Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

Each year, from 1 September, the Global Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, to 4 October, St Francis of Assisi Day, many Anglicans use the Season of Creation – also known as Creation Time – to pray and celebrate with creation, focus on the story of Earth, and commit to a ministry of healing Earth.  In 2017: This year Anglican Communion Environmental Network is partnering 'Green Faith’ with: the Global Catholic Climate Movement, Christian Aid, the Pope’s Prayer network and the World Council of Churches to promote the Day of Prayer and gather resources to assist all faithful people to take part in the Season.

Prayers:

God, creator of the universe,
Fill us with your love for the creation,
for the natural world around us,
for the earth from which we come
and to which we will return.
Awake in us energy to work for your world;
let us never fall into
complacency, ignorance,
or being overwhelmed by the task before us.
Help us to restore, remake, renew. Amen.

Jesus, Redeemer of the World,
Remind us to consider the lost lilies,
the disappearing sparrows;
teach us not to squander precious resources;
help us value habitats: seas, deserts, forests
and seek to preserve this world in its diversity.
Alert us to the cause of all living creatures
destroyed wantonly for human greed or pleasure;
Help us to value what we have left
and to learn to live without taking more than we give.
Amen.

Spirit of the Living God
At the beginning you moved over the face of the waters.
You brought life into being, the teeming life
that finds its way through earth and sea and air,
that  makes its home around us, everywhere.
You know how living things flourish and grow
How they co-exist; how they feed and breed and change
Help us to understand those delicate relationships,
value them, and keep them from destruction. Amen

God, of the living earth
You have called people to care for your world
you asked Noah to save creatures from destruction.
May we now understand how to sustain your world
Not over fishing, not over hunting,
Not destroying trees, precious rainforest
Not farming soil into useless dust.
Help us to find ways to use resources wisely
to find a path to good, sustainable living
in peace and harmony with creatures around us.
Amen

Jesus, who raised the dead to life
Help us to find ways to renew
what we have
broken, damaged and destroyed:
Where we have taken too much water,
polluted the air, poured plastic into the sea,
cut down the forests and soured fertile soils.
Help all those who work to find solutions to
damage and decay; give hope to those
who are today working for a greener future.
Amen.

from Anne Richards, Mission Theology Advisory Group - www.ctbi.org.uk

The world has been created for everyone's use, but you few rich are trying to keep it for
yourselves. For not merely the possession of the earth, but the very sky, the air, and the
sea are claimed for the use of the rich few. ... The earth belongs to all, not just to the rich. 
~ St. Ambrose of Milan (340-397)