God’s Creation is celebrated in a gathering of waters

Recalling believers’ mandate to act as stewards and beneficiaries of God’s creation, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Assembly gathered in morning prayer on the first day of September, the Orthodox Day of Prayer for Creation and the start of an ecumenically observed Season of Creation. At the heart of the liturgical action was a combining of vessels of water from each inhabited region of the earth, a “gathering of the waters” reflecting the earliest act of creation in Genesis 1:9.

As the regional waters were intermingled, the congregation prayed, “We are nourished, sustained and connected. We depend on all life on our planet. We are united in Christ in baptism. We are purified. We are blessed.”

Throughout the devotions, music from many nations and peoples enriched the quality of prayer. There was a Gloria in Estonian, an Alleluia in Russian, a Maori prayer of thanksgiving, and other music stemming from Japan, Lebanon, Europe, the Americas and South Africa. A liturgical dance inspired by Proverbs 8 incarnated the breadth of divine Wisdom and the blessings of Creation.

The gospel lesson came from Colossians 1:15-20 which proclaims that, in Jesus Christ, “all things in heaven and on earth were created”. The text concludes that “through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of the cross.”

As gatherings for morning, midday and evening prayer unfold in the week to come, texts, movement, music and prayers will provide bases of reflection for small group encounters and Bible studies woven through the pattern of the Assembly.

Video of the Morning prayer

Photos of the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany

WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany