Season of Creation

August 30, 2023August 30, 2023 Brian Sapp-Moore cox, creation, nancy

“Future generations will never forgive us if we miss the opportunity to protect our common home. We have inherited a garden; we must not leave a desert for our children.”
Joint statement on creation from Pope Francis, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew,
and Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury.

Celebration of the Season of Creation begins September 1, with a world day of prayer for the care of creation and ends on October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology. The Season of Creation is a time when Christians throughout the world unite to listen, pray, and actively respond to the call to care for the earth, our common home, the creation God has entrusted to us. The theme for 2023 is “Let Justice and Peace Flow” and the symbol is a mighty river. The prophet Amos cries out “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (Amos 5:24).

Over the last fifty years, 60% of the planet’s mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and fish have been wiped out through habitat destruction. Biodiversity is being lost at a rate not seen since the last mass extinction; an estimated 1 million species are threatened with extinction. Oceans are acidifying and warming; sea levels are rising. Record-breaking and intensifying weather patterns are increasing deadly droughts, floods, storms, and temperatures, and disrupting agricultural production. Weather events have become more intense and more destructive.

As I write, Hurricane Idalia has come ashore in Florida and is moving across Georgia. The summer’s extremely hot weather has warmed the waters of the Gulf of Mexico to unusually high temperatures, fueling the rapid intensification from tropical storm to major hurricane, which leaves little time for preparation and evacuation.

We are called to work together on behalf of all creation, to engage in climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most impacted by climate change and the loss of biodiversity. As the people of God, as part of that mighty river of peace and justice, our individual actions join together as tributaries merge to form a mighty river of hopeful change.

At All Saints’, we continue our ongoing ministry of creation care, working on this piece of land, which has been given into our care, and working with other partners in the community. During the Season of Creation, our Sunday prayers will focus on the blessings of God’s creation and our responsibilities as co-creators with God. On October 1, we will have a petting zoo at 10 AM and the Blessings of the Pets at 4 PM. All Saints’ will host the fifth Energy Saving Tree giveaway on October 20-21, partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation and the City of Concord to address the loss of trees in urban areas. Christian hope is in the renewal (Mat. 19:28) and restoration (Act. 3:21) of all things.

The good news of God in Christ is for all creatures and the whole Earth. Our participation with God in creating a more just and habitable world. Living more gently on Earth is how we share in the work of Jesus Christ, who reconciles us to God, one another, and God’s whole Creation.

You can learn more about the Creation Care ministries of the Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church, and the Diocese of North Carolina at: