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Dave has worked with A Rocha since 1997, first as an International Trustee, then from 2001 with A Rocha UK as co-founder (with his wife Anne), National Director, and then Director for Theology, Churches & Sustainable Communities. He joined the A Rocha International team in September 2011. His role as Director of Theology includes providing advice and resources for ARI’s Trustees, Team and national A Rocha organisations, and coordinating liaison with international theological and mission networks and organisations. He has recently completed a PhD at Cambridge University on biblical theology and biodiversity conservation.

31st August 2014 | Dave Bookless | 2 comments

Jeremiah – A bird’s eye view of the Middle East

Today’s Middle East is beset by tragedy: a litany of human suffering, migration and exile in a region of such beauty and cultural richness. Yet, the Middle East is also one of the great wildlife migration routes: millions of birds take this route to and fro each year. What insights can we gain from linking these two mass migrations, one human, sudden and involuntary, the other avian, regular and instinctive?

Categories: Biblical eco-characters
Tags: fun Jeremiah Middle East migrations storks suffering
15th August 2014 | Peter Harris | 0 comments

Fishing for funds – are there any rules?

It is funny what people say when you tell them you work in conservation. Their reactions are very varied, depending on how you describe it. But if you say you work for a charity (true), surprisingly often people think you are going to ask them for money (false). So as we charity workers actually depend upon people’s generosity, is there a good way to go fishing?

Categories: Reflections
Tags: fishing fundraising non-profits
30th June 2014 | Dave Bookless | 6 comments

King David – eco-poet

David was a man of contrasts and often contradictions: shepherd boy and powerful King; mighty warrior and sensitive poet; saint, sinner and song-writer. One striking thing about the Psalms attributed to David is the nature writing they contain. Here are just a few.

Categories: Biblical eco-characters
Tags: David poetry Psalms
13th May 2014 | Barbara Mearns | 8 comments

Party questions

I wrote the lines below after listening to myself, on a Friday night, wearily moan that I was just an office drudge. By Sunday, after a two-day break from the computer, a good sermon and a bit of birding, I had a different perspective.

Categories: Reflections
Tags: identity work
29th April 2014 | Dave Bookless | 11 comments

Noah – Beyond the blockbuster

Noah’s been in the news recently. Darren Aronofsky’s eponymous film has caused controversy and discussion by deliberately playing fast and loose with the biblical account. Critics have mostly loved it whilst the viewing public have been more ambivalent. Knowing that Noah was next in my blog series on biblical eco-characters, I reckoned I had to see the movie!

Categories: Biblical eco-characters
Tags: Darren Aronofsky ecology Genesis movies Noah
17th April 2014 | Leah Kostamo | 3 comments

A Sucker for Easter

In these days drawing near to Easter I am mindful of Christ’s work of redemption – of His design to reconcile ‘all things’ to Himself, as Paul says in Colossians. His work of redemption not only transforms human lives, but all of creation as we participate with him in his reconciling work. Allow me to illustrate.

Categories: Reflections
Tags: Canada conservation Easter ecology