OpenFields

766: Theology of the land

This summary is based on the lecture given by Margot Hodson, Chaplain of Jesus College, Oxford, and Director of the John Ray Initiative. It was given at “Cherishing the Earth – challenges in food, farming and climate”, the Agricultural Christian Fellowship Conference, held on November 17th 2008 at the Arthur Rank Centre, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.

Year of Publication2009

Old Testament teaching is that the Earth is seen to be ‘good’ and humans have been given Dominion to cultivate and protect it. The New Testament assumes this relationship is so. People need a sense of place and a sense of God and this has been lost in the global community. The Church has done a good job in times of crisis. However, rural clergy are being given more and more parishes, and their visibility is reduced as a result. We need to consider how we reconnect with the Land in a realistic way for both modern urban and rural communities and how we build rural community.

This item is categorised as follows

• Subject Collection > Rural policy & development > UK rural policy

Additional keywords/tags

theology