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.
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
history of organised vegetarianism and published Familiar Strangers: The
Church and the Vegetarian movement in Britain (1809-2009) during 2010.
There's a related website which commemorates the influence of a
forgotten Christian vegetarian society at
www.ordergoldenage.co.uk and a large selection of similar archive
material at
www.christianvegetarianarchive.blogspot.com
I began the Fellowship of Life website in 2006 which largely serves
as a 'modern museum' of Church-related animal rights activity in Britain
between the 1970's to '90's. The Christian press has often afforded a
generous forum for letters which have enabled open debate and occasional
evidence of empathy among churchgoers. A large selection have been
harnessed and reproduced to record the development of non-secular
activism and assist the growth of future apologetics.
Several articles on vegetarianism have been published in Christian
publications during 2011 and a few of my own contributions are available
to download:
Catholic Times (pdf)
Baptist Times (pdf)
Church of England Newspaper (pdf)
Whilst the main purpose of the FoL has become the task of CVA UK
these days, our regular 'Announcements' section replaces typical FoL
newsletters and maintains the unique character of Founder, Margaret
Lawson's ethical enterprise.
Clare and Tom Harral remain the FoL Secretaries and continue to
distribute campaigning materials, as well as offer advice and support
from:
The Fellowship of Life,
43 Braichmelyn,
Bethesda,
Bangor,
Gwynedd LL57 3RD,
North Wales, U.K.
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