ECEN Booklet 'Time for God's Creation

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European Christian

Environmental

Network

(ECEN)

Time

for

God’s

Creation

An Appeal to the Churches in Europe



© ECEN 2006 - www.ecen.orgedited by Isolde Schönstein and Lukas Vischer

cover and design: Barbara Robracoverphoto: © Barbara Robra

photos: Tini Brugge, Conerence o European Churches (CEC),Martyn Goss, Photo Oikoumene, Barbara Robra

published by the Conerence o European Churches150 route de FerneyCH 1211 Genève 2Phone: +41 22 791 63 25www.cec-kek.org

printed in France by SADAGprinted on paper certied by the Forest Stewardship Council

ISBN 2-88070-116-3

We wish to thank all those who granted permission or the use o theliturgical materials hereunder.

We have made every eort to trace and identiy authors correctly andto secure all the necessary permissions or reprinting. I we have erredin any way in the acknowledgements, or have unwittingly inringed anycopyright, we sincerely apologize.



The Appeal 4

Where does the Proposal come rom? 8

Message o His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch DIMITRIOS I 8

on the Day o the Environment (September 1, 1989)

Resolution o the European Christian Environmental Network 12

adopted at its meeting in the Evangelical Academy in Loccum

on October 31, 1999

Refections on the Proposal o a Creation Time 14

Praising God - the Creator o Heaven and Earth - 14in the Liturgical Year (Lukas Vischer, Geneva)

Reviving Quatember Times (Philipp Harnoncourt, Graz) 25

The Response to this Proposal 30

At the International Level 30

At the Level o the European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) 33

At the National Level 34

Four Lessons rom this Survey 42

New Departures and Perspectives 44

Prayers and Songs 48

related to the theme o the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu

“The Light o Christ shines upon all”



Time for God’s Creation

Throughout the year the Church is invited to recall in a special way eacho God’s great deeds in Jesus Christ. Each year we are led rom Advent,Christmas and Epiphany to Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day andPentecost, and when the Advent Season returns, we not only prepareor Christmas, but pray or the coming o God’s kingdom. One reminderollows another – an uninterrupted sequence, repeated year by year.But, surprisingly, no special time is reserved or recalling that God is theCreator o heaven and earth, the source o lie. The annual circle ospecial times and days ocuses on the second and third articles o the

Creed. No special time is set aside or giving thanks or the git o God’screation.

We urge the Churches to designate the period romSeptember 1 to the second Sunday o October as anopportunity to reect together on God the creator and onthe git o lie.

True, the Creator is by no means absent rom the worship lie o theChurches. A powerul reminder comes, o course, each Sunday, theconstantly recurring day o rest. “Six days you shall labour and do allyour work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God ...or in six days the Lord made heaven and earth … and rested on theseventh day (Ex.20, 9-11).” For Christians, the primary content o theSunday is Christ’s resurrection. But how can we celebrate the newcreation inaugurated by the resurrection without at the same timerecalling God’s creating and sustaining power. Trinity Sunday, ollowing

Pentecost, underlines the inseparable link between God creating,redeeming and bringing to ullment. Prayers oered throughout theyear contain many reerences to Creation, and it is important to identiy,and make uller use o, such reerences. But the need or a special timeremains.



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A time to renew oursense o dependenceon the Creator, theawareness that we

are creatures amongcreatures, called toserve and care or God’sCreation, a time opraise, o repentanceand renewal. We arenot asking or an ofcialchange o the liturgical

year. What we needis simply a period oundivided commonattention to the Creatorand the creation.

Why do we insist on thisproposal now? The reason isobvious: because our relationship

to God’s Creation is deeplydisturbed. Through our excessiveexploitation o the planet wehave caused serious damage andcontinue to cause harm to the‘rest’ o Creation. The eects oour behaviour are disastrous –pollution, destruction and death.

The present situation raisesundamental questions about theways we have given expressionto our aith in our day to day lie.Have we really understood whatit means to be created? To havelie in the midst o lie? We haveto ask the question why andwhen things took a wrong turn.

How could it have happenedthat the resources o the planetbecame overexploited and thatair, soil and water are now lledwith waste? ©

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We need a common time to elucidate such questions, a time to recognise the magnitude o the crisis;to reect on its implications or our aith and discipleship;

to enter into dialogue and exchange with one anotherand people o other persuasions and aiths;to learn rom scientists and experts;to discover new approaches and accept new commitments– both as congregations and persons;to witness to the true voice o the Scriptures andto live as the frst ruits among God’s creatures (James 1,18).

In the spirit o the European Ecumenical Assemblies in Basel andGraz the Charta Oecumenica states: “Together we want to helpcreate sustainable living conditions or the whole o creation.” Thiscommitment inevitably opens a horizon beyond the borderlines oEurope. European Churches belong to nations whose claims on theresources o the planet are excessive, and entail, in act, a new ormo intolerable injustice. The way o lie in Europe aggravates thegap between the rich and poor nations worldwide. Climate changemay serve as an illustration: European countries are responsible or

comparably high emissions o greenhouse gases but the anomaliesresulting rom the constant rise o temperature are aecting primarilythe poorer countries o the world. A new approach towards God’screation is thereore not only a matter o sel-protection but alsoo justice. The Time or God’s Creation which we propose providesan opportunity to refect anew on the solidarity and on the othercommitments that our dependence on God requires.

In our view a Time or Creation will provide an opportunityto all Churches in Europe both East and West

to join in common praise;to share the resources o their traditions;to work towards a new orientation o the lie o theirsocieties.

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In 1989 the Ecumenical Patriarch o Constantinople Dimitrios I

suggested to all Churches to observe September 1, or the Orthodox

Churches the rst day o the ecclesiastical year, as a day “o theprotection o the natural environment” and to oer “prayers and

supplications to the Maker o all, both in thanksgiving or the great

git o creation and in petition or its protection and salvation”. Ten

years later the European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN)widened this proposal, urging the churches to adopt a Time or Creationstretching rom September 1 to the second Sunday in October.

Message o His All-Holinessthe Ecumenical Patriarch DIMITRIOS Ion the day o the protection o the Environment(September 1, 1989)

This Ecumenical Throne o Orthodoxy, the keeper and proclaimer o thecenturies-old spirit o patristic tradition and the aithul interpreter o

eucharistic and liturgical experience o the Orthodox Church, with greatanxiety ollows the merciless trampling down and destruction o the

natural environment which is caused by man with extremely dangerous



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Time for God’s Creation10

consequences or the very survival o thenatural world created by God.

The abuse by contemporary man o his

privileged position in creation and o theCreator’s mandate “to have dominionover the earth” (Gen 1:28) has alreadyled the world to the edge o apocalypticsel-destruction, either in the orm onatural pollution which is dangerousor all living beings, or in the orm othe extinction o many species o theanimal and plant world, or in various

other orms. Scientists and other learnedindividuals are now warning us o thedanger and speak o phenomena whichare threatening the lie o our planet,such as the so called “phenomenon othe greenhouse” whose rst indicationshave already been noted.

In view o this situation the Church o Christ cannot remain unmoved.It constitutes a undamental dogma o her aith that the world wascreated by God the Father, who is conessed in the Creed as being“the maker o heaven and earth and o all things visible and invisible.”According to the great Fathers o the Church, man is the prince ocreation endowed with the privilege o reedom. Being simultaneously apartaker o the material and the spiritual world, he was created in orderto reer creation back to the Creator so that the world may be savedrom decay and death.

This great destiny o man was realized, ater the ailure and all o the“rst Adam”, by the “last Adam,” the Son and Logos o God Incarnate,our Lord Jesus Christ, who united the created world with the uncreatedGod in his person and who increasingly reers creation to the ather asan eternal eucharistic anaphora and oering.

The Church in each Divine Liturgy continues this reerence and oering(o creation to God), in the orm o the Bread and the Wine which

are elements taken rom the material universe. In this way the Churchcontinuously declares that man is destined not to exercise powerover creation as i he were the owner o it, but to act as its steward,cultivating it in love and reerring it in thankulness with respect andreverence to its Creator.

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His All-HolinessPatriarch Bartholomaios I.



Time for God’s Creation 11

Unortunately, in our days o the infuence o an extreme rationalismand sel-centredness, man has lost the sense o sacredness o creationand acts as its arbitrary ruler and a rude violator. Instead o theeucharistic and ascetic spirit with which the Orthodox Church brought

up her children or centuries, we observe today the violation o natureor the satisaction not o basic human needs, but o man’s endless andconstantly increasing desires and lust, encouraged by the prevailingphilosophy o a consumer society.

But creation “groans and travails in all its parts” (Rom 8:22) and isnow beginning to protest its treatment by human beings. Man cannotinnitely and at his pleasure exploit the natural resources o energy. The

price o his arrogance, should the present situation continue, will be hissel-destruction.

In ull consciousness o our duty and in paternal spiritualresponsibility, having taken all the above into consideration andhaving listened to the anguish o modern man, we have cometo the decision, in common with the sacred and Holy Synodsurrounding us, to declare the frst day o September o eachyear, on the occasion o the Feast o Indiction, which is the frst

day o the ecclesiastical year, to be the day o the protection othe natural environment with prayersand supplications or all creationto be oered by this holy Centre oOrthodoxy.

Thereore, we invite the entire Christianworld through this our PatriarchalMessage to oer together with theMother Holy Great Church o Christ, theEcumenical Patriarchate, every year onthis day prayers and supplications to theMaker o all, both in thanksgiving orthe great git o Creation and in petitionor its protection and salvation. At thesame time we paternally urge, on theone hand, all the aithul in the world to

admonish themselves and their childrento respect and protect the naturalenvironment, and, on the other hand,all those who are entrusted with theresponsibility o governing nations to act

His All-HolinessPatriarch Dimitrios I.

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without delay in taking all necessary measures or the protection and

preservation o natural creation.

Finally, we ask the Lord or all good things or the world and bestow

upon all, those near and ar, our wholehearted Patriarchal and paternalblessing.

At the Phanar the 1st o September, 1989,

+ PATRIARCH DIMITRIOS

Resolutiono the European Christian Environmental Networkadopted at its meeting in the Evangelical Academyin Loccum on October 31, 1999

The Second Ecumenical European Assembly in Graz (1997) adopted the

ollowing resolution: “We recommend that the churches consider and

promote the care or creation as part o church lie at all levels. One way

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would be to observe a common creation day, such as the EcumenicalPatriarchate celebrates each year. Rationale: The seriousness o theecological dilemma or the uture o the human race means that thechurches’ consciousness must be raised. Commitment to the care or

creation is not an issue among many but an essential dimension o allchurch lie.”

The European Christian Environmental Network, having considered anddiscussed this resolution, submits to the churches in Europe and to allorganisation and people concerned, the ollowing recommendation:

We welcome the resolution o the Second Ecumenical Assembly in Graz.

We urge the churches to put it into practice through a common andconcerted eort.

The theme o creation is present in the worship o all Christian tradition.For example, many Protestant churches celebrate harvest worshipservices and in the Roman Catholic Church the Day o Saint Francisis acquiring increased signicance. The proposal o the EcumenicalPatriarchate adds a urther occasion o celebrating the Creator.September 1 is meant to be “a day o thanksgiving or the great git o

creation and o petitions or its preservation and healing”. In responseto the proposal o the Ecumenical Patriarchate the churches shouldintroduce into the church year a period explicitly devoted to the rstarticle o the Creed, the conession o ‘God, the Father, Creator oHeaven and Earth’. At present the theme “Creator and Creation” hasno rm place within the church calendar. The various periods and dayso the church year have as their ocus the second and third articles othe Creed.

1. We propose that the period rom September 1 to the secondSunday o October be observed as a period o celebration o theCreator and Creation.

We have noted with interest that certain churches have already begunto use this period as an occasion to strengthen within the churches theconsciousness o their responsibility or creation. We suggest that allchurches introduce this period into their calendar.

2. Such a period o the Creator and Creation can serve as an occasionor a common witness o the churches. With a view to this, we haveprepared a le with suggestions which may acilitate a creative use othe period.




Praising God,the Creator o Heaven and Earth,in the cycle o the liturgical year

Lukas Vischer, Geneva

Throughout the year Christian churches celebrate the oundationalevents o the revelation o God in Christ. However, there is no day andtime in the liturgical year when we explicitly remember God as Creator.The church year concentrates almost exclusively on the second andthird articles o the Christian creed. Is this state o aairs acceptable inview o the ecological crisis? Is it not time to reconsider the sequenceo the church year? Certainly belie in “God the Almighty, Creatoro heaven and earth” is presupposed in any church celebration. Butare these hidden reerences enough? In view o the criticism that theJudeo-Christian tradition has substantially contributed to present-daydestructive ways o treating nature, there are more and more callsor a reorm or renewal o the liturgical year. For, even though it caneasily be shown that this criticism is based on a biased interpretation

o the biblical texts, the absence o God the Creator in the successiono Christian estivals is striking. I it is true that worship orms theconsciousness o believers to an even larger degree than the teachingo the Church, it is essential to give God the Creator a larger place inworship. The entire creed must nd expression in worship.




1. The revelation o God in history

The succession o Christian estivals is embedded in the changingseasons o the year. Every year the cycle ends and begins anew. To a

certain extent the rhythm o nature provides the ramework or thechurch year. However, the content o the estivals does not coincidewith the rhythm o nature; they rather commemorate the eventsconnected with God’s revelation in Christ. The liturgical year recalls theturning point in history brought about by Jesus.

This movement rom nature to history can already be seen in Israel’straditions. The great estivals celebrated in Israel were originally rooted

in the cycle o nature. The Passover originated in the nomadic period,as a spring estival at which the rst-born lambs were sacriced. Threeother easts have their origins in the Canaanite context and had todo with the cultivation o the land: a) the estival o Mazzoth, theunleavened bread, was celebrated at the time o the barley harvest;b) the estival o the wheat harvest, Shabuoth, celebrated seven weeksater the Feast o Mazzoth, was also called the estival o Weeks; andc) the estival o Booths or Tabernacles, Sukkoth, was the east o thewine and ruit harvest, and could also be called simply the Festival.

The original meaning o these estivals is especially recognisable in thecustoms which were observed. At the Feast o Mazzoth, the rst barley,the bread o the poor, was oered, and at the Feast o Weeks the rstwheat. The use o branches at the Feast o Tabernacles goes back to agrape-harvest estival celebrated in vineyards and orchards.

All these estivals were given new meanings in Israel. At Passoverthe Exodus rom Egypt was remembered. The Feasts o Mazzoth and

Tabernacles also served to recall this history. The use o unleavenedbread was now explained as a recollection that the Israelites, orcedby the Egyptians to leave in a hurry, had no time to let that morning’sbread dough rise and thus had to bake it as unleavened cakes the rsttime they camped (Exodus 12:34,39). The Feast o Tabernacles wasto be celebrated according to Yahweh’s commandment “so that yourgenerations may know that I made the people o Israel live in boothswhen I brought them out o the land o Egypt: I am the Lord your God”(Leviticus 23:39-43). The Feast o Weeks was seen in later years as the

estival recalling the revelation o the Law on Mount Sinai.

This does not mean that Israel was thereby orgetting its relation tocreation. The Sabbath, which was observed every seventh day, wasundamental to the consciousness o Israel. Whatever was the origin




o this day o rest, in the course o Israel’s history it was brought

into relation to God’s work o creation. “For in six days the Lord

made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested

on the seventh day; thereore the Lord blessed the seventh day and

consecrated it.” (Exodus 20,11) The Sabbath was a day o rest not only

or people and cattle, but also or the soil. The extension o the Sabbathrhythm to sabbatical and jubilee years makes this especially clear. In the

seventh year there was to be a Sabbath o complete rest or the land;

neither sowing nor harvesting was allowed (Leviticus 25:4). But even as

estivals were given new meaning in the light o historical experience,

their roots in the cycle o nature was not lost. How could gits o rst

ruits have been oered without thinking o the Creator?

Attributing historical meaning to inherited estivals continued in

the Christian church. The decisive event to be recalled was now theresurrection o Christ. In the Christian communities it became the

custom to gather on the evening o the rst day o the week, that is, on

the day o Christ’s resurrection, to celebrate the breaking o the bread.

Gradually, this Day o Resurrection, the Lord’s Day or Day o the Sun,

absorbed the Sabbath tradition. The Sabbath, or Christians, was moved

rom Saturday to Sunday. But this also changed its meaning. The central

content o this day was now the celebration o Jesus’ victory over death.

The congregation gathered to celebrate the Lord’s presence in theWord, prayer and supper and to await his second coming. The reerence

to the creation had no longer primary weight. Certainly the Lord’s

Supper continued to remind Christians o Creation, since the bread and

wine, God’s gits o lie, were shared. However, the primary meaning

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o sharing the supper was the communion with the crucied and risen

Christ, and the expectation o the new creation.

The Jewish estivals were no longer observed, or were replaced by

Christian estivals. The reerence to the creation which was still presentin them was thereby lost.

2. The gradual development o the church year

The church year as we know it today is the result o a long and

complicated development. It did not come into existence all at one time.

Its construction is thereore not consistent in all respects, but rather

refects the viewpoints and aspirations o various historical periods.

“Diering orders and spheres o time, tied to rival calendars and their

cycles which overlap, have resulted overall in a highly complex construct

o dates, observances, easts and estival periods - a bewildering, artully

layered architectonic structure.”1 The divisions among the churches have

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led to diering ways o shapingthe church year. Each conessionaltradition has its own peculiarities.First it was East and West which

went separate ways, but thedivisions which appeared with theReormation in the 16th centuryalso had particular consequencesin this regard. Thus it cannot betaken or granted that the variousconessions can easily agree on theordering o the church year.

Various cycles determine the basicpattern o the construct. The rstcycle is the sequence o Sundays. Asit was or Israel, or the church too,the unit o seven days is decisive,and orms the basis o the churchyear.

Second in importance is the Easter cycle. Easter, the Feast o theResurrection, was the rst Christianestival to be celebrated annually.Around Easter, other estivalsdeveloped at various points in time:beore Easter, Lent, Palm Sundayand Holy Week, especially Good

Friday; and ater Easter, the Easterseason with Ascension and WhiteSunday (Pentecost). Around theyear 1000 Trinity Sunday was addedas a estival which sums them allup. Since Easter is celebrated on therst Sunday ater the rst ull moonater the spring equinox, its datevaries, and with it all the dates o

the Easter cycle.

The third cycle, that o Christmas,is distinguished by two eastdays, those o the birth o Christ

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and o Epiphany on January 6.In contrast to Easter, Christmasis xed on a particular date inthe solar calendar, and thereore

is not a movable east and doesnot all on a Sunday in every year.Since the Christmas and Eastercycles are based on dierentsystems o reckoning, the lengtho the period between them variesrom year to year. The number oSundays between Epiphany and

the beginning o Lent, and alsothe number o Sundays betweenPentecost and the beginning oAdvent, are dierent rom oneyear to the next. Other estivalsare scattered throughout the year,some loosely connected withthe great cycles, others, such asthe Feast o the Transguration

(August 6), having no immediatelyvisible connection with them. Aew estivals such as ReormationSunday are memorials, others,like New Year, are xed in the civilcalendar.

The ourth cycle is that o the

saints’ days. Early in the history othe church the custom was alreadybeing established o rememberingour “cloud o witnesses” oncertain days o the year. The listso the saints are not the same orall churches; they are dierent inEast and West. In the churches othe Reormation, the calendar o

saints lost much o its meaningwhen the veneration o the saintswas condemned. The saints’ daysbecame merely memorials or wereorgotten altogether.

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3. A changing order

Solidly as these undamental cycles are rooted in the lie o thechurches, the liturgical year is not an order which has been concluded

or all times. Construction is still going on, with each century making itscontribution. Festivals whose position at one time seemed unshakeablehave ended up in the background, and new ones have been added.Excesses which have developed are swept away by radical reorms, mostradically at the time o the Reormation. Gentler reorms, such as thoseo the Second Vatican Council, seek to eliminate inconsistencies and tomake the ordering more understandable.

Thus the endeavour to include a time in the church year especiallyto honour the creation and its Creator is legitimate.2 Why shouldthe church not see to it that, in the ace o the ecological crisis, itsconession o God as Creator nds a clearer expression in its liturgicallie? Individual churches have already taken steps in this direction. Innumerous churches, especially in rural areas, there are harvest estivaltraditions: today one nds here and there attempts being made to revivethese traditions. In the Roman Catholic Church the day o Saint Franciso Assisi on October 4 is being given an increasing role. In ever-wideningcircles the need is being elt or God’s creation and its preservation to bean explicit theme in worship.

4. The Ecumenical Patriarch’s proposal

There is particular signicance in the Ecumenical Patriarch’s proposal tocelebrate September 1 as a day o “thanksgiving or the great git ocreation and petitions or its protection and salvation”. What is behindthe choice o this date?

For the Orthodox churches, September 1 is the beginning o the churchyear. This regulation has a long tradition, going back to the way timewas reckoned in the Byzantine Empire. It was based on indictions,which are periods o a certain number o years. Ocial documentsalways gave the indiction and the year within the indiction. This system

o dating was introduced under the Emperor Diocletian in the years297-98, and was declared obligatory under the Emperor Justinian Iin 462-63.3 The year began on September 23, which was changed toSeptember 1 in the second hal o the 5th century. An indiction wasat rst ve years long, later changed to 15 years. At the end o each




indiction the next began. The church also used this system o reckoningtime. The beginning o each year, and especially o a new indiction, wasceremoniously observed. In Constantinople, the Patriarch announcedthe new year o the indiction. Ater celebrating the liturgy in the basilica

o Hagia Sophia, the Patriarch and the members o the Holy Synodgathered in a great hall. Following prayers and liturgical hymn-singing,the Patriarch named the new year and granted absolution to all. Hethen conrmed, by signing the ocial document, the beginning o thenew year.4

With the end o the Byzantine Empire this tradition lost its practicalsignicance. However, the church preserved the date, and the Orthodoxchurches today still celebrate September 1 as the beginning o the new

year. The year is, however, not structured according to its beginning onSeptember 1.5 This estival is one o the relics let over rom calendarsused in the past. In his message the Ecumenical Patriarch does notgive any explanation o the traditional meaning o the day; he merelymentions it.

Thus the Patriarch’s proposal is to be seen as an endeavour to give anew content to a estival which has largely lost its original meaning. The

church year is to begin with a refection on God the Creator, the gito creation and our responsibility beore God and towards our ellow-creatures.

5. What new points o departure are possible?

How can we give more room in worship to the praise o God asCreator? What new departures are possible within the ramework o the

liturgical year?

Sunday is without doubt the most important element. The relationshipo the Sabbath or Sunday to God the Creator and his creation shouldnever have been lost. True, the central meaning o Sunday are Christ’sresurrection and victory over death. Every Sunday is a sort o “smallEaster”. But this more recent content need not be understood asirreconcilable with the Old Testament meaning o the Sabbath as aday o rest, analogous to God’s rest on the seventh day o creation.

God’s new world is the ullment o the creation. As God’s creatures,we praise the Creator who called this world into being and preservesit, cares or all creatures and gives them their ood in due season, andputs an end to death with the in-breaking o the promised reign o God.Sunday reminds us o our responsibility towards other persons and all




other creatures. It puts limits to blind business, and makes us take a step

back and realize again who we are beore God and the entire creation.

Sunday is a criticism o human sel-realization which shuts o the access

to God’s new world.

But is there not also room in the church year or certain “days o

creation” or, even more appropriately, a special time to recall God as

Creator? Would it not be meaningul to celebrate September 1, or

Harvest Festival, or October 4 as such a time? A certain uneasiness

appears almost instinctively. In recent decades a great many new

Sundays have been introduced into the churches to remind us o

particular ethical obligations - days or reugees, or persons with

disabilities, Human Rights Day etc. One could almost say that a second,ethically-oriented ‘liturgical’ year has developed. Should this series o

days be extended by yet another ‘special day’?

The ollowing environmental days are observed in certain parts o the

world:

a) Earth Day on March 21 or 22, launched by John McConnell in 1970.

The choice is based on the idea o the spring equinox;

b) Earth Day on April 22, launched in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson(1916-2005). Both dates oten coincide with Lent or Easter Tide;

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c) The World Environment Day o the United Nations on June 5th,introduced by the General Assembly o the United Nations in 1972,in connection with the First UN Conerence on the Environment inStockholm.

But the proposal o a Creation Day does not just add another specialSunday. The primary concern is to give clearer expression to aundamental part o the Christian conession o aith. What we needto do is to show, as the Second European Ecumenical Assembly in Graz(1997) said, that “commitment to preservation o the creation is not anissue among many others, but an essential dimension o all church lie.”

There are thereore good reasons or introducing, instead o one day,

a season o creation. ECEN suggests that it begin on September 1 andlast until the second Sunday o October. This period covers various daysobserved in dierent conessional traditions. It also corresponds to theseason o harvest celebrations in many parts o the world. Such a Timeor Creation ts without strain into the existing church year. Beorethe observances o the great events in the history o salvation begin,rom the birth o Christ to the outpouring o the Holy Spirit, we arereminded o God as the source o all lie. And ater ollowing through

the succession o God’s mighty deeds, we would be led back again tothe God whose hands encircle all times.

A possible diculty might be that this season comes at dierent timeso the year in the northern and southern hemispheres. When Europe isharvesting, spring is coming to Argentina, South Arica and Australia.But is a day or the Creator dependent upon the seasons? It could beconnected with the springing to lie o nature just as well as with itsading. Just as Christmas is not necessarily tied to winter, nor Easter to

spring, praise or the Creator does not have to be connected with aparticular season. It will only mean that meditations in dierent placeswill bring out dierent aspects.

6. Alpha and Omega

A time or creation in the church year! It would have the advantage obringing aith in God as Creator into relation with the whole creed. The

talk o ecological responsibility today easily gives the impression that thisis a new ‘political’ task. But, in act, we are talking about an imperativeo the Christian aith. The way the gits o the creation are treated todayamounts to a denial o God. Whenever this responsibility is isolatedrom the entirety o the aith, it is aith which is being played down.




A time or creation prepares the ground or a deeper understandingo Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. The structure o the creed isreplicated in the church year. God as Creator o heaven and earth isthe pre-condition and the background or everything that ollows. In

becoming a human being God enters into the creation, and through theresurrection makes new lie break orth, and pours out the git o theSpirit upon humankind and the whole creation. The time or creationwould make possible a deeper understanding o the Trinity - Father, Sonand Holy Spirit.

The time or creation is both the beginning and the end o the churchyear. In refecting upon the Creator, our attention is directed to God’s

new creation. God’s creation cannot ultimately be ully understoodwithout its ullment in Christ. Over the horizon o this creation, romthe beginning, shines the light o God’s reign. In the time or creationwe celebrate both the origin and the ullment - Alpha and Omega.

Above all, the time or creation reminds us that we too are creatures,among many others. It gives us an occasion to think about the waywe have used God’s gits, and how we will do so in uture. It givesthe church an occasion to put a new, more responsible liestyle into

practice. The Ecumenical Patriarch’s message says with great urgency:“We must attempt to return to a proper relationship with the Creatorand the creation. This may well mean that just as a shepherd will, intimes o greatest hazard, lay down his lie or his fock, so human beingsmay need to orego a part o their wants and needs in order that thesurvival o the natural world can be assured. This is a new situation- a new challenge. It calls or humanity to bear some o the pain ocreation as well as to enjoy and celebrate it. It calls rst and oremost or

repentance - but o an order not previously understood by many.” I atime or creation contributes to this conversion, it has ullled its task.

Notes

1 Karl-Heinz Bieritz, in Handbuch der Liturgik , Hans-Christoph Lauber and Karl-Heinz

Bieritz, eds., Leipzig und Göttingen 1995, p. 4532 Ibid., p. 487

3 Corpus Iuris civilis, Nov. 47,24 V. Grumel, Indiction, in New Catholic Encyclopedia, New York 1967, vol. 7, pp. 466-4685 “The idea o the year as a unit and as a real time within which the church dwells or the

purpose o its ullment is so weak that the Byzantine list o months begins with September,a month which in our present calendar has no special liturgical ‘signicance’ whatever.”Alexander Schmemann, Introduction to Liturgical Theology , London 1966, p. 136




Reviving QuatemberTimes

Philipp Harnoncourt, Graz

The Second European EcumenicalAssembly in Graz (1997) urged allChristian churches to “considerand promote the preservation o

Creation as part o church lie atall levels” and recommended to“observe a Common CreationDay, such as the EcumenicalPatriarchate celebrates each yearon September 1”. At its meetingin Loccum in 1999, the EuropeanChristian Environmental Network(ECEN) proposed that a longer

period be set apart or refectingon God the Creator and hisCreation and suggested thedates rom September 1 to thesecond Sunday o October. ECENdrew attention to the act thatno special time in the churchcalendar is at present reserved or

this purpose.

The ollowing refections may berelevant in this connection.

a) The traditional churchcalendars contain many hiddenreerences to Creation – both inthe sense o the act o creation

and created nature – whichshould be uncovered andbrought back to consciousnessbeore new dates or periods areintroduced. The whole calendar

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as a system o organising time (measures o time, recalling the pastand planning and anticipation o the uture) is related to nature, andthereore to Creation. It aims at establishing a way o lie in harmonywith the order o the cosmos. Years, moon-months, zodiac-months and

individual days correspond to the movements o sun, moon and theplanet earth and to their position in the hemisphere.

The easts o thanksgiving and refection on God’s great deeds,understood as God’s armation o lie, have their xed places withinthese cycles, places which are already characterised by the recurringrealities in created nature (seasons, moon-phases, rising and setting osun and moon).

b) The choice o September 1 as east o Creation by the EcumenicalPatriarchate in 1989, can be explained by the act that or the Orthodoxchurches the liturgical year begins with September 1. This tradition isin harmony with the experience o agrarian cultures. Autumn as thetime o harvest and renewed sowing invites people to meditate on themystery o creation and lie:

to give thanks or the Creation and its ruits maintaining us in lie;to pray or the renewal o Creation towards its ullment and

to refect on the responsibility o human beings towardsCreation, to keep it in its integrity;to develop it within the ramework o laws and rules derivedrom nature and rom the Creator’s revelation.

This refection leads to a uller awareness o our place in God’s creation,and the responsibility o human beings – creatures among creatures –or the preservation o Creation. It inevitably also implies the recognition

and conession o our own errors, acts o conversion, and commitmentto renewal as well as atonement.

c) The suggestion to introduce this Feast o Creation in all churches andto enlarge it by the adoption o a Time or Creation rom the beginningo September to the middle o October raises the question in which waythe concern can be rooted, and given its proper place, in the traditionalcalendars o the churches.

We experience Creation in analogy to cyclical time. The createdworld comprises phases – beginning, growing, maturing, harvesting,decreasing and coming to an end. The question remains open whetherthe end is to be understood as irrevocable ending or rather as aconstant new beginning and eventually a ullment. The cycles o

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nature suggest a constant newbeginning. Revelation promisesthe ullment o the wholeCreation by the Creator.

d) God’s incarnation in JesusChrist and Jesus’ death andresurrection point to thepreservation o Creation and itsuture ullment.

The act that Easter is celebrated

in spring and Christmas in thedays o winter solstice turnalso these easts into Creationeasts! This dimension is otenoverlooked – it needs to berevived today.

e) Every day points to Creation– the rising sun reminds o its

beginning and ullment. EachMorning Prayer turns the risingsun into a “Sacrament o Creationand Fullment”, transorms theexperience o nature into anexperience o aith.

The same is true or Sunday, theFirst and the Eighth day in thecycle o the seven-days-week,which is to be understood as acontinuous reminder o Creation,because it is the only circle in ourcalendar with no connection toany cosmic cycle.

) There is another important

eature in the Roman liturgy withimplications to our awareness oGod and Creation – the Quattuor Tempora, or so-called Quatemberseasons.

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Winter (or Advent-) Quatember in the third week o Advent,Spring (or Lent-) Quatember) in the rst week o Lent,Summer (or Pentecost) Quatember in the week ater Pentecost(the Second Vatican Council moved it to the week beore

Pentecost),Autumn Quatember in the week ater the Feast o the Elevationo the Holy Cross (September 14).

In pre-Christian Roman culture these days were special harvest times,i.e. times o

thanksgiving or the git o lie,requesting God’s continuing presence in lie,

oering penitence or human misdeeds against lie.

In the occidental liturgies these Quatember weeks were observed asgeneral days o penitence, asting and prayers – in later times only onWednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. They were oten used or conerringthe lower orders and or the consecration o deacons.

Relating to the annual seasons each o the Quatember weeks wasgiven a particular colour. Each has its own prole – expressed through

customs and the special concerns o prayer and asting.

The Second Vatican Council agreed to leave the maintenance orsuppression o the Quatember weeks to the local churches. The CatholicChurches in German-speaking areas which introduced a CommonRegional Calendar or all dioceses decided to maintain the Quatemberweeks – because o their relation to the annual seasons and alsobecause o existing regional customs – and to revive them by attributing

to them central concerns o Church and world. But they xed or 1979the dates a little bit dierently according to special customs: The rstweek o Advent, the rst week o Lent, the week beore Pentecost, andthe rst week in October.

In my view the Quatember weeks provide an important ramework toexpress the responsibility o Christians towards God’s Creation in thechurch calendar, especially as these periods are not meant to be timesand days or the commemoration o individual and once or all events o

salvation, but times and days o prayer, asting and penitence related toimportant concerns o both the Christian Church and humanity.

It may be worth exploring whether traditions o Quatember weeks alsocontinue to exist in the churches o the Reormation and in what orm

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and orientation. It seems to beclear, that the “EidgenössischerDank-, Buß- und Bettag” inSwitzerland, a day adopted by

all churches in the 19th centuryand integrated in the Swissconstitution, is in accord with theAutumn Quatember Day.

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At the international level

1. The rst church body to welcome the Ecumenical Patriarch’s proposal

was the Conerence o European Churches. On the eve o the

opening day o its Assembly in Prague (September 1 to 11, 1992) all

participants attended Orthodox Vespers where prayers were oered

or the ‘Protection o the environment’. The message His Holiness

Bartholomew I addressed to the Conerence concentrated on the themeo Creation.

God unites – in Christ a new Creation, 10th Assembly o the Conerence o

European Churches in Prague, Geneva 1993, S. 10 and 36

2. The First European Ecumenical Assembly in Basel (May 1989)had already placed

strong emphasison the churches’responsibilitytowards creation.In one o theworking groupsthe suggestionwas made to“institute a week

o prayer orcreation on themodel o theweek o prayeror Christian ©

P h o t o O i k o u m e n e




unity” and to create“Church Commissionsor creation at alllevels, contact point

or base groupsand communities,increased deploymento environmentalsta”.

Peace with Justice,Documents o theFirst EuropeanAssembly in Basel1989. WorkingGroup 16, p. 118

The Second European Ecumenical Assembly in Graz (1997)even more explicitlyemphasised the needor a new commitment

o the EuropeanChurches to the careo God’s Creation. Itpassed the resolutionquoted above,

pp. 12-13. TheAssembly alsorecommended “thata network o persons

with environmentalresponsibilities” withinthe churches should beset up at a Europeanlevel.

Reconciliation,

Gift of God and

Source of New Life,

Documents o theSecond EuropeanEcumenical Assemblyin Graz, 1997, CECand CCEE, Graz,1998, p. 57

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3. The recommendation o the Graz Assembly was conrmed our years

later by the Charta Oecumenica: “We recommend the introduction in

European churches o an Ecumenical Day o Prayer or the Preservation

o Creation.”

Charta Oecumenica, 22 April 2001. I, 9

4. In September 2002 the Central Committee o the World Council oChurches recommended to its member churches the introduction o a

day o creation in September.

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At the level o theEuropean Christian Environmental Network (ECEN)

1. In response to a recommendation rom the Graz Assembly theEuropean Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) was ounded in1998 at the Orthodox Academy o Vilemov. One year later, at its secondAssembly in Loccum, it suggested to the churches to observe a Time orCreation extending rom September 1 to the second Sunday o October(see above). The European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN)considered the promotion o this Creation Time as one o its priorities.A special ECEN working group was ormed or this purpose. The groupmade contact with churches and church associations in various countriesand sought to stimulate new initiatives. It has regularly reported on itseorts to the ECEN assemblies.

2. The Conerence o European Churches took a special interest inthe proposal and has consistently contributed to its promotion. Underits auspices, a workshop on the implications o the proposal or theliturgical lie o the churches was held in Geneva (December 2000).

Every year the Conerence o European Churches shares with itsmember churches liturgical material – texts, prayers and hymns – or useduring Creation Time. Every year a new aspect o the ecological crisis isaddressed. So ar the ollowing themes have been chosen: 2002 Energy.2003 Our responsibility towards uture generations. 2004 PreservingWater, Land and Air, and 2005 Rhythm o Creation and Rhythm o Lie.In 2006 it oered a series o meditations on Biblical passages. All thesetexts are available on the ECEN web site: www.ecen.org

3. On behal o the ECEN Working Group. ARGE Schöpungsverantwortung(Austria) has put together and published every year dossiers containingexplanatory articles on Creation Time and suggestions or itscelebration. It has also regularly published study material on pressingecological themes such as water, ood etc.

4. Under the auspices o ECEN two international consultations havetaken place – the rst in 2004 on Creation Theology resulting in apublication under the title ‘Listening to Creation Groaning’ (John Knox

Series 16, Geneva) and the second in 2006 on Creation Spirituality, withspecial attention to the relationship o the Eucharist to Creation

5. In 1999 the Council o European Bishops’ Conerences (CCEE)launched a series o six consultations on ecological themes, involving




environmental ocers o the bishops’ conerences. The secondconsultation at Bad Honne (May 2000) recommended the “observationo a day o Creation in the period rom September 1 to Harvest Feast”.

At the national level

The proposal o the Ecumenical Patriarch was endorsed in March 1992

by a meeting o all Orthodox Primates in Istanbul. The EcumenicalPatriarch issues every year a message emphasising various aspects o ourresponsibility towards creation.

September 1 is regularly celebrated in many Orthodox churches. A goodexample is provided by Belarus. The Orthodox Church o Belarus hasocially adopted the proposals both o a Creation Day and a CreationTime. The Day o Creation is celebrated, according to the Orthodox

calendar, on September 14. Every year environmental activities areorganised in the period rom September 1 to October 4. The centre oactivities is the Saints’ Methodius and Cyrill Christian Educational Centrein Minsk, a ounding member o the European Christian EnvironmentalNetwork and rom the beginning engaged in the promotion o CreationTime. In 2005 teachers and students o the Centre organized aspecial event in the park o Loshitsa, a unique reserve close to the city,comprising more than 120 hectares o land. The event had a doublepurpose – cleaning up the park and praying or the preservation ocreation. The Te Deum was celebrated by Father Vladimir Gerasimenkoin an ancient building, now abandoned with no water, electricity,heating – a symbolical reminder o the ‘ecological decline’ o the planet.The group visited a nearby church, also in ruins, and placed two crossesnear to it. (Inormation provided by Andrej V. Danilov)

The proposal o a Creation Time is being met in more and morecountries with a positive response. The degree o reception diers,

o course, rom place to place. In some countries the proposal hasbeen ormally adopted by decision-making bodies o the churches, inothers church associations and centres have made it their own andoer programmes and activities to the churches. A ew examples mayillustrate the situation.




AustriaIn Austria the proposal o the Creation Day was rst introduced in 1995by the ARGE Schöpungsverantwortung, an ecumenical environmentalassociation o Roman Catholic background. Responding to the proposal

o the Ecumenical Patriarch, ARGE Schöpungsverantwortung beganto observe September 1 as an ‘Action Day’ or Christians: how do wetranslate ecological concerns into our personal lives and the lie othe churches? ARGE Schöpungsverantwortung provided checklists,‘mirrors’ o daily behaviour, theological and liturgical texts, personalcounselling, celebrations and exhibitions. “Our aim was to transmitknowledge, to promote a sense o responsibility and to establishcooperation between the churches and the Agenda 21 process. Each

Day was concluded by an ecumenical liturgical celebration.” In 1997ARGE Schöpungsverantwortung presented the proposal to the SecondEuropean Ecumenical Assembly in Graz, and eventually adopted theproposal o a Creation Time rom September 1 to October 4 as acommon platorm or the ecological witness o all churches. In theollowing years a wealth o activities took place during CreationTime, e.g. maniestations in the streets, presentation o sustainablesolutions (alternative energy, alternative vehicles, products o air trade).symposia on relevant environmental themes, exhibitions, concerts,encounters with representatives o science, NGOs, churches andpolitics, media briengs, liturgical celebrations, blessing o bicycles,blessing o animals (especially on Saint Francis Day). Every year ARGESchöpungsverantwortung produces material on general themes butalso on specic issues such as mobility (car-ree day on September 22),eco-tourism or animal protection (September 4). Reports reaching ARGESchöpungsverantwortung indicate that Creation Day is increasinglycelebrated by local churches as the launching day or Creation Time.

It is interesting to note that harvest estivals are placed into a newcontext. At the national level September 1 has become the ocusor environmental activities not only or the churches but also orenvironmental NGOs, development agencies and committed personsin economics and politics. At the celebration in 2005 a message romthe President o Austria, Dr. Heinz Fischer, was received. (Inormationprovided by Isolde Schönstein, Vienna)

Belgium

In 1999 the Belgian Bishops’ Conerence decided to create aCommission on the Care or Creation (sauvegarde de la création) withthe mandate to promote refection on environmental themes and to




enhance the public witness o the Church with regard to the Careor Creation. Ater the Year 2000 the Belgian Bishops proposed or aperiod o three years annual themes with a strong ecological dimension.The Commission seeks to motivate church members to respond

to the ecological crisis, and proposes to parishes measures o eco-management. With regard to Creation Time the Bishops suggest thatparishes and religious communities pay special attention to the themeo Creation on one o the Sundays between September 1 and October4 by adapting the liturgy but without changing the lectionary. For thelast three or our years several communities, e.g. ten parishes in thediocese o Namur, have decided to celebrate a ‘Day o Creation’ duringthis period. Oten these celebrations are connected with other activities,

lectures etc. (Inormation provided by Bernard Sorel)

Czech RepublicSince 2002 the proposal o Creation Time has been promoted by theEnvironmental Section o the Czech Christian Academy in collaborationwith the Ecumenical Council o Churches and the Saint John under theRock College. Every year a new theme, e.g. water, transport, climatechange, globalisation, orests is introduced by an inormation campaignand illustrated through a children’s art exhibition. During Creation Time

events take place mainly around Saint Francis Day which coincides withthe beginning o the university term. (Inormation provided by IlonaMužátková)

FranceOn January 10, 2000 the Bishops’ Conerence o France publisheda statement entitled ‘The respect o creation’. It led to an increasedawareness among Christians o the environmental crisis. Roman

Catholic church movements and services, e.g. Pax Christi, CMR(Christians in rural areas), MRJC (the Rural Christian Youth movement)started organising encounters and working sessions, publishingarticles etc. CCFD (the French Catholic Committee against Hungerand or Development) and Caritas began to devote more attention tothe ecological dimension o their activities. Pax Christi is developingan ecumenical network o regional groups under the title ‘Peace,Environment and Lie Styles’. It is an ambitious project with the goal oengaging Christians in working or a better environment. For several

years the idea o a day o creation in the period rom September 1 toOctober 4 is promoted in France and is slowly gaining ground. Eventsduring this period normally involve several churches. Since 2003 anEcumenical Forum on Creation takes place annually in Bordeaux withthe participation o Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Reormed, Evangelical,




Baptist and Adventist Christians. (Inormation provided by Jean-PierreRibaut, Bordeaux) In 2006, pastors rom dierent Protestant churches launched an appeal

to introduce Creation Time in France and to devote the rst Sunday inOctober to the Christian response to the ecological crisis.

GermanyAlready in 1999 the Synod o the Evangelical Church in Württembergdecided to introduce an annual Day o Creation in all congregationswithout xing a precise date. A ew years later the Association oChristian Churches in Württemberg joined in this recommendation.

In 2004 the Synod o the Church in the Rheinland encouraged thecongregations and church districts to put to the test the idea o acreation time – wherever possible in ecumenical collaboration withother churches. Even beore that, the Association o Christian Churchesin Germany (ACK) had organised a consultation on ‘Creation theologyand spirituality – on the way to a common creation day’. The reactiono the participants was positive, and the ACK is now preparing arecommendation on a creation day or creation time or its memberchurches. In 2004 the association o environmental ocers o the

Evangelical churches in Germany (AGU) published a guide o 62 pagesunder the title ‘Creation Time’. It contains an introduction to creationtheology and spirituality, liturgical material, meditations and suggestionsor religious instruction and games.

The Synod o the Evangelical Church in Württemberg added to its 1999decision the ollowing explanation: “The Day o Creation is meant toremind us o the act that we are God’s creatures, to guide us into

thanksgiving or the gits o creation and especially to make us awareo our responsibility towards creation. It is essential to develop theTrinitarian dimension o this day: God the Father who created all things,God the Son who came to redeem creation and God the Holy Spirit whohelps us nd the right approach to creation.”

On the basis o the Synod’s decision the Church o Württemberg haspublished every year since 2000 material or the congregations. Theollowing themes have been chosen: 2000: Fire, water, soil and air;

2001: Animals – our ellow creatures; 2002: Let the earth put orthplants, herbs and ruit trees; 2003: Sun, moon and stars; 2004: Godremains aithul rom generation to generation; 2005: Blessed diversity;2006: Water – source o lie. In 2002 the Church launched a ‘songcompetition’. 180 responses were received. Obviously there is a great




desire in the congregations to praise creation. The best songs wereselected and included in the 2002 material. In 2006 the Day o Creationwas prepared in the ramework o the ‘Decade to Overcome Violence’.The opening ceremony was ollowed by a series o happenings along

the river Neckar together with conrmation classes, youth and youngadults.

A helpul publication: Ich höre das Gras wachsen, edited by GünterBanzha, Gottried Mohr and Andreas Weidle, Stuttgart 1999. This givesa presentation o Creation day as part o the liturgical church calendarand oers guidance or worship services and other activities.

In 2004 the Association o Christian Churches in Baden-Württembergvisited the island o Crete and conrmed its determination to join theOrthodox Church in observing a Creation Time. A liturgy was designedon this occasion and celebrated together. On the occasion o September 1, 2005 the President o the Synod o Württemberg reerred to this visit.Addressing the participants in the opening ceremony in Bad Urach heunderlined that the Day o Creation was meant to raise the level oconsciousness. We are invited to perceive the wonders o creation. “Forwe will only preserve what we have perceived and taken to heart.”

Creation Day under the motto ‘Celebrating Creation’ liberates participantsrom an exclusive attention to environmental ethics. Action fows romcelebration and refection. Generally, congregations in Germany aregrateul or the material prepared or Creation Day. In many places thecelebration leads to actions. The day is also an opportunity to establishnew relationships with politicians and environment-conscious people insociety. (Inormation provided by Hans-Hermann Böhm)

Greece (Greek Evangelical Church)The congregation in Volos has developed, in collaboration with its youthmovement, an environmental programme collecting trash rom thecity and the beaches. A similar eort was made in Athens during theOlympic games o 2004. Psalm 24,1 ‘The earth is the Lord’s and all itsullness’ provides the ramework or these eorts. The idea o a creationtime in September/October is under discussion. It will be a means tospread activities also to other cities o the country. (Inormation provided

by Ioanna Sahinidou)

HungaryThe Ecumenical and Diaconal Order o Jesus’ Brothers and Sisters has ora long time been engaged in celebrations o Creation. A rst celebration






NetherlandsThe idea o a Creation Time in the Church calendar is supported andpromoted by the Project Group on Church and Environment o theCouncil o Churches in the Netherlands. The proposal was recently

sent or consideration and comment to the member churches o theCouncil. Meanwhile, some local churches have observed Creation Timethrough worship services, sometimes combined with events duringthe week. A particular initiative was taken by The Christian EcologicalNetwork (CEN), an association o Christians and Christian NGOs,representing primarily churches o a more conservative persuasion.They actively engage themselves in the promotion o Creation Timerom September 1 to October 4. CEN published a special inormation

kit under the title ‘Amazing Creation’. Beore being published it wastested in 25 congregations and later widely distributed. CEN recentlywon an environmental prize or their project “Creation Time 2006”. The

judges considered the project to be ‘resh, contemporary and practical’.(Inormation provided by Hans Schravesande and Peter and Magda Siebe)

NorwayEcological issues are high on the agenda o the Church o Norway– both nationally and internationally. The Synod o the Evangelical

Lutheran Church o Norway has passed several relatively radicalresolutions on environmental themes. In 2003 the Synod decidedthat the congregations should observe a Day o Creation in thetime ater Trinitatis, preerably together with other churches. In 2005 the Church published or the rst time materials or such aday. The Church o Norway is at present engaged on the revision o itsliturgy. It will be important to consider in this context the proposal o acreation time. (Inormation provided by Hans Jürgen Schorre)

SwedenThe proposal has met with sympathy in Sweden but has so ar notbeen accepted on a large scale. Traditionally, the major day or theenvironment has been Midsummer in most Swedish churches. On theday o John the Baptist readings and other texts reer to creation andthere is the custom to celebrate outdoor services. In recent times, eortshave been made to turn Thanksgiving Day, normally the second Sundayo October, into a Day o Creation. The national oce o the Church

o Sweden has provided material or the congregations based on theECEN material o the last three years. The ocus has mainly been onclimate change. One o the problems is the limited translation capacity.It is important to continue promoting the proposal. Its potential isconsiderable. Creation time can play a crucial in local ecumenical work




as it will be more and more recognised by the churches. (Inormationprovided by Henrik Grape)

SwitzerlandThe primary advocate o the idea o Creation Time in Switzerland isthe Ecumenical Association Church and Environment (oeku). oeku is anassociation o parishes, institutions and monasteries, and also individualsrom all the church traditions represented in Switzerland. It was oundedin 1986 and counts today several hundred collective and individualmembers. In 1993 the oeku proposed or the rst time to observe aCreation Time rom September 1 to October 4. Several special daysrelated to the theme o Creation occur in September, e.g. the ederal

thanksgiving day on the third Sunday o September, harvest easts andSaint Francis day. The period seemed thereore particularly suitable orpromoting awareness o the ecological crisis. The initiative met with anencouraging response. The impulse o the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeirowas still resh. The exercise was repeated in the ollowing years, and,ater thirteen years, creation time has now become or many part o theordinary lie o the Church. Every year the oeku chooses a new theme andprovides material or worship services, discussions and debates and alsopractical suggestion or congregations and individual members.

Themes addressed rom 1993 to 2006: Energy (1993). Animals – andhumans (1994). Giving a uture to our children (1995). Our daily bread– what about it today? (1996). Climate change – living with less energy(1997). Creation: holy diversity (1998). Tourism and transport (1999),The sun (2000), The soil (2001), The air (2002), Water (2003), Rhythm olie (2004). Hunger o lie (2005), Time (2006)

Creation Time gives an opportunity to collaborate with experts andother organisations committed to the environmental cause. The theme‘soil’ chosen or 2001 provided a link to a public campaign under theauspices o the Swiss Conederation, the cantons and communes; inmany places joint activities took place. Each year about 500 copies othe material are shared with multipliers. (Inormation provided by KurtZaugg-Ott, compare www.oeku.ch)

Australia

The idea o a Creation Time was introduced in Australia or the rsttime in 2004. A group o persons took the initiative to launch theproposal. In 2004 orty congregations celebrated the period romSeptember 1 to October 4. In 2005 an appeal was issued to allchurches and congregations in Australia to join this period o our




weeks o prayer and refection.For centuries Christians havecelebrated Christmas without apreceding Advent time. Why should

the church calendar not now beenriched by a time or Creation?Four reasons speak in avour osuch a time: a) God gave a creationwith whom we are invited tocelebrate; b) The ecological crisisrequires a spiritual response;c) Observing anew the Creationleads us to recognize ourresponsibility or it; d) A creationtime gives us the opportunity tocelebrate the many links whichunite us with Creation. For the years2006 to 2008 a three year cycle olessons, Bible studies on the lessonsand liturgies or each Sunday hasbeen established. (Inormation

provided by Dr. Norman Habel)

PhilippinesOn September 1, 2003, the Catholic Bishops’ Conerence o thePhilippines issued a pastoral statement entitled ‘Celebrating CreationDay and Creation Time’. The rst paragraph states:

“Today, September 1, in many parts o the world Christianchurches are celebrating ‘Creation day’. They have also set

aside the period rom this day to October 4, or the Sundayater October 4, as Creation Time. We wish to introducethis period to our Catholic aithul and acknowledge‘Creation’, that priceless git o the Almighty and LovingCreator, who has made us in own image and likeness …During this special period o Creation Time we urge …that our dierent liturgies celebrate the beauty and paino our world, our connectedness to the natural world andthen our on-going struggle or social justice. We also urgeonce again the setting up o a Care o Creation ministry atevery level o Church organisation. We strongly remind ourgovernment not to pursue short-term economic gains atthe expense o long-term ecological damage.”

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During creation time exhibitions, e.g. on renewable energies, symposia,e.g. on Teilhard de Chardin, and liturgical celebrations have beenorganised. (Inormation provided by P. Georg Ziselsberger)

Four Lessons rom this Survey

1. In an increasing number o countries activities are taking placeduring the period extending rom September 1 to the second Sunday oOctober. Some congregations concentrate on September 1 or on onespecial day during this period, others regard the whole period as a time

devoted to the celebration o God the Creator o heaven and earth. Inrecent years the proposal has met with increasing interest.

2. The proposal is still new. In many countries the initiative or itspromotion lies with environmental associations and persons with anecological commitment. They regard Creation Time as an opportunity toemphasize the spiritual dimension o their commitment. For Christianscare or Creation is not an ‘additional activity’ but is rooted in their aith.

To give credibility to Christian witness in today’s world it is essential thatmore and more Churches respond to the proposal.

3. Several dates have been proposed as special ‘days o creation’. Insome circles in the United States an ‘earth day’ is celebrated on March 21or April 22, and another option is the UN Environment Day on June 5.Other days have been suggested. Some churches use these ‘neutral’dates as an opportunity o witnessing together with environmentalNGOs and other activities. In some countries especially June 5 has ounda place in the calendar o the churches. For the churches the Septemberperiod has, however, many advantages over all other dates. It provides anatural enrichment o the liturgical year and ts into its logic.

4. In some countries attempts have been made to give liturgicalexpression to Creation Time by assigning to each Sunday a themeand accordingly Biblical lessons. Such initiatives oer guidance tocongregations but it would obviously be premature to expect an

agreement among the churches on the liturgical content o Creationtime. The proposal has succeeded in emphasizing the need orgiving more space to the praise o the Creator in the worship o thechurches. For the time being Creation Time is a testing ground or newsuggestions and departures.




In many respects Creation Time opens new horizons or the Churches– both or their own lie and or their witness to society. A ew aspectsmay be mentioned here.

Opportunity or Joint Eorts

The Charta Oecumenica (2001) puts it succinctly: “Together we wantto help create sustainable living conditions or the whole o creation.”The ecological crisis conronts all churches with new challenges. Theyno doubt need to re-visit, and refect on, their own traditions. But atthe same time they need to combine insights and to join orces. A

special time or Creation provides an opportunity or joint initiatives.The Week o Prayer or Christian Unity reminds the churches o Christ’sprayer ‘That all may be one’. Creation Time invites them to a commonresponse to the ecological crisis.

A Time o Praise, Meditation and RefectionThe theme o Creation has not always received adequate attention inthe churches. Creation Time is a time o praise and thanksgiving or thegits o the Creation, an opportunity to listen anew to the true voice




o Scriptures, to discover the riches o the various Christian traditions,to develop a spirituality which gives its proper place to the respect othe created world. It is a time when the worship o the churches canconcentrate on the theme o Creation and new orms o worship and

prayer can be tested. In recent years much thinking has taken place.Despite all eorts o integration many Christians ail to see the intimatelink between the Biblical witness and the challenges o the ecologicalcrisis. Creation Time can help to build bridges by bringing nature andthe threads to nature into the orbit o Christian spirituality.

The Biblical tradition o the Sabbath requires renewed attention.The link between the commandment and God’s creation is

prominent in the Hebrew Bible. Not only people but also the landwas to observe a time o rest. Jesus used the Sabbath to restorehealth and bring lie. Do our Sundays still relect this concern?Creation time could contribute to reviving a deeper understandingo the seventh day.

A more Responsible Approach to Creationor both Individual Christians and Christian Communities

How do we respond to the ecological crisis not only in thinking butalso through our actual way o lie? In ace o the threats to survival werealise that the present way o lie, especially in industrialised countries,cannot in the long run be sustained. Limits must be respected both inexploiting resources and producing waste. The ‘ecological ootprint’must be considerably reduced. All o us need to ask ourselves: Whatamount o energy do I use? What do I eat and what kind o ooddo I buy where? In what ways do I contribute to the pollution othe environment? Creation Time can serve as an opportunity o anecological ‘check up’. Where have things gone wrong? Where can Ibegin to act more responsibly?

Motorized mobility is one o the main actors o pollution. Do I reallyneed to use a private car? Have my air travels been necessary – andi they have been unavoidable, should I not have paid compensationor the CO

2emissions which were caused? Creation Time could be a

period o ‘car asting’, a time to try out another approach to being




mobile. For some years now September 22 is being promoted as acar ree day – Going to the City without my car – the suggestion

deserves the support o the churches.

The need or an ecological check up not only applies to individuals butalso to Christian communities, parishes and organisations. Is their

way o lie really ecologically responsible? What about their energyconsumption? What can be done to improve the insulation o church

buildings? How is the landed property o the churches to be cultivated?What about the style o church activities – camps, excursions and church

tourism? New initiatives to respond to these questions can be takenduring Creation Time.

An integral part o the churches’ witness is the commitment to

justice or all people o the earth. Creation Time is a period osolidarity with the poor and the more vulnerable nations o this

world.

Witness to Society andCollaboration with Environmental Organisations

‘Ecological discipline’ is essential or Christian witness. The call or a

more responsible approach to the environment will only be credible iChristians take it seriously in their own community and personal lives.

But a change o course in society requires political decisions. Churches

need thereore also to become active in the arena o social responsibility.

Creation Time can serve as a time to develop and to make more widely

known the options o the churches or an ecologically responsiblesociety. Campaigns can be launched. Encounters can be organised.

Exhibitions can be arranged.

Wherever possible Christians will seek collaboration with

environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace, WWF and Green Cross, andassociate themselves with their eorts to re-direct the present suicidalcourse o society. Their specialised analyses o great environmental

issues such as energy, climate change, water etc. are indispensable or

the churches.




A Privileged Time or Dialogue with Scientists

The ecological crisis oers the opportunity o a new dialogue withscience. Though much o the ecological crisis is due to the achievementso science and technology, scientists were also among the rst to issuewarnings. At an early stage they began to realise that technologicaldevelopment could entail destructive consequences and turn ‘progress’into disaster. Not only philosophers but also biologists, climatologistsand representatives o various other disciplines have acted and areacting as ‘prophets’ o the ecological movement. Dialogue withscientists on the impact o the ecological crisis is essential or theresponsible witness o the churches.

Dialogue with People o other Faith

The Charta Oecumenica places strong emphasis on dialogue withthe Jewish people, with Islam and also with representatives o other

religions. It speaks o a commitment to “pursue with them matters ocommon concern”. Care or the git o God’s Creation is no doubt aconcern shared by all religions; an exchange on the threats to the utureo the planet may help to overcome antagonisms between religions.

Hope Stronger than Darkness and Death

A Time or Creation will be above all a sign o Christian hope in a timeo despair. The prospects are ar rom encouraging. The threats tothe uture leave little room or constructive action. Darkness seems toprevail. Can we hope? It would be utile to deny the magnitude o thechallenge and the possibility o a gradual decline o humankind. Butaith in Jesus Christ is the source o a stronger hope than hopes or the

achievement o human goals. It is based on the expectation o God’skingdom and sets us ree to act in this world as ambassadors o hisreconciling love.

This witness is the deepest meaning o a Time or God’s Creation.




related to the theme o theThird European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu

A. Opening Prayers

1. Creating God

Creating God,You are the source o light and lie,So we praise you.You became fesh to bring light and lie,So we praise you.You sustain the world with your light and lie,So we praise you.

(from the CTBI Eco-Congregation Programme)

2. We are the people o God

L We are the people o God, the Almighty.All Created in the image o God,




stewards o the creation

L We are the people o God, the Redeemer.All Released in Jesus Christ,

carriers o reconciliation

L We are the people o God, the Giver o Lie.All Open to the inspiration o the Spirit

in aith, hope and love

(Per Harling)

3. From Psalm 104

L Bless the Lord, O my soul.O Lord, my God, you are very great.You are clothed with honour and majesty,wrapped in light as with a garment.

All (sing) Halleluja

L You stretch out the heavens like a tent,You set the beams o your chambers on the waters,You set the earth on its oundations,so that it shall never be shaken.


L You make springs gush orth in the valleys;they fow between the hills,

giving drink to every wild animal.All (sing) Halleluja

L You cause the grass to grow or the cattle,and plants or people to use,to bring orth ood rom the earth,and wine to gladden the human heart.


L May the glory o the Lord endure orever.May the Lord rejoice in his works.

(from Words and Songs of Reconciliation, 2nd EuropeanEcumenical Assembly, Graz 1997)




4. From Psalm 36 L With you is the ountain o lie;

in your light we see light.

All With you is the ountain o lie.

L Your steadast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens;your aithulness to the clouds.


L Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,your judgements are like the great deep;you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.


L How precious is your steadast love, O God!All people take reuge in the shadow o your wings.


L They east on the abundance o your house;and you give them to drink rom the river o your delights.


(from Gloria Deo, Prayer & Hymns for the 12th Assembly of the Conference of European Churches 2003)

5. Author and Creator o every creature

O you who covers the high places with waters,who sets the sand as a bound to the seaand upholds all things:the sun sings your praises,

the moon gives you glory,every creature oers a hymn to you,his Author and Creator orever.

(Eastern Orthodox Prayer)




6. May none o God’s wonderul works keep silence

May none o God’s wonderul works keep silence,night or morning.

Bright stars, high mountains, the depths o the seas,sources o rushing rivers:may all these break into song as we singin Father, Son and Holy Spirit.May all the angels in the heavens reply: Amen! Amen! Amen!Power, praise, honour, eternal glory to God, the only Giver o grace.Amen! Amen! Amen!

(Third-century hymn)

7. Praise be to the Holy Trinity!

Praise be to the Holy Trinity! God is sound and lie, Creator o theUniverse, Source o all lie, whom the angels sing; wondrous Light o allmysteries known or unknown to humankind, and lie that lives in all.

(Hildegard of Bingen, 13th Century; source: Liturgy of theEuropean Ecumenical Encounter, Strasbourg 2001)

B. Conessing our Sin

1. Forgive us, Lord

Forgive us, Lord,our obsession with ourselves.We are not able to recognise our own limits.

We are so concentratedon our present needs and on our own workthat we orget to be grateulor the gits You have given usthrough the generations who have gone beore us.




Forgive us, Lord,

or our closed horizon

preventing us rom looking toward tomorrow,

preventing us rom handing over to our children

a ertile and clean earth.

Forgive us, Lord,

or our greedy selshness,

or our closed hands

grasping to hoard all we can

to squeeze our natural resources dry.

Open our hands, Lord,to the joy o sharing.

Teach them the sower’s generous gesture,

so that we may sow seeds without caring

who will benet rom the ruits o the harvest.

Amen

(Luca M. Negro)

2. Giver o Lie

L Giver o Lie,

in the midst o a plundered earth

We groan with creation

All Have mercy on us

L Giver o Lie,

In the midst o poisoned waterWe groan with creation


L Giver o Lie,

in the midst o polluted air

we groan with creation


L Giver o Lie,

in the midst o mountains o waste






L Giver o Lie,

in the midst o a world o war



L Giver o Lie,

we who are made in the image o God have gone astray

and creation groans with us


(from Worshipping Ecumenically, WCC Publications)

3. We use more than what is ours

O God, we use more than what is ours.

Thereore your creation is suering.

We consume the resources o the earth

at the expense o the poor and the oppressed.

We are prisoners o consumption

and we coness that we do not want to get out o our captivity.We seek security by possession.

We steal rom those coming ater us.

We know that the earth is ragile, but this knowledge paralyses us.

We coness that passivity suits us

and that we do not want to get out o it.

We acknowledge that we oten know the truth,

but we do not want to know it.

As we do not want to commit ourselves

our proclamations are not credible.As we do not want to be a part o a change

others have to live in despair.

As we do not want to pay or the costs or a new way o living,

others have to pay with their lives.

We hope or unity, but we do not act.

We honour the ideals o compassion and love,

but we do not ollow them.

God, we coness that we take pleasure in conessingwithout breaking up rom our sins.

“Out o the depth, I cry to you, O God, Lord, hear my cry”.

(Prayer from the Church of Norway)




4. Guide us as we gather

Eternal God,We thank you or the glory o your creation,

A mystery that surpasses our knowledge.Eternal God,We thank you or the earth and water, sun and wind,Creatures and people, nations and cultures:Guide us as we gather to conessThat we have violated the git o lie given to us.Strengthen usAs we seek to arm that the earth and all therein is yours.

Enable usAs we seek to recall your covenantAnd make it our own.Amen

(World Council of Churches)

C. Conessing our Faith

1. One God, source o all lie

[With a period o silence between each section]

L We have aithAll in one God, one Source o all lie,

one Ground o the whole earth, with all her creatures.

L And thus we have aithAll in the goodness o earth’s lie,

in the innate worth o all her dependents,

in human partnership in the lie o nature.

L And we have aithAll that in Christ we have been shown the special role o the

human race to bear God’s likeness in working and caring






3. We did not weave the web o lie

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,

the world, and those who live in it. (Psalm 24, 1)

L Every part o this earth is sacred.

Whatever bealls the earth

bealls the children o the earth.

This we know, the earth does not belong to us:

All we belong to the earth.

L This we know, all things are connected:All like the blood which unites one amily.

L This we know, whatever we do to the web:

All we do to ourselves.

(Adapted from Chief Seattle, 19th Century)

4. We belong to the Creator

L We belong to the Creator

in whose image we are all made.

ALL In God we are breathing,

in God we are living,

in God we share the lie o all creation.

L We belong to Jesus Christ,

the true icon o God and o humanity.

ALL In him God is breathing,

in him God is living,

through him we are reconciled.

L We belong to the Holy Spirit,

who gives us new lieand strengthens our aith.

ALL In the Spirit love is breathing,

in the Spirit truth is living,

the breath o God always moves us.




L We belong to the Holy Trinity,who is one in all and Three-in-One.

ALL In God we are all made,in Christ we are all saved,

in the Spirit we are all united.

(Per Harling)

D. Intercessions

1. Grant pardon, salvation and divine mercy

Merciul God,

who loves humankind, look with an eye o compassion upon the works

o your hands and set ree the atmosphere rom dread destruction anddeath-dealing emissions and every poisonous pollution, through whichdeath and danger threaten. Take pity on what you have ashionedand give to all prudence not to act senselessly, the result o which iscorruption, granting to all pardon and salvation and divine mercy

With my voice I cried to the Lord, and he heard me rom his holymountain.

Accept, O Saviour, the entreaties o your Mother which she oers orall creation, and the supplication o all your saints. Grant to all yourmercies, and keep unharmed the rmament which you spread outrom the beginning with wisdom, Lord, and brought into being or thebenet o mortals. Keep undamaged. O Lord, the whole environmentwhich girds the earth rom harmul infuences, granting to all pardonand salvation and great mercy.

When I called, you hearkened to me, o God o my justice, in allaiction you set me at large.

With humility we entreat you, Lord, and we all down beore you. Atyour command deliver the earth on which we dwell rom every harm




and rom harsh ruin, and speedily avert rom it and abolish by your willall destructive emanations, and pour out the resh dew o lie-sustainingair. Fence the whole enclosure o the environment, Master and Saviour,with your mighty power, granting to all pardon, salvation and divine

mercy.

(from: Orthodoxy and Ecology, Resource Book, Syndesmos1996)

2. Bless, O Lord, the ruit o the Land

Bless, O LordThe plants, the vegetation, and the herbs o the eld,That they may grow and increase to ullnessand bear much ruit.And may the ruit o the land remind uso the spiritual ruit we are to bear

(Coptic Orthodox liturgy, Egypt)

3. Come, light o God

(music and words: Grandchamp Community, Areuse/NE,Switzerland)

Come light, light o God, give light to creation,enlighten our hearts and remain with your world.




O God, Creator o the universe and o all that lives and breathes,rom your dwelling place you reresh the mountains and orests.The earth is lled with the ruits o your work.You make grass grow or the herds,

plants and ruit trees or people to arm,drawing their bread rom the earth.You entrusted your creation to us. We beseech you:save us rom the temptation o power and domination.May your Spirit o wisdom teach ushow best to care or and saeguard what you entrust to us.Blow your Spirit o lie on your creation and all humanity.


We beseech you, bless every eort and every search,Every struggle and every pain that seek to restorethe harmony and beauty o your Creation.Renew the ace o the earth, so that every human beingmay live in peace and justice, ruits o your Spirit o love.Blow your Spirit o lie on your creation and all humanity.


We beseech you, Lord,bless the ruits o the earth and the work o our handsand teach us to share the abundance o your goods.Send rain to the dry soil, sun and air weather

where harvest is endangered by storms.Blow your Spirit o lie on your creation and all humanity.


From you, O Lord our God, come all gits, and we give you thanks.Hear the sigh raising rom your creation,gather the suering o all people,

Send us your blessing, so that we may live, in its ullness, the new lieWhich you oer us through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(Community of Grandchamp, Areuse/NE (Switzerland);

translated by Elizabeth Stace)




E. Sending and Blessing

1. Transorm our livesMay God who established the dance o creation,who marvelled at the lilies o the eld,who transorms chaos to order,lead us to transorm our lives and the Churchto refect God’s glory in creation.

(CTBI Eco-Congregation Programme)

2. God’s light and love

As the air sings with songs o glory,as the water fashes with the silver o creation,as the orests bloom with leaves or the healing o the nations,so may God’s light and love

ll our hearts and souls and minds.

(CTBI Eco-Congregation Programme)

3. Deep peace

Deep peace o the running water to you.

deep peace o the fowing air to you,deep peace o the quiet earth to you,deep peace o the shining stars to you,deep peace o the Son o Peace to you

Amen(Gaelic blessing from Words and Songs of Reconciliationand Praise, Graz 1997)

4. May God bless us L As we prepare to leave

and embrace the challenges




o our lives and our worldlet us ask or God’s blessingMay God bless us with wisdomto care or the earth.

All Amen

L May God bless us with loveto bring orth new lie.

All Amen

L In the name o Godthe Maker o the whole world,

o Jesus, our new covenant,and o the holy Spirit,who opens eyes and hearts.

All Amen

L Go in peace and be witnesses o hope.All Amen

(2nd European Ecumenical Assembly, Graz 1997)

5. Be praised in and through all creatures– especially through Brother Sun

Good Lord, most high almightyto you all praised is due,all glory, honour and blessing,

belong alone to you;there is no man whose lipsare t to rame your name.

Be praised, my Lord God,in and through all your creaturesespecially among them,through noble Brother Sunby whom you light the day

in his radiant splendid beautyhe reminds us, Lord, o you.

Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and all the stars.You have made the sky shine in their lovely light.




In Brother Wind be praised, my Lord,and in the air, in clouds and calm,in all the weather moods that cherish lie.

Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Water.She is most useul, humble, precious, pure.And Brother Fire, by whom you lighten night;how ne is he, how happy, powerul, strong

Through our dear Mother Earth be praised, my Lord,She eeds us, guides us, gives us plants, bright fowersand all her ruits.

Be praised, my Lord, through uswhen out o love or you we pardon one another.When we endure in sickness and in sorrow.Blessed are they who preserve in peace;rom you, Most High, they will receive their prize.

Be praised, my Lord, or our Sister Deathrom whom no man alive can hope to hide;

wretched are they who die deep in their sin,and blessed those Death nds doing your will.For them there is no urther death to ear.

O people! Praise God and bless him,Give him thanks and serve him most humbly

(Saint Francis of Assisi)




