The North Sea Sailing Seminar June 22-25, 2003

'Protecting the Riches of the Sea' 

Report by Canon Walter Lewis

The North Sea Sailing Seminar initiative was taken by the Church of Norway in co-operation with His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew 1 of Constantinople. Through this initiative, the Churches of the North Sea region have put key environmental issues about the oceans and the seas at the centre of their work and witness. At the same time they hope to widen the involvement of the Churches of Europe in the quest for sustainable communities. The initiative focuses on important matters like petroleum exploitation, fishing, aquaculture and the pollution of the seas.

The organisers believe that environmental issues need to be addressed more vigorously by the churches of Europe, and scheduled this event to coincide with the 12th General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches in Trondheim, Norway, June 25-July 2. The Assembly was attended by 350 delegates from all over Europe. 

The North Sea initiative aims to encourage the churches to become more involved in environmental issues generally, with particular focus on the European seas. In this task, the churches had the involvement and expertise of government and business leaders, environmentalists and researchers.

Traditionally there have been very strong ties between the people and churches along the North Sea - Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, England, Faeroe and Orkney Islands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Christianity was brought to Scandanavia from the south, east and west. 

Since 1996 there has been full communion between the Anglican Churches of Britain and Ireland and the very large Nordic-Baltic Lutheran Churches. There are also official renewed relationships between the Presbyterian, Methodist and Lutheran Churches of north-western Europe. And relations between the Roman Catholic Church in Europe and the other European Churches are very good. The sailing initiative took place in that context, aiming 'to give more flesh and blood to these relations' through collaborative commitment on the wide range of urgent environmental issues. 

25 participants, from the Churches of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Scotland, England and Ireland took part in the Seminar. Canon Emsley Nimmo, a Rector in Aberdeen, Richard Charters, Bishop of London, and I were the Anglican representatives. 

The programme started with a very enjoyable reception and meal at the home of the Bishop of Stavanger, who informed us that Stavanger is the oil capital of Norway. We visited the Oil Museum, where we learned of the oil industry's focus on high levels of safety for staff on the North Sea platforms, and of protection of the marine environment.

We travelled on board the GO Sars - the new, ultra-modern, high-tech flagship of the Marine Research Institute of Norway - and were given a privileged, first-hand insight into the extensive and detailed work being done by the Norwegian authorities to preserve the riches of the seas. We called at the ports of Egersund, Moster, Bergen and Alesund. We were addressed by leaders from the oil and fisheries industries, by environmentalists, economists, ethicists and politicians.

Referring to the North Sea as a "biological treasure chest", the Minister for the Environment, Borge Brende, said that the Government "has a long-term integrated management approach to preserve the marine environment for all future generations". "I welcome the initiatives of the Churches", he said, "which involves collaboration between churches, governments, and scientists, and provides a unique possibility to come together to protect the seas". The Bishop of London, Richard Charters, referring to Sellafield, confessed that "Britain is the great polluter of the North Sea. Challenging rampant consumerism, and its negative effects on the environment, he suggested that "we move towards God by subtraction rather than accumulation".

Ola Hagestatter, Bishop of Bergen, who encourages a 'green revival' movement in his congregations, said that "we cannot worship the Creator God and at the same time destroy creation". Ellen Marie Forsberg, from the National Institute for Research Ethics in Oslo, indicated that the environmental ethical matrix includes the principles of "justice, dignity and wellbeing" for the complex range of parties involved - fishermen, industry, other users of the sea and coast, society, consumers, future generations, the biosphere".

At the end of the 3-day Seminar, 'The Geiranger Declaration on Responsible Stewardship' was issued to the media. It states that the ecological problem is not simply economic and technological, but also deeply spiritual and moral. It expresses urgent concern for such matters as the depletion of fish stocks, unsustainable aquaculture, exploitation and consumption of petroleum and gas resources, safe transport and shipping, and emission of radioactive substances by human agency. There is a need to unite in responsible stewardship to protect the complex ecosystem and sustain the development of life and culture along our coasts. "Our God-given human responsibility is to care for creation, sharing and not simply exploiting its resources" (Gen 2.15).

Worship and prayer, on land and sea, were part of the programme. His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bertholomew, who is the great campaigner for the ecology of the seas and oceans, led us in reflection and meditation. The Church of Norway is to be congratulated on this imaginative initiative, very well organised by Rev Stig Utnem and his staff. It provides an excellent model for collaboration between communities of science, business, politics, ethics, ecology and religion. I conclude with words from the Declaration. "We should work together to analyse, understand, and propose solutions to sea pollution, environmental degradation and sustainable harvesting of marine resources. Together, with God's grace, we can work to heal a broken world."

Click on any picture below to see an enlargement in a new window

Home