John Gilheany - South Wales, UK
I became involved in Christian vegetarian campaigning in the early 1990s with a view to expanding the audience for insights which have been revealed in the handful of books by vegetarian clergy.
The Church press have traditionally afforded a generous forum for letters which has enabled open debate and occasional evidence of empathy among churchgoers. In 1998, I produced a booklet which stemmed from the main 'animal theological' works in print. 'Christian Vegetarianism - a Biblical approach to life' was published by the Fellowship of Life along with a flyer which enabled many local animal rights groups to deal with Church dogma and general 'Bible-Bullies'.
I was involved with 'Veg4Lent' and the development of the subsequent CVAUK between 2001-05. In recent years, I've been researching the relationship between the Church and the vegetarian movement in Britain.
There should be a book to show for it towards the end of the year: Familiar Strangers: The Church and the Vegetarian movement in Britain (1809-2009). A commemorative website already exists which explores the influence of a forgotten Christian vegetarian society at: www.ordergoldenage.co.uk
The Fellowship of Life website largely serves as a 'modern museum' of Church-related animal rights activity in Britain between the 1970's to '90's. Whilst the FoL has become less active in recent years, the 'Announcements' section replaces our annual newsletters.
Clare and Tom Harral remain the FoL Secretaries and continue to distribute campaigning materials, offer advice and support from:
The Fellowship of Life,
43 Braichmelyn,
Bethesda,
Bangor,
Gwynedd LL57 3RD,
North Wales, U.K.
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