Diocese to celebrate Season of Creation

The Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care is excited to announce the first diocesan event to celebrate the Season of Creation, a Eucharist to be held at St. James Cathedral on Sept. 21 at 2 p.m.

Growing out of the Orthodox Church’s designation of Sept. 1 as a World Day of Prayer for Creation, over the past two decades the Season of Creation has taken shape as a global ecumenical movement supported by the World Council of Churches and its member denominations. At General Synod in 2019, the Anglican Church of Canada adopted a resolution encouraging dioceses throughout Canada to engage with the Season of Creation and to develop initiatives and resources for the season.

While the global Season of Creation runs from Sept. 1 to Oct. 4 (the feast of St. Francis of Assisi), Canadian churches have often shifted their observance to begin after the Labour Day weekend. Church of the Redeemer, Bloor St. was the first parish in the Diocese of Toronto to celebrate the season, holding annual creation-themed events and sermon series since 2018. Gradually, other parishes in the diocese have picked up the theme, some bringing creation care issues into Sunday sermons, some organizing study series, inviting a speaker or holding outdoor services. During this time, the diocesan role has largely been to promote the observance of the Season of Creation by individual parishes and to direct them to available resources.

This year, the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care is planning a public diocesan celebration of the Season of Creation. The gathering Eucharist at the cathedral on Sept. 21 is intended to bring together parishes from across the diocese. Just as the many watersheds within the diocese ultimately flow into Lake Ontario, parishes from every part of the diocese are invited to bring prayers and symbols that tell the story of their particular place in creation to be incorporated into the service. Accompanied by vibrant contemporary music and youth participation, the liturgy will express the ecumenical theme for Season of Creation 2024: “To hope and act with Creation.”

“Christian hope is not merely optimism, it’s concrete,” says the Rev. Paige Souter, co-chair of the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care. “Our hope is rooted in God’s character, promises and actions. Creation is standing on tiptoe waiting for the manifestation of the children of God – those who stretch up their hands towards the Creator, recognizing themselves as humble creatures, to praise and respect God, and at the same time to love, respect, care and learn from God’s gift of creation.”

Following on the service at St. James Cathedral, parishes will be invited to participate in activities that practice and embody creation care in their local context. To close the Season of Creation, one or more hiking church events will be held outside Toronto on Oct. 5. Resources and more event details will be made available in the coming weeks – stay tuned!

The mission of the Bishop’s Committee on Creation Care is to encourage Anglicans in the Diocese of Toronto in creation-informed, Christ-centred discipleship. This mission resonates with the Cast the Net calls 4, 5 and 8:

• Recognize and act on opportunities to participate in God’s healing work in the world.
• Make explicit connections between following Jesus and working for justice and peace.
• Intensify advocacy and action in response to the climate crisis.

“The climate crisis and the groaning of creation is not just an environmental or existential crisis; it’s a spiritual crisis,” says Elin Goulden, social justice and advocacy consultant and staff liaison to the committee. “As we move into this diocesan Season of Spiritual Renewal, the Season of Creation reminds us that the renewal of the earth begins in spiritual renewal. Spiritual renewal is not for ourselves alone, but for all those with whom God has placed us in relationship – human and non-human, all God’s creatures.”

For more information on the Season of Creation, globally or in the Diocese of Toronto, visit www.seasonofcreation.org and www.toronto.anglican.ca/creationcare.