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Chapter 4  Preacher  Quote:Many attitudes in the West about animals derive from Judaeo-Christian sources and are deeply human centred. Two common fundamental religious beliefs held for centuries are that God made animals for human use and that humans in every way are more important than animals. People manipulate these ideas to justify exploiting animals while denying animals moral and welfare obligations. How can you transform this view? Perhaps you are gifted for delivering religious teachings or spiritual exhortations? Then no matter what your religion or religious tradition you can speak up and spread respect for God's creation and preach God's word for animal rights. (If you want to teach but not preach, see Teaching, Chapter 4.) Anyone Can Preach Your goal as a preacher is to articulate to people the expression of God as you understand it. You do not need to be ordained as clergy or be a member of a religious group to do this. Anyone can do it anywhere they like on their own initiative. But if you are a member of a religious group and wish to preach within its congregation then the first step is to talk with your minister to explore opportunities. Some religious orders use lay preachers: non-ordained, part-time volunteers. It is said that because lay preachers live among the ordinary people that they are able to relate to the lives of common people and bring a freshness of interpretation to the scriptures that ordained clergy cannot.  Animal Chaplain Although you may be able to find some clergy who will take general services for animals, they are the rare exceptions among the Clergy. Clergy preachers for animal rights are even more rare (see Andrew Linzey, below). Possibly the closest vocation to animal preacher as such is an animal chaplain. Animal chaplains serve animals and the people who are close to their animals. Animal chaplains are unpaid, often have another job to sustain their worldly needs and offer their chaplaincy part-time. Animal chaplains may be affiliated to a religious body and preach in collaboration with ordained clergy; alternatively, they may preach independently of any religious organisation and set up their own ministry. Being an animal chaplain is a fairly new calling and one that has been developing over the last few years. Among your duties as an animal chaplain you would:
Qualities You Need for Animal Rights Preaching Francis of Assisi (1181 - 1226) is one of the best known religious preachers from history. He lived in present day Italy and was first a soldier then a traveller and finally a Catholic friar who started his preaching career without being ordained. Frances was made a saint and as the patron saint of animals he demonstrates the positive side of Christianity to the animal world. People are quick to depreciate and exterminate some animals without knowing their true nature. This applies to wolves in particular (2, 3). So the fable of Francis and the wolf has special interest. Francis was visiting Gubbio village when the community was terrorised by a wolf consuming their livestock. The people tried to kill the wolf, but he fought back and they were afraid to leave their houses. Francis met the wolf and explained to him that he must not harm the people or their livestock, in which case past errors would be forgiven and the villagers would not try to kill him. To the surprise of the people the wolf agreed and shook hands with Francis as a pledge. From then on the wolf stopped harming the people and their livestock and the villagers fed the wolf in return. We should each draw our own moral from this story, but one moral could be that destructiveness in man and beast can be redeemed by offering animals understanding and respect. However, you do not need to rely on legend for inspiration to preach about animals. Andrew Linzey (b1952) is a real-life British Anglican priest, theologian, academic and a champion for animal rights within Christianity. Widely considered an authority on Christianity and animals, Linzey has been preaching and writing about Christianity and animal rights since the 1970's. Linzey says that his vocation is to change Christian attitudes to animals for the better. Linzey says (4): "Anglicans, like most Christians, haven't really woken up to the moral issue of our exploitation of animals."Linzey is distinguished for his accomplishments relating to theology and animals. At Oxford University he held the world's first fellowship in Ethics, Theology and Animal Welfare, the first university position to unite ethics, religion and animals. In 2001 the Archbishop of Canterbury presented him with an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, the highest distinction he could make to a theologian. The distinction was granted with particular reference to Linzey's work on the rights and welfare of 'God's sentient creatures' and is the first time it has been conferred for work embracing Christianity and animals. Linzey says: "Animals make a special moral claim upon us because, interalia, they are morally innocent, unable to give or withhold their consent, or vocalise their needs, and because they are wholly vulnerable to human exploitation. These considerations make the infliction of suffering upon them not easier - but harder to justify." (5)Sermons The sermon is a valuable primary tool. The typical sermon has a clear cohesive union of introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction grabs your listeners' attention, the body of the sermon makes the points you wish to get across to your audience, and the conclusion is a definite and resounding final, like an exhortation. There are different kinds of sermon:
A good technique is to phrase the titles of sermons as questions so that you can build up your audience's curiosity and bring each sermon to a decisive answer. Titles for sermons could be:
You may be able to publicise yourself as an animal rights preacher by way of your house of worship. Another route to publicise your services is through your own web site or blog (see Chapter 3: The Internet). As well as preaching sermons out loud you can write them for display; your web site is an extension of your pulpit so post your sermons there. Hand out your literature in public places and at religious services and meetings. Teach compassion to animals in school classrooms (see Chapter 4: Public & School Speaker). Training Some churches offer training and accreditation to lay preachers. The training may take the form of writing essays, meeting in study groups, periodic home work and associated reading for group discussion. Some of training courses may last more than a year and could involve residential weekends. There are no officially approved training courses to qualify candidates as animal chaplains (writing in 2008), although there are a handful of web sites that offer distant learning opportunities, and there are certainly no courses for animal rights preachers. So be an animal rights preacher now - the field is open and may be calling you. References (1) www.AnimalChaplains.com. (Accessed October 2007.) (2) Linnell, John D C, et al. The fear of wolves: a review of wolf attacks on humans. NINA Oppdragsmelding, 731. 2002:1 - 65. (Accessed online May 2004.) (3) McNay, Mark E. A Case History of wolf-human encounters in Alaska and Canada. Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Wildlife Technical Bulletin 13. 2002. (Accessed online May 2004.) (4) Linzey, Andrew. Christianity and Animals. Rynn Berry interviews. 1996. www.satyamag.com. (Accessed May 2006.) (5) Linzey, Andrew. The Ethical Case Against Fur Farming. A statement by an international group of academics, including ethicists, philosophers and theologians. (Accessed online May 2006 at Respect for Animals and other web sites.) (6) Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15-16; Luke 19:45. ›› To Entries & Home |
