A Rocha Retreat: Confronting ecological challenges "with conviction and hope"

Fr Tim Mulroy
Nov 21st, 2025

A Rocha CEO Andy Atkins and Tim Mulroy, Credit: Tim Mulroy

From Wednesday to Friday this week, Columban Father Tim Mulroy was among the approximately 40 participants in the annual A Rocha UK retreat which was held at Highgate House Conference Centre in Creaton, Northampton. A Rocha UK is a network organisation that strives to equip Christian churches of whatever denomination to protect and restore the environment for God, nature and all people.

The retreat programme was a mixture of presentations, discussions and prayer services, while providing the participants with ample opportunities to share with and learn from one another. Moreover, in keeping with the theme and spirit of the retreat, many of the participants enjoyed strolling through the magnificent, surrounding countryside.

True to its name, A Rocha UK, the retreat participants came from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Some were representing a community project, while others were there as individuals, wanting to network with like-minded people. Many had land - some a few acres, some a few hundred - while others had relevant expertise or valuable networks which they wished to make available to others. Some shared that they had set out intentionally on the path of ecological conversion - others that they were gifted unexpectedly with land and felt called to accept both the privilege and the burden of becoming responsible stewards.

Many of us acknowledged that our general enthusiasm to care for creation is tempered at times by uncertainty as to how to proceed in our particular circumstances, and so were seeking fresh insights and new ideas from our engagement with the other retreat participants.

The retreat, which concluded on the same day as COP30 in Brazil, emphasised that, while the ecological challenges facing our world are enormous, our Christian faith enables us to continue to confront them with conviction and hope.

LINKS

https://arocha.org.uk/

https://columbans.co.uk/

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