Celebrating the Season of Creation
(Sept – Oct 2024)
“To plant is to hope, to restore is to heal, to protect is to love”
2024 is the second year that the Ministry Development Committee of the Ballarat Diocese has used the Communion Forest as our theme. This year the Communion Forest through the Diocese of Southern Africa has put together a wonderful set of resources that can be used by members of our Diocese. The sermon notes have been brilliantly composed by seven different female Bishops from the Anglican Communion and they lead us deeply into considering God’s creation and our role in caring for it.
All Christians are called to be aware of God’s Creation – this guide calls to both awareness of the need to act to care for Creation whilst reminding us that we are people of hope!
This guide includes resources for all of us: the sermon notes are great resources if you are preaching during the Season of Creation or to use as materials for reflection during this time. There are prayers and liturgical materials for Clergy and Lay Leaders who are preparing services during this Season.
There are lots of ways to measure the Season of Creation – this guide suggests six weeks, but parishes may like to observe four Sundays from September 1st to October 1st. Parishes might also like to consider the idea of a Harvest Festival at a time suitable to their local area, or a “Blessing of the Pets” on St Francis Day as a traditional end to the Season of Creation.
Resources:
- There is a complete PDF of the Anglican Season of Creation Manual 2024 here: https://easternsynod.org/wp-content/uploads/Anglican-Season-of-Creation-Manual-2024.pdf
- There is a website that contains the same information in webpage format here: https://preachingforgodsworld.org/
- There is information about celebrating Harvest Festivals on our own Diocesan website here: https://ballaratanglican.org.au/harvest/
- For more information on the Season of Creation you can go here: https://seasonofcreation.org/ and for Communion Forest here: https://www.communionforest.org/
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