Season of Creation

by Pastor Kristine

St. Mary’s will join many other congregations around the planet in celebrating the Season of Creation this year. The season begins September 1 (World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation) and ends October 4 (Feast of St. Francis of Assisi). The 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, in 2022, recognized climate change as “an all-encompassing social crisis and moral emergency that impacts and interconnects every aspect of pastoral concern including health, poverty, employment, racism, social justice, and family life and that can only be addressed by a Great Work involving every sector of society, including the Church.”

The theme for this year’s Season of Creation is To Hope and Act with Creation. On the Season of Creation website we read, “In the letter of Paul the apostle to the Romans, the biblical image pictures the Earth as a Mother, groaning as in childbirth (Rom 8:22). Francis of Assisi understood this when he referred to the Earth as our sister and our mother in his Canticle of Creatures. The times we live in show that we are not relating to the Earth as a gift from our Creator, but rather as a resource to be used. And yet, there is hope and the expectation for a better future. To hope in a biblical context does not mean to stand still and quiet, but rather groaning, crying, and actively striving for new life amidst the struggles. Just as in childbirth, we go through a period of intense pain, but new life springs forth.”

For the five Sundays in the Season of Creation, our liturgy will help us focus on hope and action. The words we will hear and speak in worship will be different than the forms we are used to, but the structure of the service will be the same. There are creation-focused profession of faith, prayers of the people, confession of sin, Eucharistic prayer, and Lord’s Prayer. Our music will reflect a focus on creation as well. Those of you who experienced these resources last year know how nourishing it will be.

We will have a 3-week mini book study, Sundays at 11:15, delving into John Philip Newell’s Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World. Newell’s purpose is to raise up a tradition that has been present in Christianity, but often persecuted or relegated to the margins, of being awake to the sacred in creation as a way to know God. We will cover three chapters with some of my favorite thinkers:

Sept. 8 – Sacred Feminine: St. Brigid of Kildare

Sept. 15 – Sacred Earth: John Muir

Sept. 22 – Sacred Matter: Pierre Teilhard to Chardin

Reading ahead is not required; Pastor Kristine will summarize and we’ll have a rich discussion. Please plan to attend.  

I hope you will join us during this season to praise God for the wonder of creation and to listen to how God is calling to us to hope and act.