and the Season of Creation
prepared by the Season of Creation Steering GroupDownload
An order of service for Climate Sunday
Liturgical resources for worship can be found in ‘A Time for Creation’, published by and available from Church House Publishing, or accessible online here. It includes a service for Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Eucharist, and additional material.
For a Sunday morning service not including the Eucharist, you might want to prepare a Service of the Word. Guidelines for preparing a Service of the Word can be found online here. Some suggestions for material to use at various points in the service can be found below.
Preparation
Greeting:
O God, make speed to save us.
All O Lord, make haste to help us.
Send forth your Spirit, O Lord
All and renew the face of the earth
Prayer of Penitence:
Creator God, maker of heaven and earth,
We acknowledge our failure to live responsibly
as part of your creation.
We have taken what we want,
without considering the consequences;
we have wasted and discarded,
without thought for the future.
Open our hearts and minds to the signs of our times,
to the groaning of creation,
so that we may turn from our greed and lack of vision
and see a world being made anew in Jesus Christ our Lord.
All Amen
Collect:
Glorious God,
The whole of creation proclaims your marvellous work:
Increase in us a capacity to wonder and delight in it,
That heaven’s praise may echo in our hearts
And our lives be spent as good stewards of the earth,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All Amen
The Liturgy of the Word
Sermon:
For sermons with creation themes based on the lectionary, you can look at ‘Sustainable Preaching’ or ‘Greening the Lectionary’
An act of commitment for the care of creation
‘While all creatures stand in expectation, what will be the result of our liberty?’ (Thomas Traherne)
As the whole of creation looks with eager longing for the redemption of humankind, let us pledge ourselves anew to serve our Creator God, the Father who is the maker of all things, the Son through whom all things are made, and the Holy Spirit, the giver of life, who renews the face of the earth.
Let us stand to affirm our commitment to care actively for God’s creation.
All Lord of life and giver of hope,
we pledge ourselves to care for creation,
to reduce our waste,
to live sustainably,
and to value the rich diversity of life.
May your wisdom guide us,
that life in all its forms may flourish,
and may be faithful in voicing creation’s praise.
May the commitment we have made this day be matched by our faithful living.
All Amen. Amen. Amen
Prayers
Intercessions:
You might like to include this prayer for COP26 in your intercessions
Creator God, giver of life,
You sustain the earth and direct the nations.
In this time of climate crisis
grant us clarity to hear
the groaning of creation and the cries of the poor;
challenge us to change our lifestyles;
guide our leaders to take courageous action;
enable your church to be a beacon of hope;
and foster within us a renewed vision
of your purposes for your world;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
by and for whom all things were made.
Amen.
Conclusion
Blessing:
May God the Holy Spirit,
who hovered over the waters of creation
and formed the world from chaos,
form you in the likeness of Christ and renew the face of the earth.
All Amen.
All material Copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2006, 2015, 2020
First published 2020
Eucharistic Propers for Creation Time and Climate Sunday
The following are suggested for use when appropriate, according to denominational or local custom.
Sentences for Confession
Either:
For those times when we have neglected the voiceless
Lord have mercy
For those times when our relationship with creation becomes broken.
Christ have mercy
For those times when we have been unwilling to face problems in this world.
Lord have mercy
Or:
For those times when we have failed to act with compassion.
Lord have mercy
For those times when we have taken more than our share.
Christ have mercy
For those times when we have forgotten our debt to the earth.
Lord have mercy
Proper prefaces (for use at the appropriate point in the Eucharistic Prayer of Thanksgiving)
1.
Who chose to give to the last and the least the greatest gifts of the kingdom
in order that the whole earth might sing with one voice.
2.
Whose kingdom is built on compassion and forgiveness,
Who stood alongside the voiceless and heard the cry of the earth,
Who rejoices over the repentant.
3.
Who invites us to be co-creators to bind on earth the things of the kingdom of heaven
that we might rejoice in a world made whole.
© Stuart Elliott