This Church of St Bartholomew in Brighton is the highest parish church in Britain – both structurally and maybe liturgically! Tradition claims that it was built according to the measurements of Noah’s Ark.
Whether that is factually true or not, it is a wonderful idea to think that a church might represent Noah’s Ark, a place of safety and salvation for all God’s creatures. St Bartholomew’s Church is therefore an appropriate venue for this year’s service arranged by the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals and with our sister organisation Catholic Concern for Animals and with the support of Church in Society which is part of the Diocese of Chichester. The theme is appropriately, ‘The Ark and the Rainbow’.

When we read the Hebrew scriptures, we find something of a mixed bag as far as animals are concerned – there is both kindness towards animals, as well as their killing for sacrifice. As the Genesis account unfolds, we find that God delights in his myriad creation and all the living creatures, and he blesses them. Then God creates us in his image and likeness, that is, with rational thought, and with the moral sense of knowing right from wrong. Then we are given dominion over animals, although we are not given animals, but plants to eat. When the task was completed, the following day God rested and there was the Sabbath – the day that was marked by peace and harmony with humans and animals living together.

In the second account of creation, Adam is called to name the animals. It is part of God’s way of operating – God calls us to work with him as stewards of his creation and for us to have dominion (but not domination, and still less exploitation) over creation. This is the true Sabbath, for as Rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok reminds us, it is the Sabbath – not the creation of humankind, that is the goal of creation.

The Old Testament story moves on to show how humans moved away from God but God seeks to bring the world back to himself, but in this fallen world God makes provision for humans to eat flesh. He calls Noah and commands him to build the ark and to take into the ark every living creature. Then after the flood, God makes a covenant with Noah, his descendants and every living creature. God shows them a rainbow and tells that that every time they see the rainbow they should remember the covenant that he has made with them and with every living creature. He says, ‘I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.’

After Noah, we see the development of the Mosaic law with regard to the treatment of animals. Whilst there are verses regarding their slaughter and sacrifice, there are many verses concerning their welfare and how they should be treated. Concepts of justice, compassion and mercy came to be applied to animal husbandry. Jesus himself refers to this when he was attacked by the leader of a synagogue for curing a woman on the Sabbath. Jesus said, ‘You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman…be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?’ For Jesus, the care of animals took priority over the strict observance of the Sabbath. Indeed, in the New Testament there are seven accounts of Jesus healing on the Sabbath day, because it is the ultimate day of creation when there should be goodness, kindness and harmony in the world, for no human being, no creature, not even a sparrow dies without God knowing and caring.

Eleven years ago I joined the protesters at Shoreham, just along the coast from Brighton. I had not taken part in a public protest since I was a student demonstrating against apartheid and the National Front. At Shoreham I found myself not with the violent animal right protesters (although the television kept showing an isolated act of violence by one of these infiltrators), but with ordinary people, men and women, young and old, many of whom had never protested before, but felt so enraged by live animal exports that they wanted to express their disgust at this cruel trade. Unwanted male calves, taken from their mothers soon after birth, are exported to be reared in veal crates, kept isolated in a cramped space in semi-darkness on bare wooden slats with no straw or bedding and fed an inadequate liquid diet until they are slaughtered at six months to provide unnatural white meat. It was a practice outlawed in Britain 15 years ago because of its cruelty and the export of live veal calves was suspended because of BSE, but sadly, this cruel trade was resumed on 5th May this year and we may return to the days before BSE when half a million calves were exported each year, mainly through France to Belgium and Holland.

Millions of live animals are exported annually – sheep, cattle, pigs, horses and calves. Some are transported across Europe on journeys that can last up to 90 hours. Cattle exported to the Middle East from the EU journey for up to 10 days, and Australia and Brazil both send large numbers of cattle and sheep on long sea journeys to the Middle East. This can take up to three weeks at sea. An organisation called ‘Animals Australia’ claims that ten of thousands of animals die on these long haul journeys, and those that do not, are often slaughtered in appalling conditions

The EU has regulations about live transport and has attempted to tighten up on animal welfare, but not all countries are good at following regulations and there are few inspectors so enforcement is a major problem. The European Commission itself has recognised that the longer the journey, the more the animals suffer. Animals are often ill treated as they are herded together and on and off the transporters. They can be injured and even killed by the movement of the lorries and by being trampled on. Disease can spread and they are often given insufficient ventilation, rest, food or water and can suffer from exhaustion, dehydration and heat stress.

The reason for this trade is money and madness. Profit is often placed above animal welfare. We import frozen lamb from New Zealand and export live lambs to be slaughtered in France so that it can be described as French lamb! It would make a lot more sense to slaughter animals here for the home market or export their carcasses.

So what, as Christians can we do? I would suggest five things. Firstly, we need to hear what the scriptures are saying to us about God’s love and concern for animals. Secondly, we need to recognise that we make ethical decisions whenever we go shopping – the choices that we make may be colluding with the exploitation of poor people and animals. Fairtrade products, organic meat, dairy produce and eggs should guarantee a higher standard of human and animal welfare. Thirdly, we can support organisations like the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals, Compassion in World Farming that are working with others for peaceful, legal and effective campaigns to end unnecessary live transportation. Fourthly, consider taking part in Veg4Lent which encourages Christians to go veggie during Lent as a practical and spiritual discipline and, last but not least, pray for the animals. Whenever I visit schools, children pray and sing about all God’s creatures, but I can’t remember when I last heard prayers for animals on a Sunday morning in church!

The Bible opens with the story of creation and how God has entrusted us with stewardship of the earth and all that lives on it. We recognise that we have been exploiting creation rather than caring for it. We are waking up to the need to go ‘green’ and conserve the world’s resources but largely out of self, that is human interest. We also need to wake up to the need to care for animals, but not just because it is in our human self-interest but because we are moral beings who are called to care for creation, to defend the defenceless, to speak out for the voiceless and to protect the vulnerable and weak.

Cardinal John Newman said in a sermon over 100 years ago:

‘Now what is it that moves our very hearts and sickens us so much as cruelty shown to poor animals? They are innocent and powerless, the victims of cowardice and tyranny. There is something so very dreadful, so Satanic in tormenting those who have never harmed us, and who cannot defend themselves, who are utterly in our power’.

So may God bless all who seek to show compassion and kindness to animals, and all God’s creatures. Amen.

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