Policy: We seek to worship throughout the year so that we express our gratitude and praise to God the creator and so that we glorify God intentionally together with all creation. In worship, we will celebrate creation, confess our sins against creation, grieve the losses of creation, and commit ourselves to care for the earth.
People: The chaplain, the chapel staff, the worship committee of the seminary, leaders of worship, and the whole worshipping community, as well as the teaching faculty. It will be helpful to bring everyone on board, seeking guidance and leadership from them and providing resources and training where appropriate.
Goal: To make “care for creation” worship an integral part of the policies and practices of seminary worship.
Actions: Here are some ideas to carry out these commitments:
A. Celebrate key worship services throughout the church year with a focus on creation.
1. Blessing of the Animals: At sometime in the year, perhaps around St. Francis Day (October 2), have a Blessing of the Animals for the seminary community. (link to worship service) Consider blessing the human animals as well!
2. A Season of Creation: For four weeks out of the Season of Pentecost, observe a four-week Season of Creation, with liturgies, sermons, Scripture focusing on a relationship with nature. For all the relevant materials, go to www.seasonofcreation.com. If you do not celebrate the full four weeks, choose one or two of the liturgies to use in worship at points throughout the year.
3. Greening of the Cross: During the Season of Easter or the Season of Lent, have a Greening of the Cross service in which worshippers put greenery on a wooden cross to show how Jesus’ death renews all creation.
4. Holy days: See the calendar of Holy Days on the Web of Creation site for other times of commemoration in the church year, such as Rogation Day.
B. Celebrate key worship services to observe national commemoration days.
1. Earth Day/Week: Observe Earth Day in April with special worship services throughout the week. There are worship materials from the National Council of Churches website with resources from the Eco-Justice Working Group. You will also find an archive with worship and educational materials from previous years.
2. Thanksgiving:. An obvious opportunity to express gratitude for all creation.
C. Celebrate services special to the seminary community
1. Covenant with Creation: Near the beginning of the academic year, offer a worship service in which community members have an opportunity to sign a “Covenant with Creation” to establish their commitment to do their part in the Greening of the Seminary and place it as an offering.
2. Planting of trees: Some communities commemorate the death of a member of the community with a planting and dedication of a tree in their honor.
D. Incorporate earth-keeping confessions, intercessory prayers, hymns, and sermons into all worship services throughout the year.
1. Worship resources: Many resources for worship are available through diverse websites—liturgies, prayers, hymns, litanies, confessions, intercessions, and so on. Visit Web of Creation, Season of Creation, Earth Ministry, and others.
2. Lectionary Prayers: There are care-for-creation petition-prayers available for each Sunday of the three-year cycle of the church year.
3. Preaching Green : There are two sites that provide care-for-creation reflections for preaching on the lessons of the three-year lectionary cycle. The first, the Christian Ecology Link, is a multi-denominational organization from the United Kingdom for people concerned about the environment. They have provided Ecological Notes on the Common Worship Lectionary by Keith Innes at www.christian-ecology.org.uk/econotes-index.htm#index . The second, the Environmental Stewardship Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota (MEESC), has collected environmental and earth-centered reflections, sermons, and commentaries on the lectionary readings. These notes can be found at www.env-steward.com/lectnry.htm .
E. Appoint the chapel with appropriate banners, greenery, and art that keeps before the congregation their earth-keeping identity and mission. Each of these make excellent gifts from graduating classes and donors.
1. Plants: Green the worship space with living plants/trees throughout the chapel as a sign that the whole creation is our worshipping community. Where possible, highlight the relation between inside and outside the chapel as a sign that all of Earth is the sanctuary in which we worship.
2. Banners: Place banners at the entrance or inside the chapel as a reminder of your commitment to creation, such as “Let all Creation Praise God” or “The Whole Earth is full of God’s Glory.”
3. Art: Place artwork in the chapel that celebrates God the creator and creation. Stained glass pieces, for example, may be commissioned with this in mind.
4. Solar-powered light/font: Consider providing an eternal light or running water in the baptismal font that is powered by the natural energy of the sun.
F. Green your worship practices: Use beeswax candles; place plants instead of cut flowers on the altar; use local wine; provide organic, whole grain communion bread; recycle/reuse or eliminate bulletins; practice intinction or provide reusable glasses (not plastic) for communion (wash with green dishwashing detergent); purchase fair trade palms and paraments.
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