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Overview/Introduction

Since 1989, the ‘Season of Creation’, ‘Creation Time’, or ‘Creationtide’ has grown to be  a lively  global and ecumenical movement in Christian churches, dedicating the Sundays of September and the first in October (closest to St Francis’ Day, 4th October) to worship, prayer, reflection and action on the Commission of the Risen Christ, to bring Good News to All Creation. (Mark 16:15). It’s a chance to celebrate what it means to be Church against the real, urgent and increasing  threat of climate and other environmental crises.  And to rediscover  the meaning of a distinctive human calling of justice, care, guidance and partnership  with - as well as dependence on - fellow creatures with whom we share so much.   

Our original resources, gathered and curated in Scotland, and in fellowship with the global movement,  respond with hope and openness to the God-given witness of trustworthy peer-reviewed  science. Vital too are the experiences of our sisters and brothers in Christ  around the world - including in Scotland - of changes more brutal and far-reaching than we imagined. There’s never been a more compelling reason for prayer; for  the Christian claim on hope beyond hope. And the joy  and deepening of faith we’ve seen amongst the most committed congregations in the EcoCongregation Scotland movement, sharing stories and encouraging each other, especially as we gather on Sunday, offering  worship and receiving nourishment from our Creator.

Our resources fully support the continued use of the Revised Common Lectionary, with  every passage covered, as well as ‘thematic’ material which can be used at any time of year. For the Season is ‘training’ in discerning and recycling the strong green threads re-woven every new day through the whole of our faith, as creatures of  a loving and sustaining God. 

Music Choices: 

We recommend the use of the choices suggested via Trinity College, in which Eco-Congregation Scotland trustee Iain McLarty is fully involved. Each week will have some additional items too, and perhaps some new words to old tunes. 

Trinity College: Songs for Sunday

What is Creation Time/Season of Creation?

In 1989 the Ecumenical Patriarch suggested that 1 September, the first day of the Eastern Orthodox Church year, should be observed as a day "of protection of the natural environment". Ten years later the European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) widened this proposal, urging churches to adopt a Time for Creation stretching from 1 September to the feast of St Francis on 4 October and this was endorsed by the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu, Romania in 2007, which recommended that the period "be dedicated to prayer for the protection of Creation and the promotion of sustainable lifestyles that reverse our contribution to climate change".

Since 2008 Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) has compiled a programme of resources to encourage and assist churches to observe Creation Time. These include suggestions on a variety of ways in which churches, groups and individuals could choose to focus on a creation theme at this particular time of the year. Pope Francis made the Catholic Church’s warm welcoming of the season official in 2015 and urges us to "listen to the voice of creation" this year, encouraging participation in the ecumenical Season of Creation.