The Season of Creation: A History of Ecumenical and Environmental Commitment
Together We Unite in Prayer and Work to Protect Our Common Home!
The Middle East Council of Churches
The Ecumenical family around the world is preparing for an environmental Ecumenical season, a season that holds a lot of hope for glorifying, praising and thanking God the Creator for all His blessings and gifts. It is the “Season of Creation,” a station that extends annually between September 1, the Feast of Creation, and October 4, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Ecology.
The Season of Creation is an Ecumenical celebration for praying and responding together to the cry of creation. Hence, its calls on us to renew our relationship with the Creator and creation by learning and working, through studying the Holy Bible and delving deeper into the Teachings of Jesus Christ, as well as through commitment to the environmental issue and making efforts to protect our common home, Oikos of God.
As is customary yearly, the season adopts a specific theme and a special slogan. This year, we will unite around the theme “To hope and act with Creation”, with the symbol “The firstfruits of hope”, inspired by Romans 8:19-25. Hence, when did this season start? And how was it launched?
In fact, His Beatitude Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I proclaimed in 1989 that September 1 is a Day of Prayer for Creation for the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was also embraced by other major Christian European churches in 2001, and by Pope Francis for the Roman Catholic Church in 2015.
In recent years, many Churches have begun celebrating the “Season of Creation,” also known as the “Creation Time,” between September 1 and October 4, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi that is observed by some Western traditions. Noting that Saint Francis is the author of the Canticle of the Creatures, and the Catholic Patron Saint of those who promote ecology.
Moreover, and in steps to encourage the “Season of Creation,” several statements from the past few years have called the faithful to observe this month-long season, such as those of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in 2003, the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu in 2007, and the World Council of Churches in 2008.
In fact, and amid the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, many are beginning to despair and suffer from eco-anxiety. As people of faith we are called to lift the hope inspired by our faith, the hope of the Resurrection. This is not a hope without action but one embodied in concrete actions of Prayer and preaching, service and solidarity.
Arabic Guide of the “Season of Creation” 2024 (Clickable)
English Guide of the “Season of Creation” 2024 (Clickable)
You can share your thoughts, suggestions and experiences through the following hashtags:
#SeasonOfCreationME #MECC #SeasonOfCreation2024
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