Hope in the Making: Greenbelt Festival 2025
Greenbelt Festival has been a highlight on the USPG calendar for years. No wonder, as it’s a place full of creativity, big ideas, and hope. This year, under the banner of ‘Hope in the Making’, we were delighted to return as a partner, hosting a series of events and conversations.
To kick off our Greenbelt events, we explored Unthinking the West: Mission Beyond Empire with the Church Mission Society (CMS). With the help of Dr Cathy Ross and Dr Harvey Kwiyani, we reflected on the ways the Gospel has too often been tied to control and mastery — themes central to empire.
By contrast, the cross is a great paradox: when all hope seemed lost, it was exactly the place where God’s power was most fully revealed. Many expected a Messiah who would command armies and overthrow Rome, but instead Jesus chose the path of humility, suffering, and solidarity. And so, to follow him is to resist the pull of worldly authority and instead to listen deeply to the voices so often overlooked.
As Dr Kwiyani put it,
The call to be attentive to the margins is most obvious at the cross.
At our marketplace stall, strings of leaves carried prayers for the Earth, inviting festivalgoers to reflect and add their own. The display highlighted our Harvest Appeal and the fragile beauty of the Amazon rainforest and the Indigenous communities who call it home. To find out more, visit harvest.uspg.org.uk.
At our second event, another urgent voice called out in Prophetic Voices from the Earth and its Peoples. We listened as Indigenous Kuna theologian Jocabed Solano and Dr Paulo Ueti, Regional Manager for the Americas and the Caribbean and Theological Advisor, USPG, reminded us that we are children of God, made for relationship with each other and with the Earth. Reciprocity is key to Indigenous theology: humans are inextricably connected to the Earth. When the forest suffers, so do we. This lens invites us to read the Bible differently, recognising the divine call to care for all creation.
As the Kuna people sing, Don’t sleep. Wake up your spirit and listen well.
The call was unmistakable: wake up, prioritise sharing not giving, and practise respect for the Earth rather than dominance.
Over in the No Fly Zone, at Making Amends? The Practical Business of Reparative Justice, we confronted the legacies of slavery with voices from Barbados and the UK. Kevin Farmer (Executive Secretary of the Codrington Trust), The Revd Canon Dr Carlton Turner (Caribbean theologian), and The Revd Canon Dr Duncan Dormor (General Secretary, USPG) together presented The Codrington Project — a long-term commitment by USPG and the Codrington Trust to confront historic links to slavery through the Codrington Estates in Barbados.
The conversation highlighted that reparative justice needs to be more than just an apology: it should also be truth-telling, empowerment, and action. Examples at Codrington included archaeological excavations that use technology to uncover hidden histories, and practical commitments to health, education, and land justice. In Barbados, that means addressing the injustice of tenantries, where communities descended from the enslaved have lived for generations without secure ownership of the land.
Speaking live from Barbados, Micah (an archaeology student) and Rosanna (a community representative) captured the heart of this work:
Oddly enough, I feel a lot of pride… in spite of everything people are trying to do to put people that look like me down, we can use this technology and reveal history.
Across the weekend, these events showed the Spirit of God moving at the edges; challenging us to confront injustice, care for creation, and live out the Gospel in action. Thank you to our partners, speakers and everyone who joined the conversation about hope in the making.