I am Mark Coleman, and I live in Rochdale in the UK. I am a priest , ordained in the Church of England in 2000.
I used to serve in the parishes of St Chad, Rochdale and St Mary in the Baum, Rochdale. Before that I worked in Liverpool (serving in Norris Green and West Derby) and Warrington (serving at St Elphin). Previous to the church I worked for NGOs Age Concern Trafford, Action Resource Centre, and Business in the Community. I am married to Wendy and we have two sons.
I am a Christian. Having read the science and thought about the social science, it became clear to me that I must go into civil resistance. As UN secretary general António Guterres has said the world is “on the highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator” I cannot in all conscience pass by on the other side with so much suffering now and billions of deaths coming down the line if we do not act.
Martin Luther-King spoke of building the beloved community, referring to a society based on justice, equality and love. In today's context of rising global temperatures this includes working with many others who have chosen to resist the destruction of so many lives. It is good to be in a growing community of active, nonviolent resistance with so many courageous people across the world.
I stood in the Rochdale parliamentary by-election in 2024.
I am a supporter of Just Stop Oil. and Insulate Britain. It was a great joy in 2019 to come across the people of Extinction Rebellion. The Christian Climate Action community has been a great support and inspiration
The title of this blog came out of some research I did for a PhD in my last parish in Liverpool. The title was A Green Chalice: creating an eco-praxis shaped church and a contextual Eucharistic theology. The thesis never got finished, but I learned a lot from the research and the reading. I am still hoping for an eco-praxis shaped church !