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 Let Justice and Peace Flow, using the cry of the prophet Amos (Amos 5:24). We are called to work together on behalf of all creation as part of God’s mighty river of peace and justice. For the five Sundays in the Season of Creation, our liturgy will help us focus on this work. 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. And our creation care group that meets monthly on Wednesday evenings will offer opportunities each Sunday after church for us to learn more about what we can do to care for creation. Held in Edwards Hall, 11:15-11:45am, we’ll talk about different issues. On Sep. 3, George Matsumoto discussed “hopeful alarm.” On Sep. 10, Eugene Loh will walk us through using a carbon calculator to see how different activities stack up. On Sep. 17, Steve Bruemmer will talk about financial incentives for electrifying your home and one simple step (a few mouse clicks) to get solar and wind energy. Watch the weekly email for the topics for the remainder of the Season of Creation.
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 respond to the climate and ecological crisis of our time. On Wednesday, October 4, we will close out the season with our ecumenical Blessing of the Animals, here at St. Mary’s at 5 pm. Bring your pets and invite your friends!