When you see this image, we hope you’ll think of last Sunday’s Sunday@Six, when we went “Round the World in 60 minutes”. But a very similar image was spotted in an archive post, where it was given the title “Season of Creation”.
30 years ago it was suggested that 1 September should be observed as a day of “protection of the natural environment”, and the proposal was later widened, with churches urged to adopt a Time for Creation stretching from 1 September to the feast of St Francis on 4 October. This was endorsed by the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly in 2007, which recommended that the period “be dedicated to prayer for the protection of Creation and the promotion of sustainable lifestyles that reverse our contribution to climate change”.
In an article in Christian Today, the Bishop of Salisbury, Nicholas Holtam, is reported to have put the project this way: “We love the beauty of the earth. The fires in the Amazon show how interconnected we are in this beautiful, wonderful, fragile planet. We know there are serious issues to address if we are going to care for God’s earth.
“Season of Creation is a chance once again to give thanks for the gifts of creation, to pray and act in ways that care for God’s creation and address the issues of climate change and the depletion of species. It is the joyful, hopeful responsibility of people throughout the world and particularly of the Church which is both local and global.”
There are many resources available to encourage and help us, as churches, groups or individuals, to observe Creation Time – for example, from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, from the Church of England, from the Anglican Communion.
One that’s close to home is Ecocongregation Scotland, who offer “reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary Readings appointed for these weeks, set against the backdrop of the extreme urgency of the climate crisis and the challenges, which confront us all, without exception, to change our own lives and support and encourage others in the just transition to a human world more likely to weather the turmoil that undoubtedly lies ahead of us all.” Time to reflect!
