Season of Creation: Opportunities to put our faith to work for the common good.

So, faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. (James 2:17)

The devastating extreme weather, racial inequity, and pandemic of this past year are interconnected and provide an indication of how we are living on and treating the Earth and its inhabitants, human and nonhuman.  The Season of Creation, September 1 through October 4, observed by Christian denominations around the world, is a time to pause and think about how our lifestyles are adversely affecting God’s Creation and how we might through our faith strive   to live in a more sustainable way. 

The Episcopal Church (TEC) joins in these works. “The Season of Creation, ….is a time for renewing, repairing and restoring our relationship to God, one another, and all of creation. The Episcopal Church joins this international effort for prayer and action for climate justice and an end to environmental racism and ecological destruction. This year’s theme is A home for all? Renewing the Oikos (home) of God. In celebrating the Season, we are invited to consider anew our ecological, economic, and political ways of living.”¹

TEC has provided a list of resources “on loving formation, liberating advocacy for environmental justice, and life-giving conservation and sustainability efforts.”²

Our Diocesan Mission Strategy Goals for Creation Care are also a source of ideas on specific “works” for individuals and congregations, which include, but are not limited to, the following: 

1. Join or form a Creation Care group at your church
2. Connect Creation Care with church life and God’s plan for salvation
3. Develop spiritual connections between ecosystems and church 
4. Share your Creation Care success stories with others 
5. Assess the Racial/Social Justice implications of every Creation Care project in which we are engaged 
6. Promote and install solar on churches 
7. Support use of electric vehicles and charging stations 
8. Sequester carbon in soil at home, at church, and in the field 
9. Participate in churchyard workdays
10. Restore and maintain wildlife habitat at church and at home
11. Reverse biodiversity decline
12. Increase food security: Grow a Sustenance Garden
13. Identify and address local, state, and federal environmental advocacy opportunities

Addressing our ecological problems may appear as a daunting challenge, especially since the designated Season for Creation is for only one month. Look upon this time as one in which you can begin to make changes in the way you are living and then carry out more good works throughout the year.  Some of the most needed works like mitigating climate change require drastically lowering emissions. That is beyond what individuals can do, but we can still do our part. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s these little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” 

Resources: 

1. Mullen, Melanie, and Chatfield, Phoebe. (September 8, 2021). Creation Care. Retrieved from https://www.episcopalchurch.org/season-of-creation-and-st-francis-day-resources/. 

Ecumenical Steering Committee. (2021). About the Season of Creation.  Retrieved from https://seasonofcreation.org/resources/.