Canon Kenyon Wright, who sadly died last week at the age of 84, was well known for his contribution to the Scottish Constitutional Convention. However, many in eco-congregations may not be aware of his passion for the environment and the support he gave to Eco-Congregation Scotland in it’s early days.
Kenyon Wright established and chaired the Scottish Environmental Forum in 1991 as part of the preparation for the Rio Earth Summit which took place the following year. Thereafter, he chaired a group which developed the first proposals, based on Agenda 21, for a Sustainable Development Strategy for Scotland. He was Convener of “Vision 21”, the Scottish Churches’ Group on Sustainable Development.
Kenyon spoke at the very first public meeting of the embryo Eco-Congregation Scotland at Stirling Methodist Church in January 2000 and then preached the sermon at the service to officially launch the organisation in March 2001. His commitment to bringing the Christian faith and environmental issues together continued through the ecumenical grouping of Vision 21 and in 2012 he published a book entitled “Cosmic Crisis and Creation: The Search for Meaning”. Failing health enforced a move south and Vision 21 was eventually wound up in 2016 with the remaining funds donated to Eco-Congregation Scotland.