Month: September 2018

Season of Creation October 4th: Evening Prayer with St. Francis of Assisi

Picture courtesy of seasonofcreation.org

The Season of Creation comes to a close on the 4th of October, which is known as the Feast of St. Francis. To celebrate this day, and the end of the Season of Creation, this resource includes readings, prayers, and reflections.  The theme for this resource focuses on kinship with creation and how the harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole has been disrupted by humanity presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations. To read more, click here.

Interfaith Prayers

Picture courtesy of greenfaith.org

Picture courtesy of greenfaith.org

Interfaith Prayers is a resource from GreenFaith that can be used as a guide to celebrating the Season of Creation. This document contains over 100 prayers that are each labeled with the author and tradition and they are all focused on the environment. To download or view these prayers, click here.

Creation Time: Passing our Planet on Week 2

Picture courtesy of ecocongregationscotland.org/

The week two resource for Creation Time, Scotland’s title for the Season of Creation, focuses on passing on the gift of hope. This week includes multiple scriptures, sermon ideas, time with children, prayers, musical suggestions, and additional resources. To read more on week two and passing on hope, click here.

Creation Time: Passing Our Planet on Week 1

Picture courtesy of ecocongregationscotland.org/

Eco-Congregation Scotland provides a weekly resource for Creation Time, Scotland’s title for the Season of Creation. The first week is focused on passing on the gift of integrity and it includes a song, correlating scripture, sermon ideas, time with children, prayers, musical suggestions, and additional resources. To read more or download the week one resource, click here.

When Water Comes to Life

Bringing water and life to the Turkana people at Nakururum and Lokwamur in Kenya. #WorldWaterDay Photo: ALWS / H. Wikstrom

Picture courtesy of lutheranworld.org

Australian Lutheran World Service Community Action Manager Jonathan Krause reflects on the importance of providing clean water. Krause describes the importance of clean water in communities like Nakururum in Kenya where the lack of clean, safe water can be life threatening. The Lutheran World Federation states that across the world, three children die from impacts of dirty water every sixty seconds, and that is why they work to provide water in places like South Sudan, Cambodia and Nakururum. To read more or watch a video about the work that LWF does to provide clean water, click here.

Exeter Diocese Promotes Electric Transport

Picture courtesy of ecochurchsouthwest.org.uk

The Exeter Diocese, which is a part of the Church of England, is promoting electric vehicles for its clergy, staff and readers with a discount on Hyundai Ioniq cars (hybrids and full electric vehicles). The Diocese also promotes electric bikes as an easy way to get to church. They purchased a few to allow clergy members to trial the e-bikes and have been continuously promoting the use of bikes or electric transportation in their parish. To read more, click here.

Season of Creation Week 4: On the Path of Ecological Conversation

Picture courtesy of seasonofcreation.org

The fourth week of the Season of Creation is focused on the preaching and teaching of St. John Paul II and his emphasis on the environmental crisis. He said that, “ we must encourage and support the ecological conversation, which has made humanity more sensitive to the catastrophe to which is has been heading.” This week includes multiple scriptures, reflections, and prayers along with a hymn. To read more, click here.

Season of Creation Week 3: Celebrating with Sister Water

Picture courtesy of seasonofcreation.org

The third week of the Season of Creation is focused on water. This week contains a call to prayer, a hymn, and a song. It also recommends water sounds to be played in the background and seven candles to be lit and placed in water. To read more, click here.

The Lutheran World Federation Season of Creation

Picture courtesy of lutheranworld.org

In order to honor their commitment to creation, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) invites its members to engage in the season of creation that is annually observed worldwide. They provide weekly blogs from the communion of churches and biblical reflections. There are biblical reflections for each week of the season and they contain a variety of resources including prayers, poems, reflections and personal stories. To read more on the LWF blog and biblical reflections, click here.

“As people of faith, we are called to live in the right relationship with creation and not exhaust it.”

–Lutheran World Federation Assembly Resolution on Climate Change (2017)

A Service for Urban Communities in Times of Environmental Crisis and Climate Change

Picture courtesy of churchofengland.org

The Church of England has created a service that is focused on urban communities and the impacts climate change has on them. It is meant to be a guide for a service and includes resources from beginning to end, including a prayer on climate change. To read more, click here.

To read a similar service on rural communities, click here.