In the month of September, the Season of Creation is celebrated in churches around the world. The World Council of Churches was instrumental in setting the dates for Season of Creation to begin on September 1st and end on October 4th (Feast Day for St. Francis of Assisi). The first Season of Creation was celebrated in 2000, under Norman Habel’s leadership at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, Adelaide, South Australia. It is a special season where the worldwide Christian community celebrates God as Creator and summons us as collaborators to love and care for the gift of all that is created. The theme of this year’s Season of Creation is Peace with Creation. We are invited today to consider what it means to be managers and co-caretakers (rather than owners) of all that we have. In 1993, the ELCA published a social statement entitled “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice,” and it sums up our calling, “Made in the image of God, we are called to care for the earth as God cares for the earth.” May our worship today rekindle this call.
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