Dr. Christina Nellist has a PhD in Eastern Orthodox Theology and specializes in animal suffering and human soteriology.
She is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics; President and Treasurer of Pan Orthodox Concern for Animals Charity (P.O.C.A.); Board member of the Animal Interfaith Alliance UK; Board member of The Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration in the USA, Honorary Associate Life Member of the Progressive Veterinary Association; Consultant Editor Journal of Animal Ethics and Sub-Editor for the forthcoming Journal of Ecotheology.
Her works includes books on Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Animal Suffering: Ancient Voices in Modern Theology; Climate Crisis and Creation Care: Historical Perspectives, Ecological Integrity and Justice; Climate Crisis and Sustainable Creaturely Care: Integrated Theology, Governance and Justice, and the forthcoming Creation Care: Orthodox Perspectives (2026).
She writes journal articles and organizes and presents in panel discussions on Animal Theology/Studies related themes at International conferences and regularly presents for the Volos Academy for Theological Studies in Greece. She was invited to speak on behalf of the animal kingdom at the Halki 111 Summit in 2019, and at the Ecumenical Patriarch’s residence on Halki Island in 2022, where she argued the case for including Creation Care into Orthodox seminary and academic education programs. In 2023 she was the principle Orthodox speaker on Ecumenical Perspectives on Climate Change at the Symposium on Ecotheology, organized by The Middle East Council of Churches, in cooperation with The Association of Theological Institutes in the Middle East. In 2025 she was a Keynote speaker on Ecotheology as an Academic Discipline at VID University, in Stavanger, Norway.
She was a consultant on the Orthodox film Face of God and produced the Creation Care: Christian Responsibility Course, which is for individual, group, and parish study, and available free on the P.O.C.A. website. She is a former Researcher and Member of the Theology department at Winchester University, UK; Head teacher and Coordinator for Science for the L. B. of Havering, and the London Examination Board, and has worked with the Chief Veterinary Officers of the governments of Chile and the Seychelles on animal protection, stray-dog control, and public health education. She was the British government’s Warden for the islands of the Seychelles where she also established the Orthodox Christian Community and the SPCA; taught and wrote the first special education program for children with learning difficulties; trained/sponsored government/NGO officials on the link between animal abuse and interpersonal violence, and part-funded the establishment of the Sea-Level Rise Foundation.
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