From 1 September to 4 October, Christians around the world pray and care for creation. It’s the “Season of Creation”.
Since 1 September was proclaimed as a day of prayer for the environment by the late Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I in 1989, the Orthodox church year starts that day with a commemoration of how God created the world. On 4 October, Roman Catholics and other churches from the Western traditions commemorate Francis of Assisi.
The proposal to celebrate a "Time for Creation" during these five weeks was made by the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu in 2007. The following year, the WCC Central Committee invited churches to observe "Time for Creation" through prayers and actions. In 2015, Pope Francis designated 1 September as a World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation for the worldwide Roman Catholic Church.
In 2016, Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew released their special messages for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, kicking off the month-long Season of Creation celebrations. Their special messages are available here.
The Season of Creation is facilitated by the WCC, Global Catholic Climate Movement, ACT Alliance, the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network and the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, among others.
Resources:
Season of Creation
Liturgical materials for ecological justice:
Ecumenical Season of Creation website.
Worship resources for the four Sundays produced by Eco Congregation Scotland on behalf of the Church of Scotland.
Sustainable September resources from the Uniting Church in Western Australia.
Educational resources for all ages from Creation Justice Ministries.
Prayers, songs and texts on climate, spirituality and peace with the Earth available in English, French, German, Kisuaheli and Bahasa Indonesia on the website of the United Evangelical Mission.
Multilingual brochure "God’s creation – a house of life for all" published by the Evangelical Church in Central Germany in cooperation with partner churches from Slovakia, Sweden, Tanzania and the United States.
Season of Creation eucharistic prayer in English, Portuguese and other African languages, by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa Environmental Network. See also their revised Season of Creation resource collection (pdf).
Sermon notes, intercessions, group study and harvest festival ideas by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (in English with Welsh and Irish translations).
Resources including a set of worship service outlines by the United Church of Canada
“Come, Repair my Home”, World Day of Prayer for the Care for Creation, 1st September 2018 - by Lic. Elias Crisostomo Abramides, Ecumenical Patriarchate
Resources collected by the Anglican Communion Environmental Network
Resources provided by Let all Creation Praise
Exegetical and liturgical resources collected by the Network of Earthkeeping Christian Communities in South Africa (in English and Afrikaans)
Prayers, blessings and meditations collected by the European Christian Environmental Network (in a variety of languages). See also their Time for Creation dossier.
Readings, sermons, songs and other liturgical resources are also available on the Australian website Season of Creation.
Worship, teaching and prayer material by the Uniting Earthweb
Prayers and liturgies, preaching and educational resources by the Canadian Green Church project (in English and French)
Prayers by the Christian conservation organization A Rocha.
Season of Creation resources by Rev. Dr Jason John of the Mid North Coast Uniting ecoministry in Australia
Creationtide collection compiled by the Diocese of Rochester in the Church of England
Resources in Swedish by the Christian Council of Sweden
Documents by the Globalization and Environment unit of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (in Italian)
Outline of the ecumenical prayer service at COP21 prepared by the Council of Christian Churches in France
Prayers related to the Sustainable Development Goals
Outline of a prayer service on the theme of creation held at the Ecumenical Centre on 22 April 2013
See also the Ecumenical Water Network's reflections and resources from the Seven Weeks for Water.
Other links:
Living The Change
Interfaith Rainforest Initiative