In 1989, Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I declared Sept. 1 as a day of prayer for creation in the Orthodox Church. Since then, Christian churches of various traditions around the world have been celebrating a “Season of Creation” between Sept. 1 and Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Archbishop Justin Welby has encouraged Anglicans to participate, and the Creation Matters network of the Anglican Church of Canada has collected resources to guide Canadian Anglicans in observing this season.
One Toronto parish, the Church of the Redeemer, Bloor Street, is making ambitious plans of its own. From Sept. 23 through Oct. 14, Creation Matters @ Redeemer invites you to join with them and with Christians around the world to pray and reflect during a “Season of Creation.” Shifting the observation of the season a little later so as to encompass the Thanksgiving weekend, Redeemer has planned evening and morning services, music, panel discussions and guest speakers, including National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald, Primate Fred Hiltz, and former United Church of Canada moderator Bill Phipps. For more details, see www.theredeemer.ca.
“Season of Creation” is a time to celebrate and give thanks to the Creator for the lakes, rivers, ravines, trees, and parkland we enjoy; for the abundance of food and the rich diversity of living things sustained by the Earth. It is also a time to consider how individually and collectively we are carrying out our baptismal promise to “safeguard the integrity of God’s creation and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth.”
The Queen and duty