Church leaders from across traditions gathered in Newry this month for a major care for creation conference, as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18–25 January) begins with an ecumenical call for Christians to live as “one body and one spirit”.
Marking the unity week, Archbishop Eamon Martin, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, and Archbishop John McDowell, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, pointed to St Paul’s appeal in Ephesians 4 to live “with humility, gentleness, patience and love”, saying the image of “one body, one spirit” describes a Church whose unity “transcends barriers of geography, nationality, ethnicity and tradition”.
The outworking of that shared witness was seen at the ‘Let justice flow like rivers’ conference in the Canal Court Hotel, Newry, organised by Ireland’s Church Leaders’ Group, the Irish Council of Churches and the Irish Inter-Church Meeting. Up to 200 people attended, including theologians, scientists, clergy and lay leaders, in a faith-based response to the pollution of Lough Neagh and wider environmental concerns.
During the gathering Archbishop Martin, Bishop Sarah Groves, president of the Irish Council of Churches, and Archbishop McDowell led prayers for creation. “What do environmental issues have to do with the Bible?” asked Dr Hilary Marlow of the University of Cambridge, telling participants that “creation is like God’s voice to us” and that “climate injustice is a systemic human problem”.
Dr Jim McAdam outlined how pollution has contributed to nutrient enrichment and blue-green algae, creating toxins harmful to ecology and people, adding: “The challenge for us is to support farmers to find nature based, scientifically proven, solutions.” Rev Dr Karen Campbell said she hoped churches would “mutually collaborate to care for our common home”.
