 Welcome to "Let All Creation Praise"
- resources to celebrate creation-care worship throughout the year - We offer resources for congregations to worship with God’s creation so as to reconcile and restore our relationship with the rest of nature and to foster love of and care for God’s whole creation, with resources to celebrate a “Season of Creation.” NEW EACH WEEK For Preachers: Weekly Care for Creation Commentary on the Common Lectionary. Holy Trinity Sunday in Year C (by Dennis Ormseth). What if we thought of Christ as Wisdom, God's playmate who leads us into joyful dance? The Second Sunday after Pentecost in Year C (By Dennis Ormseth). Join Earth in a new song to the Lord. NEW EACH MONTH For Preachers. Care for Creation Reflections for Lectionary Lessons by the Month, by Trisha K Tull, Professor Emerita of Old Testament, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary and columnist for The Working Preacher:http://www.workingpreacher.org/columnist_home.aspx?author_id=288 ECO-Preaching Blog: http://ecopreacher.blogspot.com/. Leah Schade, Lutheran Pastor from PA, has a preaching blog. PLANNING FOR 2013 NEW Overall Care for Creation Reflections on the Gospel of Luke in Year C: by David Rhoads. Plan your preaching and devotional life for Year C by noting key ecological themes and passages in the Gospel of Luke. NEW Checklist for Earth-Friendly Worship Practices. Make sure that such things as the wine, flowers, and cleaning of utensils are all done in a green way that cares for creation. Attend to the details of Earth-care and you will make a witness. NEW LENTEN DEVOTIONS AND ACTIONS: Carbon Fasting for Lent. The United Church of Christ in Massachusetts sponsors an ecumenical carbon fast for Lent. Receive daily e-mail with message and a action to reduce carbon output. Sign-up for 2013 is at: http://www.macucc.org/pages/detail/2410. NEW WORSHIP AND INSPIRATION: "Creation Waits with Eager Longing!" Lenten Study by Kim Winchell. A journey of Reflection, Remembrance, Rediscovery, Repentance, Reconciliation, and Recommitment on our way to becoming more faithful stewards of God’s creation. Worship resources for Lent: Ash Wednesday and the six weeks of Lent. Please reproduce with appropriate credit given to Kim Winchell, the creator of the series. Four key moments in every service. Make every service a creation-care service. Incorporate brief elements to four key moments in worship: invocation, confession, petition, commission. Click her to find examples. Worship Checklist. As you prepare for worship this year, go over this checklist for ways you can make your worship expressions of celebration and care for creation. Tree Planting. Prepare for spring planting of trees in commemoration or for beauty or for shade next to buildings to provide lower energy costs are all ways to lower our corbon footprint. Click on this link for a sample service for the blessing of a tree. Celebrate a 2013 Season of Creation in the Church Year. Celebrate this four week season (usually observed in September, but others celebrate it in the summer months or spread throughout the year) designed to celebrate God the Creator and the rich domains of creation with appropriate Scripture lessons, new liturgies, preaching resources, and more. In 2013, we celebrate Ocean Sunday, Animal Sunday, Storm Sunday, and Universe Sunday. Click the link above for all the resources you need to celebrate this season, including sermon reflections on the texts and new books that support the season. Click here for the lessons for Year C, 2013. For the lessons and commentaries on the 2012 Season of Creation, check out the Season of Creation Commentary Archive] Celebrate Creation Time in the Church of Canada. The United Church of Canada urges churches to celebrate Creation Time during five Sundays in the Pentecost season. The Sundays are organized around the theme: "What is Creation Saying to us?" The weekly celebrations focus on such messages as: "Share my Abundance," "Delight in me," and "Walk Lightly on me." The United Church provides liturgical resources and offers an orange stole for the season. Click on the link for the resources. Blessing of the Animals. Take the occasion of St. Francis Day to celebrate a Blessing of the Animals. Be sure to bless the human animals with the non-human ones!. Click on this link for sample services, sermon, and more. NEW Personal Covenant with Creation. Here are resources for members of the congregation to make a "covenant with creation"--their sacred pledge to take actions in caring for Earth in their personal lives: There is a short version, a long version, and a brief ritual for use in any worship service. Harvest Festival. Here is an opportunity to express gratitude for the harvest throughout your country and the world, for the produce of the community garden at your church, and for the food you have grown at home. Section is under construction. Thanksgiving Day. (Canada and the US). This section is under construction. BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS NEW The Sound of Scripture: Reading the Bible Aloud (Lutheran University Press, 2013). This is a brief guide for lay readers who want to
become more confident and effective in communicating the meaning of God's Word
listeners. Reading scripture aloud involves knowledge and understanding, faith,
respect, “spirit and heart,” vocal skill, and physical control. Barbara
Laughlin Adler is professor emerita of Communication Studies at Concordia
University-Ann Arbor.
Greening Spaces for Worship and Ministry: Congregations, Their Buildings, and Creation Care (The Alban Institute, 2012), by Mark Torgerson, who teaches at Judson University in Elgin IL in the areas of worship, theology, and architecture. A practical guide for "cultivating a creation care consciousnes," "Greening worship spaces and certification," "Treating the land as sacred trust," and "the beauty and health of interior environments." With many examples. Highly recommended. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM FRIENDS NEW View this powerful and poignant sermon by the Rev. Leah Schade, Lutheran pastor in West Milton, PA, giving voice to Earth: http://ecopreacher.blogspot.com/2012_10_01_archive.html NEW Here is a song celebrating earth, a contribution by The Rev. Elinor (Ellie) Stock, Presbyterian pastor in St. Louis, MO. Read the lyri (Let the Earth Breathe), see the music sheet (See the pdf at the bottom of this page), and hear the song at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLOrz3FIOs0 May be downloaded and used with attribution.
We invite your contributions to care-for-creation worship. Send to David Rhoads at drhoads@lstc.edu. Plan ahead for summer 2013: Click here for ideas for summer worship. See us on facebook. For a great forum to share your ideas on incorporating creation-care into the worship life of your congregation, and to learn from others visit our facebook page.  Facebook page. (You can access the page even without a Facebook account.)Share how you celebrated Earth Day, 2012. This year Earth Day was on a Sunday. Many congregations and other groups took advantage of this grand opportunity with liturgies, sermons, forums on care of earth, and joyous celebrations! St. Stephen's Lutheran in Monona, WI held a water festival, including offering rain barrels to members. At St. Luke Lutheran in Beckley, WV, National Park rangers spoke after a Green Day potluck, and children planted flowers in re-used tin cans. Faith Lutheran in Janesville, WI had a Rogation day to bless soil and seeds for the year and the dedication of a new community garden. St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Racine, WI had a "Greening of the Cross" service and with a forum advocating wilderness preservation. Others congregations used sidewalk chalk and a family showing of "Wall-E." The Greater Milwaukee Synod of the ELCA had a special worship service followed by kitemaking. Here is their slideshow for worship: How did you or your congregation celebrate? Share stories or pictures on our Facebook page or send them to Nick Utphall at nick@ststlc.net. Four Stages to Comprehensive Care for Creation in All Worship. Follow these comprehensive suggestions to make every worship service a opportunity to worship with creation and on behalf of creation. Contact us: If you wish to offer suggestions and ideas or submit material for inclusion on the site, see our contact information in the "About us" section.
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