Eco-Congregation Ireland is encouraging churches and faith communities to organise a time of prayer and reflection in the sea. Last year groups in Dublin, Cork and Donegal braved the elements to stand in solidarity with people affected by climate change …
So far this year a group has met together for prayer and reflection at Seapoint Strand, Dublin. We hope that groups in other parts of the country will do this too!
Do let us know if you are planning a time of Prayer in the Sea and we’ll add your event details to our website. And don’t forget to send us your photos afterwards!
Praying in the Sea is a global campaign which sees people
pray and meditate standing in the sea as a way of showing solidarity for people living in small island states and low-lying coastal areas who are vulnerable to sea-level rise caused by climate change.
The worshippers in both places joined in prayers, hymns and a Celtic lament to remember people both here and overseas who are affected by rising sea-levels, floods, droughts, poverty and famine caused by extreme weather events. There was also time for silent reflection and meditation.
On one wild, wet summer’s day several plucky souls braved the sea at Loughros Point, Donegal. Included were Rev Ruth West, Rector of the Inver Union of Parishes, and Rev John Purdy, who was then Minister of Dunkineely Methodist Church.
Why not organise your own Praying in the Sea event? If you don’t live near the sea, you could pray in a lake or river instead!
It doesn’t need to take a lot of organisation: just choose a time, date and place and start advertising! For the event itself, all you need is a few prayers to get you started before inviting participants to reflect in silence and inviting them to share a prayer or reflection if they feel moved to do so.
Let us know if you decide to hold an event and don’t forget to send your photos afterwards to ECI Communications Officer, Fiona Murdoch, at [email protected]!
* Ann Concannon SSL wrote the following reflection on her experience of taking part in Praying in the Sea in Killiney last year:
How do we bring home to ourselves the very imminent danger the low-lying nations of the world are in due to the threat of rising sea levels as a result of global warming? How do we make our prayer for the people of these nations real and connected? Why, by praying in the sea, of course!
That is exactly what a group of Christians did on the afternoon of Sunday, August 31st. Eco-Congregation Ireland organized a prayer service on Killiney beach. Eight hardy representatives of the mainline Christian churches assembled at the DART station and proceeded from there to the beach.
It was a lovely afternoon, sunny, with a good breeze and strong waves breaking on the shore. Fiona, Eco-Congregation Ireland’s Communications Officer, led the prayers which we began on the beach — prayers for those most affected by climate change, especially those in the low-lying islands in view of the upcoming UN meeting on the fate of those islands. But then, half-way through, she invited us to doff our shoes and sandals and wade into the sea for the second part of the prayer. Balancing on the shifting pebbles under our feet, and being well ‘washed’ by the waves, our prayers were definitely more heartfelt as we prayed for those whose homes may soon be submerged by this same sea, and prayed, also, that we human beings may learn to harness the great power of the sea for sustainable energy.
Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, says there are three Christian responses called for in the light of the current environmental crisis: Contemplation, Asceticism and Prophecy. That day on the shore, we certainly did the first: it was a day to contemplate the glory of God revealed in the majesty of the sea. There was asceticism too: standing on that pebbly shore, in the sea, for 10 to 15 minutes was demanding, to say the least. (I must confess, though, that the greater asceticism on my part was to abandon the football semi-final between Donegal and Dublin to head out for the prayer!) And prophecy? People on the beach looked at us, but we did not even try to recruit some of them. However, our picture has appeared in the Irish Catholic, and now it may even appear in Seo agus Siud — could that be prophecy?!