Caring for creation is mission

Eloheme saw all creation and, behold! It was of exceeding goodness! (Genesis 1:31a)

During the Season of Creation, Christians around the world celebrate and pray for the creation God has entrusted into our care. It is a time in the church year when we, as the followers of Jesus, rediscover, reclaim and renew our ancient vocation to care for God’s earth.

This September, the Diocese of Toronto will celebrate its first diocese-wide Season of Creation, drawing together parishes from across the diocese into this important mission.

Some of our parishes have been participating in this ecumenical movement for many years, showing us how to live out this mission. They have engaged in creation-focused Sunday liturgies, workshops, book studies, hiking church and creation justice advocacy. We are deeply grateful for their prophetic work.

Grounded in our baptismal covenant, caring for creation is missional work of the Church. One way we live this out in our diocese is through the Cast the Net calls to action. They invite us to “recognize and act on opportunities to participate in God’s healing work in the world” (Call #4), to “make explicit connections between following Jesus and working for justice and peace (Call #5) and to “intensity advocacy and action in response to climate change” (Call #8).

This season will be an exciting and inspiring time as we experience the spirituality of caring for creation as a foundational element of our faith, and as we learn to follow a path of biblical hope in the midst of climate turmoil, anxiety and lament. This will also be an opportunity for the Church to be a prophetic witness to the urgent need to care for the Earth.

The diocesan season will begin with a vibrant, contemporary, creation-centred service at St. James Cathedral on Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. We are excited to hear the voices of youth who will be our preachers at this celebration. The liturgy will embody and bring to life the ecumenical theme for Season of Creation 2024, “To Hope and Act with Creation.”

Parishes from across the diocese – rural, suburban and urban – are invited to participate in the liturgy, bringing prayers, symbols and stories from your particular place, which will be incorporated into the liturgy and shared with the gathered community. Just as the many watersheds within our diocese ultimately flow into Lake Ontario, parishes from every part of the diocese are invited to bring water from their watershed, which will be poured into a fount in the liturgy.

During this season, parishes are invited to befriend creation and to explore their particular place in creation, both the land and water, through prayer, walking, symbol and story. A short resource guide for parishes is available on the creation care webpage, www.toronto.anglican.ca/creationcare.

The season will close with Hiking Church events located in the headwaters of our region on Oct. 5. Hiking Church is a wonderful and simple way to connect with creation. Through prayer, walking and the Eucharist, we will experience God in creation in new and intimate ways.

Creation is groaning and needs the followers of Jesus to embrace their shared vocation to care for and heal the earth (Romans 8:19). Creation needs all of us – those who have been living the mission to creation care, those who are trying to figure out how to get started and those who are simply curious. Let us together love and serve creation. Alleluia!