The theory of a "living Earth" which may cull much of the world's human population by 2040 will be discussed in Blenheim this weekend by members of the Sea of Faith Network.

Titled The Ecological Imperative Is tomorrow's God Gaia?, the conference is drawing 125 people from around the country to hear keynote speakers Emeritus Professor Lloyd Geering, Waikato University biological science and philosophy senior lecturer Dr Carolyn King and Nelson-based photographer and conservationist Craig Potton.

"God, Gaia and Us a new form of mysticism?" is the title of Prof Geering's talk. It draws on the Gaia hypothesis by English scientist James Lovelock, who named the interconnectedness of life and the environment as Gaia. Since 1979, Lovelock has predicted systems keeping Earth habitable for billions of years are breaking down.

Sea of Faith conference coordinator John Craighead, a former Anglican priest, said spaces at the conference are confined to those who have already registered.

The network has groups around New Zealand and one was formed in Blenheim about 20 years ago, he said. "It's mainly a collection of people interested in the meaning of life." The Sea of Faith "attracts" new members rather than setting out to convert anyone.

Asked how his involvement started, he said when he became an Anglican priest in the 1960s, Prof Geering was on trial for heresy. Interested in the stance taken by the then-principal of the Presbyterian Knox Theological College in Dunedin, Mr Craighead reported the trial in the Nelson Evening Mail "much to the horror of the bishop and dean I was working for".

The 1960s, though, was when many of the traditional theocratic understandings of God were being questioned. By 2000, Mr Craighead said he was no longer an Anglican priest and pews in the many of the main churches were emptying out as other liberal thinkers left.

"The tyranny of time and the multiple activities we are invited to engage in (now) means that belonging to and sustaining an organisation that is reflecting on the meaning of life and of moral behaviour is becoming more difficult," he said.

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