the main problem was climate change and its effects. Rachel also discussed the work of Green Anglicans in the African context. By this time we were ready for lunch!
Immediately after lunch, we had a time of questions for the two speakers, and then we looked at the CRES News. We have lots of students and a new module!
In our last lecture Rev Dr Selwyn Yeoman looked at some environmental theology: “Well Jesus never talked about this did he! Did he? The gospel and creation care.”
We then went outside into the glorious sunshine for a short service led by Rev Margot Hodson- a great end to the day.
Tea was then taken, and people headed home. We thank our two excellent speakers, all our participants, and Ripon College Cuddesdon for hosting us so well.