Biography (link to her webpage at the Faraday Insitute)

Steph coordinates the three main strands of the Youth and Schools Programme at The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion in Cambridge: workshops for children and young people; training for teachers and influencers; and book and resource production (each supported by and feeding into educational research). She has recently co-authored three books for children God made Animals, God made Space and God Made the World.

She holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University specialising in Conservation Science, Ecology, and Evolutionary and Behavioural Biology. She has been involved various conservation and communication projects since graduating, from studying wolves in Bulgaria, to frogs and salmon in Canada, and working with local communities and landowners to reduce human-wildlife conflict.

Steph is fascinated by the interactions of science and faith, and previously worked to coordinate the God and the Big Bang project, a Church of England schools’ science and faith communication project. She enjoys working with young people from a wide range of backgrounds, worldviews and ages and is particularly passionate about encouraging consideration of the roles and responsibilities that faith groups have in caring for the natural world.

Abstract

How do young people feel about the future of the planet? Is there anything we can do to make sure they inherit a flourishing world? And how can we ourselves engage with this seemingly overwhelming situation without becoming overwhelmed?  

Taking good care of God’s planet is something we are invited and even commanded to engage in as God’s people. Many of us really want to make a good difference to the planet, leaving young people with a hopeful future. But the scale of the crisis can seem pretty overwhelming and it can be hard for us to know how to respond well. In this session, Steph Bryant will use her training as a conservation scientist; her experience of supporting young people as they navigate some of life’s big questions, challenges and opportunities; and her passion for encouraging the Church to engage with the climate crisis, to share some practical approaches to supporting and engaging young people on the topic of the climate crisis.  

Video

The video time bar is divided into sections to allow you to find particular parts of the recordings - or use the timings in the list below.

Andrew’s hymn

In response to Steph’s abstract, Andrew wrote this hymn:

Our view of the stars fosters wonder, through grandeur:
the sense of a cosmos within God’s embrace;
from infinite chaos we’ve grown on this planet
to learn, live and care, an inquisitive race.

We thrive as God nurtures our fragile existence,
our life is related to all life on earth,
and each generation must deepen in knowledge,
yet guard against arrogance in our own worth. 

God give us compassion to live with our neighbours,
to value each species, conserve, and renew;
to challenge those actions that lead to destruction,
to cherish and never take more than our due.

And these are the gifts we must share with our children,
compassionate love and a God-given grace,
this love with no limits pervades all creation
from oceans and forests to infinite space.

Andrew Pratt 14/6/2021

Words © 2021 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk. Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd

Metre: 12.11.12.11

Tune: St Catherine’s Court

More hymns from this series on Andrew’s blog.