Sage will be bringing Conservation Sunday to Grove for the first time this June. Sage regularly offers to take part in services for this nationwide event organised by A Rocha, Christians in Conservation. In the last three years we have led Conservation Sunday services in three Oxford churches of different denominations: St Clement's (Church of England), Rose Hill Methodist, and Wood Farm Community Church (Pentecostal). This year we are back in an Anglican church, but are venturing outside Oxford. We will be heavily involved on 9 June in Conservation Sunday 2002 at St. John's, Grove, near Wantage. This is the church where Margot Hodson is now curate. The service will follow the A Rocha theme for this year of "Healing the Land", and we will be providing all but the music. Mike Morecroft will be our speaker. The all age worship service begins at 10.00am. After the service and coffee we will set out from the church for a walk in the nearby countryside. If you are joining us for the walk bring boots, sandwiches and a flask. We will return by 3.30pm.

We would like to encourage as many of you as possible to support Conservation Sunday, whether in Grove or elsewhere. For more details of Conservation Sunday events around the country contact A Rocha (www.arocha.org), and for the Grove event contact Martin and Margot Hodson at info@sageoxford.org.uk.

Maggie died on 13 April in Michael Sobell House. She had been diagnosed with a brain tumour just before Christmas last year. Both Maggie and Franz had been involved with Sage for many years. Maggie suffered from epilepsy but did not allow her illness to get in the way of being involved in different Sage activities. She loved the natural world and its beauty inspired her to write and read poetry (see poem below). She helped Caroline to run the 'Walks with the Creator' programme and had that rare gift of being able to choose the right poem for the right moment. Maggie also had a big heart for people suffering from loneliness and was instrumental in organising joint walks with the Archway Foundation.

Maggie loved to pray and was a regular attender and leader of the Saturday prayer breakfasts. She would also write and read prayers at a number of special services that Sage had the privilege of leading at different churches. It was always good to have Maggie and Franz on our Sage holidays and we remember their warm hospitality, especially on the Coast-to-Coast walk when they provided baths and comfortable beds in their holiday cottage for a few days at the end of the walk.

Crystal clear air bringing life to my soul

Kindly warm sun smoothes my face like a friend.

The music of nature each note so refined

A crackle of branch, a flutter of wings

Each sound so perfect created above,

Each part so gracious revealing His love.

Every fine detail, there's none He forgot

Petals unfolding on snowdrops appear,

Their heads are so vulnerable, so weak yet so strong

But love perseveres in the blast of the storm.

Nature so poor yet so rich will survive.

I'm so amazed I'm part of this world

Small I may be yet I matter to Him.

My Father I cry when I fall in despair,

My Father I sing as your child in great joy.

Thank you my Lord for your unchanging love

Revealed in mountains, in streams and in hill,

Thank you for Jesus whose love never ends

Nature so poor yet so rich He'll redeem.

Maggie Stevens

Jennifer, Caroline, Margaret and Mary attended the Prayer Watch away day on Saturday 20 April. The morning venue was in Stroud and we first listened to reports from five different projects from around the country. All the projects were run by Christians who were attempting to manage or farm areas of land in an environmentally sensitive way. The aim of the day was to share their experiences and to pray for these projects and the farming crisis in general.

After lunch we travelled to Woodlea in Herefordshire and had a tour of one of the projects. The habitats included coppice woodland, unimproved grassland, orchards and a large pond and the owners were aiming to maintain and enhance the diversity of the site. They had also built a small retreat room and were encouraging individuals and groups to use the room for prayer and education. The day finished with a time of worship and prayer.

Close sightings of hares were among the highlights of an extremely varied Sage walk around Hungerford in March, led by Mike and Charlie Morecroft. Leaving from the centre of town, we first passed though the Hungerford Marsh BBOWT reserve to the picturesque village of Chilton Foliat, where a somewhat confused bat was coming out of hibernation.

Our lunch stop was at the ruins of a Roman villa near Littlecote, which included a large well-restored mosaic. From there we continued through fields to Cake wood, which is where we saw the hares. The last part of the walk was along the Kennet & Avon Canal, back into Hungerford, where very welcome tea and crumpets awaited.

David Steel led a thought-provoking discussion on biodiversity after a bring & share meal on 10 May. He highlighted the role of people, both in the loss of biodiversity and in possible solutions. We discussed some ideas from Bjørn Lomborg's controversial book The Skeptical Environmentalist, which we agreed deserved fuller consideration. We therefore hope to dedicate a similar evening in the autumn to discussing that book and the controversy around it. It's long and detailed so start reading it soon if you're interested!

Sage does not have a formal membership or subscription system - we rely on informal voluntary donations. In the last year or so, donations have just about kept pace with the cost of producing Sage Words and sending it to everyone on the mailing list, but we could do with a little more. If you would like to help, please Contact Us.