Peter Owen-Jones visits Pickering

Television presenter and Vicar Peter Owen-Jones will be talking about the Church and its relationship with the environment in a talk at Potter Hill Methodist Church, Pickering, on Thursday 17th November at 7.30pm.  Entrance is free, and no tickets are needed.

Peter Owen-Jones is best known as the presenter of many BBC television series including ‘How to Live a Simple Life’, where he followed in the footsteps of St Francis of Assisi attempting to live freed from material constraints and without money.  Also for the BBC, Peter presented ‘Extreme Pilgrim’, in which he lived as a Chinese Buddhist monk, a Christian monk and an Indian ascetic, and ‘Around the World in 80 Faiths’, a travel documentary encountering different religions.

Peter Owen-Jones said, “The environment is the greatest issue Christianity faces today.  If we believe that God created the world, we should love and cherish it, for the rest of the creation that we share the world with, and for future generations.  At the moment our world is in crisis, and churches need to lead the way in changing that.”

The talk has been organised by one of Ryedale’s ‘Green Deans’, the Revd Bill Page.  Bill said, “We’re looking forward to welcoming Peter to Pickering and hearing him speak on the church and the environment.  The talk is part of the Diocese of York’s Year of the Environment, where we’re encouraging individuals and churches to make a difference to their environment in 2011.”

Peter is the vicar of three parishes on the edge of the Sussex Downs and also a founder member of the Arbory Trust (the only Christian woodland burial site in the country) and has recently instigated the ‘Life Cairn’ Project.

Eleanor Course