Rob Kelsey

​Rob Kelsey has been a priest in the Church of England for over twenty years, but originally worked as a civil engineer. He served his curacy in the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne, and has since been the incumbent of several rural parishes. He was the first Environment Officer in the Diocese of Newcastle, and formed a task group to promote environmental concern within the diocese. During his term of office the general mind-set moved from “Why should Christians care for the earth?” to “How should Christians care for the earth?”

He has always argued that caring for the earth is not a niche activity for those Christians who happen to be interested in that kind of thing, nor the preserve of the rural church, nor a response to the climate crisis: Christians should care for the earth as a matter of course, simply because it is the right thing to do. His civil engineering background has left him with a problem-solving approach to issues in the Church. He conceived Praying for the Earth as a practical tool to make it easier for Christians and churches to do what they should be doing already.

Photo: Etienne Pell