 "The liturgical year offers what we might call a sacramental approach to the earth's seasons, approaching the earth's great cycles as holy signs of God's saving action in history, drawing us into worship alongside the whole living earth. Our hymns and prayers, the way we dress our worship spaces, our patterns for baptizing, our scripture texts and preaching all are carried out in dialog with the earth and its seasons"by Ben Stewart, p52 Below are guides and resources to help with planning throughout the year. Every Service, Any Service Making every service into care for creation worship, eco-friendly worship practices February into May Lent, Easter, Greening of the Cross, Earth Day Sunday, Rogation Day, Mother (Earth) Day, Arbor Day June to August Get in touch with nature, have worship outdoors, bring nature into your sanctuary September to November Season of Creation, Blessing of the Animals, (Eco-)Reformation Day, All Saints, Thanksgiving, harvest, stewardship Along with these seasonal patterns and rhythms is also the reminder of daily rhythms, of sunrise and sunset, of long light in summer and long nights in winter. Click here for an essay that beautifully invites you into considering creation's guidance for our worship, particularly with the sun as a tutor for daily prayer. Hemisphere Disclaimer Many of these resources have been paired for when the season of the earth matches the liturgical season in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, many of these pairings are reversed and a whole other set of reflections comes into play. Among helpful resources in contemplating this is an article featured in the journal WORSHIP from November 2007 (vol 81, number 6, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press). The article by Carmel Pilcher is called "Poinsettia: Christmas or Pentecost--Celebrating Liturgy in the Great South Land that Is Australia." |
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