Change and continuity in a country graveyard

From the July/August 2021 edition of Newslink, the diocesan magazine for Limerick & Killaloe

Killodiernan church in its ever changing flowering graveyard

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” Matthew 6:28,29.

Here in Ireland as in so much of the world, within my lifetime, modern farming practices – crop monocultures, weed killers, insecticides - have gravely damaged the wonderful diversity of life in our fields and forests. We have been making a mess of the beautiful living planet God has given us – I call it out as blasphemy.

Yet some special places remain where we can still experience something of what has been lost. Old graveyards are often the last pieces of unimproved grassland in the neighbourhood, and Killodiernan in North Tipperary, 5km from my home, is one such. The short turf is densely packed with a multitude of wildflowers and grasses growing as a sustainable community, which emerge and bloom in succession throughout the season, before being mown in the autumn. 

In mid-June the graveyard is yellow with birdsfoot trefoil,
mouse-ear hawkweed and buttercups

The succession begins in April with primroses and cowslips. In May the early purple orchids star, alongside blue bugle, and wispy white clouds of pignut. Now in mid-June, the graveyard has turned yellow with bird’s foot trefoil, bulbous buttercup and mouse-ear hawkweed, amid the dainty waving heads of quaking grass, dog daisies, and two types of orchid – common spotted and a multitude of twayblades. Other species will take over in succession to them, until late summer paints the graveyard blue with devils-bit scabious. 

A splash of pink from a common spotted orchid in mid-June

This is a rare survival, an ever-changing tapestry of colour and texture, preserved by the accident of the church being built here. It is managed sensitively by the church wardens for wildlife. Other local pastures must have looked like this to the delight of our forebears for hundreds of years, before they were reseeded with ryegrass and fertilised to maximize productivity.

The graveyard is home to scores of twayblade orchids
with flowers like little green men

This type of grassland is not natural, however. The climax vegetation after the last glaciation would have been woodland. What we see now is the work of human beings over millennia, who felled the trees and worked with the grain of nature to make a living from the land. And since the graveyard was enclosed, generations of faithful worshippers have left their mark too by planting other exotic flowers, including snowdrops, daffodils and bluebells, montbretia and fairy foxgloves, now naturalised. What we see now is a product of both change and continuity.

Killodiernan church itself is a product of both change and continuity. The present building dates from 1811, replacing the medieval parish church a mile away, in ruins since the 17th Century. It was built to hold 120 people as a simple barn-church with tower and small gallery, with a grant from the Board of First Fruits. Over the years succeeding generations have extended the church, reorganised the interior, and still lovingly maintain it. 

We will experience a lot more change in future, as our wider society confronts the challenges of global heating and biodiversity loss, and the Church adapts to new circumstances. A new world is coming into being in our generation. Change may make us anxious, but we must not let anxiety overwhelm us. We are enfolded in the love of the God whom Jesus calls Father, and we are guided by the Holy Spirit. Let us seek to preserve what is good and true and beautiful from the past, while we make the new world more like God’s kingdom than the old world we leave behind. 

There will be change, but there will also be continuity.

Walking in love

A View from the Pew published in the February edition of Newslink, the diocesan magazine for Limerick and Killaoe.

The debate in the Church of Ireland about human sexuality
In his December/January column Bishop Trevor asked us to engage with the debate in the Church of Ireland about human sexuality. He also asked us to pray for the Bishops, for General Synod and for the Bishops’ Conference in March at which General Synod members will explore the issues.

The debate has been sparked by reports of the civil partnership entered into last July by Rev Tom Gordon, Dean of Leighlin in our neighbouring diocese of Cashel and Ossory and a former lecturer in the Church of Ireland Theological College. His relationship with his same-sex partner of more than 20 years has never been a secret. Civil partnership is not the same as marriage in either jurisdiction in Ireland. Nor does it necessarily imply sexual activity. However it does confer important rights on same-sex partners, for instance to be recognised as next-of-kin, to be taxed by the same rules as married partners, and to receive gifts and inherit from each other free of tax.

Church of Ireland opinion – and perhaps the House of Bishops - is deeply divided on the issue. The Evangelical wing has responded with trenchant condemnation. In joint statements the Church of Ireland Evangelical Fellowship, the Evangelical Fellowship of Irish Clergy, New Wine (Ireland) and Reform Ireland have expressed ‘hurt and concern’, saying that they ‘cannot in all conscience accept that same-sex sexual partnerships are within the will of God’, and that they find it ‘difficult to see how (they) can maintain with integrity a common life’ with those who do not agree with them. Others have called for the resignation not just of Dean Gordon but also of his Bishop, Michael Burrows. Changing Attitude Ireland on the other hand has extended congratulations to Dean Gordon and his partner, commended their courage, and criticised the joint statements by the four Evangelical groups.

I have been thinking and praying about all this, since I am one of the new representatives to General Synod elected at our last Diocesan Synod. I look forward to being better informed by the Bishops’ Conference. But my starting point is this: I am not persuaded that same-sex relationships are any more or less intrinsically sinful than heterosexual ones - what matters surely is the quality of the love displayed in them. Those attracted to the same sex are created in God’s image just as much as those attracted to the opposite. The Jesus I encounter in the Gospels says nothing about same-sex sin but plenty about love, and is always found alongside the mistreated and marginalised. My heart bleeds for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in Christ who are so often treated as 2nd class Christians.

I try to be open to the Holy Spirit, who moves in mysterious ways, but I do not expect my views will be changed by the Conference or General Synod. Any more than I expect the views of those who disagree with me to be changed. I am certain all sides hold their views conscientiously - even if I believe I am right and they are wrong!

St Paul advises the Romans
So what is the Christian way to approach such disagreement? Does the Bible help us? I believe so. There is nothing new about disagreements within churches. They go right back to Apostolic times. And I think it is worth reading and reflecting on St Paul’s eloquent plea to the infant Roman church for tolerance of the differing opinions of fellow believers in Chapter 14 of his letter to the Romans. Paul picks out two areas of dispute in the Roman church of his day, which would have been made up of a mixture of Jews and gentiles.

The first dispute was between those who would eat anything, and others who would eat only vegetables. Why should this be an issue? Probably because in Rome animals were ritually sacrificed to pagan Gods, before being sold as meat in the markets. Some Christians felt it was wrong to eat such meat. Particularly no doubt the Jewish converts who did not like to eat meat that was not kosher. Others were more permissive, including no doubt many gentiles. After all Jesus taught that it was not what went into the mouth that made one unclean, but what came out of it.

The second dispute was between those who treated one day of the week as a holy day, and those who treated all days as the same. This may also be a split between Jewish and gentile factions, with the Jews wanting to maintain their Saturday Sabbath customs. But perhaps too some were beginning to celebrate Sunday as the Lord’s Day, commemorating Jesus’s resurrection.

It is clear that Paul himself was permissive in these matters. That’s worth noting. Some people today criticise Paul as a prejudiced old curmudgeon because of his views on the status of women, and on homosexuality. But Paul in his own day was a liberal churchman! Nevertheless, Paul calls on both parties to be tolerant. Do not judge one another, he tells them. God has welcomed you all. Each of you is accountable to God, so leave the judgement to God.

Paul is telling us that we should tolerate the odd views of others even if we believe them to be mistaken. But then, surely, we are entitled to expect others to tolerate us, when we act on our own odd views? Anything goes! Wrong, that is not what Paul advises at all! He goes on to say this (Romans 14:13-17):

Let us therefore no longer pass judgement on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling-block or hindrance in the way of another. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

A hard teaching
Beyond tolerance, Paul tells the Romans – and us I think - that the right Christian response to fellow Christians with whom one disagrees is to avoid doing things which hurt them, which would be a stumbling-block or hindrance to their faith. To do anything else would be not to ‘walk in love’. And it is our Christian duty to walk in love with one another: Jesus said, ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you’. We are to walk the extra mile with those we disagree with, even when we believe them to be wrong.

This is a hard teaching – but as Christians we shouldn’t expect things to be easy! Paul’s principle may be clear. But can we find a way to walk together in love in the same-sex debate? That remains to be seen, but the Bishops’ Conference is an opportunity to explore each others opinions to see whether we can.

Can those of us who do not see same-sex relationships as sinful find a way to accommodate those who do? That might be difficult if those who do were to insist that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters must remain chaste and/or eschew the real benefits of civil partnerships. For surely it would be wrong for me to collude in imposing such a sacrifice on them against their will. And equally, can those who do see such relationships as sinful find a way to accommodate those of us who don’t? Can they accept even as a remote possibility that God welcomes lesbian and gay people too and leave the judgement to God? The tone of some of their spokesmen suggests they may not be able to do so.

The Roman Church eventually overcame its disagreements. Paul’s views on eating meat were eventually accepted by all. All eventually agreed to keep the Lord’s Day holy, but dispensed with the Sabbath prohibitions.

Let us trust God and pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us to walk in love and to find a common understanding and greater unity in future, as he did the Roman Church.

Cashel & Ossory Green Charter – Presentation to Diocesan Synod

Les Bertram from Banagher wrote this report on a presentation given at the Limerick & Killaloe Diocesan Synod at Killorglin this year. It was published in the September 2010 edition of Newslink, the Limerick & Killaloe Diocesan magazine.

At the General Synod earlier this year at Dublin the Diocese of Cashel & Ossory brought a motion that recommended that their green charter be adopted by the whole Church of Ireland as a way forward in environmental good practice. This was unanimously adopted by the General Synod.

At our Synod at Killorglin we had the great pleasure of welcoming Revd Elaine Murray of the Kilkenny Group, who spoke to us about the Diocese of Cashel and Ossory green charter.

Elaine opened by telling us that climate change is changing our lives, and that we know instinctively that our present day church needs to get its house in order, that at heart of the covenant of God with his people is a call to ‘Do Justice’. Climate change is a matter of justice.

Their diocesan charter was adopted in 2008 and has been rolled out to every parish in their diocese. We were told that their charter was a guide to living generously, committing them to the following points.

• To identify areas of waste and excess


• To encourage environmental responsibility in the wider broader community


• To support third world development both spiritually and financially by supporting fair trade and addressing the effects of climate change


• To advocate policy change that environmentally beneficial at both local and national level

We were all given a copy of this green charter.

Elaine told that each Parish Vestry was given a copy of the ‘Green Pages’ which is an eco friendly version of the Yellow Pages, never heard of it myself but sounds like a great idea and I must get a copy. They also launched a diocesan Environment Awareness Competition which is now in its second year. Winners include installation of solar panel heating of a church at Freshford, Co Kilkenny. In Stradbally ageing trees in an 13th century graveyard were replaced by 14 new trees which included holly, copper beech, lime and hawthorn, sponsored by parishioners. While young people as part of their confirmation classes learned all about the reproduction system of trees while successfully avoiding free range saddleback pigs in a forest at Johnstown house in Carlow! Sounds like environment issues can be fun. There was much more and the message was that things can change if the effort is made.

Eco Seminars have been organized over the last two years, topics range from ‘Our Christian Responsibility to the Global Effects of Climate Change’, to ‘Practical changes and understanding Government Regulations and Grants’. ‘Understanding Alternative Energy systems and cost effectiveness’ and ‘Wildlife & Fauna Awareness in our Church Environs’.

Cashel & Ossory diocesan environmental committee consists of just four people which keep green matter uppermost in people’s minds by regular updates in the diocesan magazine and updates each vestry by post, strongly recommending that ‘Green Matters ‘ appear on the agenda of each Vestry meeting. Promoting websites like ‘Living Generously’, www.livinggenerously.com an online Christian Community who promote ideas for living in an eco-friendly way, and ‘EcoCongregation’ www.ecocongregationireland.org who can help us think about the link between our Christian faith and care of the planet.

Elaine concluded her address by suggesting the Irish campaign, ‘Power of One’ had been fairly successful but that many people still feel overwhelmed or swamped and helpless when faced with problems of such magnitude, but reminded us that the people in the third world have, and will bear the brunt of the problems caused by climate change and we must do more to help them. Finally saying ‘I hope and pray that the Church of Ireland, in adopting the green charter route can lead the way for church communities everywhere to really show that we have taken our gospel values to heart in the area of environmental good practices ‘.

It was a very good address and it would be of interest to know what green ideas have already been put into practice already in our own diocese. I think its now time to own up.

Les Bertram

A View from the Pew – Will you take the 10:10 Challenge?

This article appeared in the May 2010 edition of Newslink, the diocesan magazine of the diocese of Limerick & Killaloe.

As I noted last month, the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming are a consequence of the personal choices and decisions of countless individuals around the world – particularly those of us in rich countries. Perhaps it is because world leaders doubt they can get their peoples to change those choices and decisions that they failed so dismally to agree in Copenhagen last December what to do about it. Let’s hope and pray they do agree effective and just action soon, before it is too late. We now know for certain that unless we act quickly to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases, our descendents will face terrible problems in years to come.

But their failure to agree shows it’s now time for ordinary people to step in to defend our children’s futures. And as Christians we have a particular responsibility to take the lead. As the bishops of our Anglican Communion reflected at the last Lambeth Conference:

‘If we say that “The earth is the Lord’s…”, we must be prepared to live as if that is true! We can not misuse a gift from the Lord. If we are to call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ, we must be prepared for radical discipleship by “living simply, so that others may simply live.” Safeguarding creation is a spiritual issue.’

The first step is for each one of us to take personal responsibility – if we don’t, no one else will. Just suppose each one of us made a pledge to cut 10% of our greenhouse gas emissions in 2010? What if we got everyone we know to do the same? And what if all this made governments sit up and take notice? That could be the first step towards a brighter future for us all.

Cutting 10% in one year is a bold target, but for most of us it’s achievable – and would save us money too! Here are some ideas for what you and your family can do.

1 Save on heating – and bills Turn down your thermostat - 1°C less can save 10% by itself! Turn off radiators in hallways and rooms you don’t use. If you need them, more jumpers and warm underwear all round. Fix those draughts. Then apply for a grant to insulate your loft and walls. You’ll be warm & cosy!

2 Drive less – be healthier Think before you make that short drive. Walk, cycle or take public transport when you can. Leave your car at home one day a week. Share the school run and car-pool with a colleague or two to get to work. Eco-driving guidelines can save 5-15% of fuel: drive smoothly, control your speed and stick to the limits (driving at 70 uses 15% more fuel than driving at 50, and cruising at 80 uses 25% more than at 70), change gear up as early as you can, and turn off heated rear windscreens, demister blowers and headlights when you don’t need them.

3 Save on electricity – be bright Change over to low-wattage light bulbs. Turn off unnecessary lights, and turn off TVs, computers, battery chargers etc when not in use. Consider replacing old inefficient fridges and freezers, and always buy appliances with a good energy rating.

4 Fly less - holiday more Swap the plane for boat and train, when you can. Holiday nearer to home and take fewer but longer trips – same tanning time, dramatically less carbon emissions.

5 Eat better In-season fruit & veg produce the least emissions – and the less processed the better. Buy locally produced food when you can, to support your neighbour and save food miles. Grow your own – nothing tastes like it!

6 Buy good stuff Less stuff made = less emissions = less climate change. So buy high-quality things that last, repair if possible rather than chucking, buy and sell second hand. Ignore pointless changes in fashion. And borrow your neighbour’s mower!

7 Dump less Avoid excess packaging and buying pointless stuff that goes straight in the bin. Recycle everything possible. Compost your scraps – the garden will love you!

8 Don’t waste food… The average Irish family throws away loads of food every month. So don’t buy or cook more than you need. And eat up those tasty leftovers with a smile on your face!

9 …or water Your tap water uses lots of energy – and heating it uses loads more – so take showers rather than baths, be careful watering plants and only run full dishwashers & washing machines.

10 Pass on the word! Monitor your carbon footprint (Google ‘Power of One’ to find a calculator). Persuade family and friends to join you in saving 10% in 2010. Take the 10:10 pledge. And get your parish to do the same!

For more information and to take the 10:10 pledge see http://www.1010.ie/.

Here in Nenagh, the group that followed an ecumenical Lent course on climate change last year has formed Nenagh Carbon Watchers (see http://www.nenaghcarbonwatchers.blogspot.com/). We aim both to support each other in our personal efforts to reduce emissions, and to promote transition to a sustainable life style in our local communities. As part of this, I have been monitoring my own household’s carbon emissions, and after 11 months I am confident that we will have saved around 25% of emissions with insignificant capital expenditure (that excludes the flights we have not taken).

After a false start last year, I am determined this year to invest in better home insulation and heating controls. This will not only reduce our emissions further, but by reducing heating bills provide a much better return on my money than I could get in any bank, as well as give employment to local tradespeople. And for 2011 I have my eye on one of those electric cars we are hearing about… I’ll keep you posted on how we get on!