Connecting to care for our common home: The Oikos Network

The Oikos Network brings together Christians from around the world who are passionate about caring for the environment and tackling climate change in their churches and communities. Oikos, Greek for ‘home’, was the brainchild of Ruth Valerio when she worked at Tearfund. She’d noticed that many Christian leaders around the world were passionate about addressing climate and creation care but felt isolated and under-resourced. ‘I was meeting Christians all around the world who were caring for God’s world but often feeling lonely and encountering similar issues despite different contexts,’ says Ruth. ‘There is such power in meeting like-minded people, and so inspiring to learn, share and pray together.’  
  
After chatting with A Rocha’s Dave Bookless, whose work had led him to the same conclusion, the Oikos Network was launched in 2022 in partnership with Micah Global, Renew Our World, the Anglican Alliance and the Lausanne / World Evangelical Alliance Creation Care Network, and initially led and resourced by Tearfund. A Rocha has recently taken on the leadership of the network.  
  
Oikos creates peer-support cohorts of five to eight people who then gather online monthly over six months to discuss, learn, pray and inspire each other about the changes they are seeing.  Each has a facilitator who helps create an accepting, listening atmosphere, and leads the group through discussion, sharing, Bible study and prayer. Many groups meet in English but as demand has grown, there have also been groups in French, Spanish and Portuguese. There are also global plenary meetings, with a guest speaker.  
  
The response has been overwhelmingly positive. People have felt inspired, encouraged and connected to a wider movement. If you want to know more about the Oikos Network or would like to explore joining or leading a cohort, please contact us at [email protected].