Ruth Harvey

Born and brought up in Scotland, with stints in Glasgow, Iona, Stirling, South India, Aberdeen,
Germany, Amsterdam and Edinburgh, Ruth now lives in Cumbria, NW England with views of the
northern fells and Ullswater where she swims when she can. Having been brought up in faith-based
intentional community, Ruth is passionate about the power of community, gathered and scattered,
to model that hope to which we are called in the face of so much fracture.
This early immersion in community led Ruth to train as a mediator. She worked for many years in
faith-based conflict situations and continues to volunteer with Place for Hope as a
Practitioner/Mediator, facilitating large and small group mediations. Ruth is also an editor and a
writer, contributing prayers, poems and liturgies regularly to Wild Goose Publications and other
outlets.
In 2023 Ruth took part in a nine-week listening pilgrimage across these lands now called Australia
with the Wellspring Community, and in Aotearoa/New Zealand. She met over 30 indigenous
Christian leaders and explored with them questions about creation care, climate justice, and first
nations indigenous rights. You can read her pilgrimage reflection here.
Ruth is an ordained Church of Scotland minister and a Quaker (Religious Society of Friends). She
enjoys paddling a canoe and walking in the mountains.

Upcoming Programs by Ruth Harvey

Iona Community: Rooted In Hope Lived In Community

October 15 - 19, 2026

The Iona Community has been experimenting with the power of faith-based intentional community since 1938. We do this through welcoming guests to share a ‘common life’ with us at our residential centres on the Scottish islands of Mull and Iona. And we do this, as a dispersed, global Membership community, through meeting monthly in one […]

Iona Community Participant Fee

October 16 - 18, 2026

The Iona Community has been experimenting with the power of faith-based intentional community since 1938. We do this through welcoming guests to share a ‘common life’ with us at our residential centres on the Scottish islands of Mull and Iona. And we do this, as a dispersed, global Membership community, through meeting monthly in one […]