On Sunday 6 September, the Church of England will celebrate the new, ecumenical, ‘Festival of Creation in Christ’, also known as the Feast of Creation, Creation Day, or Creation Sunday.
General Synod gave final approval to the new annual Festival in July. It connects the liturgical celebration of creation with the Fifth Mark of Mission, to ‘safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth’.
The Festival is one of the fruits of a growing ecumenical movement among churches around the world. It offers Christians an opportunity to give thanks for God’s creation and redemption of the world, reflect on our responsibility to cherish the natural world, and pray for its renewal.
The Festival’s title is deliberately Christ-centred. As the Bishop of Lichfield, Michael Ipgrave, said when introducing the motion at General Synod, it speaks of “creation made through Christ, held together in Christ and destined for renewal in Christ”. It places care for creation within the faith, life, and worship of the Church: not simply as an environmental theme, but as part of Christian discipleship, mission, and hope.
Share your celebrations
After your celebration, we would love to share how churches across the diocese have marked the celebration. Please send your photos and stories to comms@yorkdiocese.org (making sure that you have the appropriate permission to share images of people).
Resources for worship
The full text of A Time for Creation (Second Edition) is available on the Church of England website and should be the first port of call for those planning worship. It includes the authorised texts and lectionary provision for the Festival, material for Holy Communion and Morning and Evening Prayer, and a commentary from the Liturgical Commission. The wider collection also provides prayers and resources for worship and discipleship throughout the Church and agricultural year.
The print edition of A Time for Creation (Second Edition): Liturgical Resources for Creation and the Environment is now available from Church House Publishing.
The new readings and collects are also available in the Lectionary app. (App users should make sure that they have the latest version installed.) As other Common Worship volumes will be updated when they are reprinted, churches should use the online collection or the new second edition for the current provision.
Church leaders may wish to begin planning by bringing together those involved in worship, preaching, children’s and youth ministry, and local creation care. The new material can help churches connect praise and prayer with learning, repentance, and practical action, rooted in the hope that God is making all things new in Christ.
The Festival is accompanied by Hope for All Creation: A Theological Response to the Environmental Crises, a teaching document from the House of Bishops. Together, the Festival and the teaching document invite the Church to respond to environmental crises from the heart of its faith and worship.
Liturgical Texts for the Eucharist
A Service of the Word
Full Lectionary Readings
Worship Ideas
Hymns and Music
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