A service for Earth Sunday or Season of Creation (Creationtide)
The National Council of Churches USA Creation Justice Ministries develops Sunday worship materials each year to help congregations celebrate and care for God’s Creation. To access these annual resource packets for eco-justice worship services, visit their Earth Day Resource page.
PDF – Eco-Justice Service – ready-to-print download
WORD – Eco-Justice Service – ready-to-print download
Here are examples of the available resources to use in a worship service focusing on Eco-justice Impacts and Opportunities:
Opening Words & Prayer
Many of us have similar Sunday morning routines. They include tasks we hardly think about, like turning on a light, taking a shower, and eating breakfast. Yet, our routine actions impact people and places around the world, often contributing to environmental degradation, hunger, poverty, and chronic illness. We can help bring healing to God’s people and God’s earth by examining our routines and changing our habits to live more simply and sustainably. In doing so, we respond to Jesus’ call to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, and care for the sick (Matt 25:34-45).
Creator God, we give you thanks for the great abundance and nourishment that you provide us through your Creation and through your great love. As we come together to worship you, reveal to us ways we can honour you and your created world. Inspire our worship and shape our lives to reveal your magnificence. Amen.
Gathering words
One: Morning has broken!
Many: We gather to greet the new day by praising God.
One: God created us for relationship with God, one another, and the earth.
Many: Let us honour those relationships today and every day.
One: We seek to care for our brothers and sisters around the world and to God’s good Creation.
Many: Let us honour those relationships today and every day.
One: May we commit to new ways of honoring your Creation as a means of sharing Jesus’ transforming love,
Many: And let us seek God’s grace, justice and mercy for all.
All: Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, forgive us for the ways in which we contribute to the disfigurement and destruction of your Creation. Transform our hearts and minds, that we may place the welfare of your earth and your people before our fleeting desires. Embolden us to give voice to the voiceless in our communities and ecosystems, and grant us divine wisdom that we may replace systems of destruction and oppression with systems of justice and sustainability. Amen.
Suggested Scripture Reading
Isaiah 61:1
‘The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners.’
Sending Forth*
May we live mindfully through our days, praying for and working on behalf of all whose lives are impacted by our own. Go forth to share the light of Christ with all of Creation. Amen.
*Inspired by the 2012 Encyclical Letter written by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.
The Writers include:
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) USA: ‘a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. Out of our call to ‘do justice’ (Micah 6.8), we strive to demonstrate the fullness of God’s shalom through living out our faith by caring for God’s creation. From Hawaii and Washington to Virginia and Florida, and everywhere in between, Disciples congregations are caring for creation in unique and inspiring ways. Earth Sunday is an opportunity for Disciples’ congregations to celebrate and study stewardship of the earth, and to praise and serve God by caring for creation.’ Click here to explore more resources under the umbrella ‘Green Chalice.’
