International Vegetarian Union (IVU) | |
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History of the Order of the Cross |
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John Todd Ferrier was born in Greenock, Scotland. For several years he was a minister in the Congregational Church but became increasingly dissatisfied with the traditional Christian attitude towards animals. For this and other reasons he left the Church, and in 1904 founded the Order of the Cross, an informal spiritual fellowship, all of whose members are pacifist and vegetarian or vegan. He frequently spoke in defence of the creatures and affirmed that a true Christian must be vegetarian. His writings (over 40 volumes) illuminate the deep issues of life and present a message of peace and healing, of joy and hope for all creation. The essential unity of all religious aspirations is proclaimed and many of the traditional Christian teachings shown to be allegorical and universal in nature. Quotations from John Todd Ferrier's writings on a variety of themes are presented in the Order's website: www.orderofthecross.org . Some of the quotations are accompanied by illustrations of great beauty, taken from paintings by members of the Order. A quote from the farewell address given by Rev Ferrier when he left the Congregational Church in 1903:
In 1908 the Order of the Cross sent a letter of support to the first IVU Congress in Dresden, Germany. The letter was probably sent by Rev.Ferrier. We are not aware of any active involvement in any subsequent Congresses, and they are not on the list of members for the late 1970s.A delegate was present in 1999, possibly at many other Congresses and they are members of IVU today. One important event for us was the acquisition in 1927 of a property in Kensington which is still our headquarters. - Gabriel Buist The minutes of the IVU Executive Committee meeting, July 17, 1951 record that the newly appointed secretary had received support from several organisations in opening the new temporary office in London, one of which was the Order of the Cross. We now have members in N. America, Australia and New Zealand as well
as Britain. Many members of the Order have been (and still are) very supportive
of the vegetarian movement. For example the late Dr
Gordon Latto, a past president of the IVU [Gordon Latton was President
of IVU for 19 years from 1971 - 1990]. - Gabriel Buist The Order of the Cross today is at: www.orderofthecross.org If you have any more information about anything on this page please contact John Davis - webmaster@ivu.org |