President of South Wales Baptist College says we have a lot in common

     Wearing a white wrist band representing an international movement against poverty, Dr. John Weaver arranged transparencies on a projector as he addressed Campbell University’s Pastors School recently. The transparencies contained ecological statistics concerning the earth’s climate, the tropical rain forests, the increase in world population and the depletion of world resources. A scientist and educator, Dr. Weaver is also an ordained minister and principal of South Wales Baptist College in Cardiff, Wales. His message to the group was the failure of Christians to be good stewards of the earth.
     “Today, we live in a throw-away society,” he said. So much of what we use in our daily lives is tossed out, designed to wear out, disposable. We cut down our forests, pollute the atmosphere with gas emissions and use up the world’s resources. We are consuming the capital upon which our life is based.”
      By all appearances, Dr. Weaver could be called an activist as well as an educator and theologian. He refuses to buy goods which are not fairly traded; is an aggressive recycler; and takes every opportunity to speak out on the issues of pollution and conservation.
     “We need to do something as Christians about the world in which we live,” he said with urgency. “We must act toward creation as God acts—with care and compassion.”
Dr. Weaver looks to be in his mid-to-late forties, but his words convey a great deal of experience. After obtaining a Ph.D. in geology in 1971 from the University College of Wales in Swansea, he went on to earn a master’s degree in theology from Oxford University. He was pastor of Highfield Baptist Church of Northamptonshire from 1981-1991 and director of pastoral training at Regent’s Park College in Oxford from 1992-2001. Dr. Weaver’s wider church experience includes studies in Brazil, Central America, Prague, Budapest, Augusta, Ga., and Washington, D.C. He has taught practical and pastoral theology, homiletics, church ministry and mission, and Science and Christianity in dialogue.  His published works include contributions to “Belonging,” a publication of the Baptist Union of Great Britain; “Industrial Mission in a Changing World,” published by Sheffield, Sheffield Academic Press; and “Translocal Ministry: Equipping the Churches for Mission,” published by the Baptist Union of Great Britain.
     Campbell University has partnered with South Wales Baptist College in an exchange program since 1977, and Dr. Weaver would like to see that partnership expand.
     “I would like to see the relationship between our universities become even more meaningful,” he said. “It would be great for our students to be able to complete more of their education at Campbell and, perhaps, even perform internships in the United States.”
As Dr. Weaver concluded the lecture, he was swamped with questions dealing with how Christians could become more involved in the conservation movement.
     Value all life, become involved with a Christian-based organization, pressure the international community to cancel the debts of third-world countries, he told the audience.      “Be good stewards as individuals. Sin is the main factor in environmental destruction,” he said. “Sin alienates us from God, each other and the natural world.”
South Wales Baptist College is an affiliate of the University of Cardiff which has an enrollment of approximately 25,000 students.



Photo Copy: Dr. John Weaver, principal of South Wales Baptist College in Cardiff, Wales, lectures on Christian stewardship of the environment at Campbell University’s Pastors School recently. (Photo by Bennett Scarborough)

Bulletin 0034-7/25/05