Jan with Corrymeela members Brian and Marian McLoughlin in the Croi at Corrymeela (with bronze statue of St Francis and the Birds by John Behan)
Brian McLoughlin sent us this report:
Corrymeela is Ireland’s oldest peace and reconciliation organisation. Our centre just outside Ballycastle opened sixty years ago this year. From 3-5 October members of the Corrymeela Community gathered there for our regular October weekend. The theme of the weekend, adopted from this year’s Season of Creation, was Peace with Creation. Having recently registered with ECI we were delighted to welcome Jan Corrie from ECI’s committee and her husband John as our guests. Our partners Arocha UK were also represented by NI Regional manager and Corrymeela member Bertie Stirling. The planned programme was somewhat curtailed by Storm Amy, which served as a reminder of the impact of climate change on our weather, but the weekend went ahead.
Corrymeela Leader Rev. Dr. Alex Wimberly reported to members on the Raising Hope conference in Rome from which he had just returned. He highlighted Pope Leo’s renewed call to an ecological conversion that transforms both personal and community lifestyles, observing that such a conversion can help us right our relationships not only with the earth but with each other. Noting that there were people at the conference from many different places, faiths and backgrounds, finding common cause in concern for our common home, Alex invited members to move forward with hope. A positive takeaway from the conference was that renewable energy is now the most affordable energy on earth – solar panels, in particular, have the potential to free us from dependence on fossil fuels.
Bertie updated us on the progress of our partnership with Arocha UK in creating and maintaining nature rich habitats on the Corrymeela site. Much has been achieved but more monitoring is needed. Jan welcomed Corrymeela to ECI and acknowledged that we have as a community already made strides as an Eco-Congregation. John and Jan also inspired members by speaking of their own work in transforming their garden at Drumhilla into a vibrant community garden. Members then had reflective conversations in small groups examining how we maintain hope in the climate crisis, and what further practical steps we can take as individuals and as community to tread more lightly on the earth.
By the Sunday morning Storm Amy had abated and members enjoyed an all-ages interactive nature walk exploring, and taking time to appreciate with all our senses, the richness of the natural world in the gardens and wild spaces at Corrymeela. Throughout the weekend, in our gatherings for worship, we gave thanks in prayer and song, for the creation of which we are part. We left with a renewed sense that we are not alone in facing the climate crisis, and not without hope because of a growing community determined to act.
Community members Bertie Stirling and Louis Boyle, Leader Rev Dr Alex Wimberly, community members Eleanor Duff and Glenise Morgan and John and Jan Corrie. Bertie, Louis, Eleanor and Glenise are all members of Corrymeela’s Climate Justice Group