For many congregations in the diocese Oct. 3 will be “Creation Care Sunday.” It’s the Sunday closest to the feast of St. Francis, and Bishop Bud Cederholm has invited congregations to hold creation-themed liturgies on that day and to take up special collections to support the diocese’s Green Grants Initiative.
At the Church of the Good Shepherd in Wareham, they’ll be having a “Blessing of the Animals,” with children and youth helping to lead the service. There will be a dramatic reading of the creation story from Genesis and special prayers for all of creation. The rector, the Rev. Lise Hildebrandt, plans to preach about what she sees as the unsustainability of 21st-century life.
“We cannot use correctly what we do not value. We must regain our love and appreciation of God’s creation and then figure out what ‘right use’ means,” she said, by e-mail, of the importance of observing Creation Care Sunday.
At the Church of the Messiah, members of the Woods Hole scientific community will be included in the Creation Care Sunday observance. The Rev. Deborah Warner, Rector, said by phone that acknowledging professional scientific and environmental work and making it a resource to the church out of common concern is critical.
“There’s nothing more pressing for any person in any faith community than beginning to recognize and acknowledge our call to be stewards of the earth. Everything else depends on it,” Warner said. “The church as an institution and we, as a community of parishes, can no longer afford to be shy about joining the conversation. We have extraordinary resources that people are hungering for.”
Warner and Hildebrandt have worked together with others involved with the Green Grants Initiative to compile liturgical resources for Creation Care Sunday and other Sundays throughout the year, as well as a Green Grants bulletin insert.
Money collected by congregations on Creation Care Sunday will be matched by funds from the Diocesan Annual Fund to support the Green Grants Initiative, launched this fall to encourage and challenge congregations in environmental stewardship through grants, idea sharing and education..
“The Green Grants give us, the churches of the Diocese of Massachusetts, a platform and money to start, or continue, making changes, so that buildings become greener and more efficient, so that congregations and individuals change habits and generate ideas for sustainability,” Hildebrandt said. “The Green Grants also give us a chance to put our money where our hearts are, into funds that will be 100 percent used to support environmental changes in and through our congregations.”
--Tracy J. Sukraw