Season of Creation

“As people of faith, we are called to live in right relationship with creation and not exhaust it.”

LWF Assembly Resolution on Climate Change Read more

In 1989, Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I declared 1 September as a day of prayer for the care of creation. In the following years, other Christian World Communions endorsed this initiative, and today many churches in the ecumenical family observe the “Season of Creation” (also known as Creation Time) between 1 September and 4 October, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, as observed by some Western traditions. 

During the Season of Creation, the LWF joins our ecumenical family in preparing the 2024 Celebration Guide. 

For the Lutheran communion, this liturgical season of prayer and action has become an opportunity to affirm LWF’s commitment to address a central crisis of our time—climate change. Echoing our governing body decisions since 1977, the Thirteenth LWF Assembly encouraged  “LWF member churches to emphasize the importance of eco-theology as a framework for integrating spiritual and ethical values into environmental stewardship, articulating our theological basis for the care of creation, sharing technical knowledge, and advocating for climate justice.”Honoring this commitment, the LWF invites its member churches worldwide to join in the annual “Season of Creation”. This year we will be uniting around the theme, “ “To hope and act with Creation”.  As people of faith we are called to lift the hope inspired by our faith, the hope of the resurrection. This is not a hope without action but one embodied in concrete actions of prayer and preaching, service and solidarity. We hope that this Season of Creation renews our baptismal call to care and sustain this ecological turning so that life may flourish, and all creatures may find their place to flourish in our common home. 

The Celebration Guide contains ideas for prayer, including an ecumenical prayer service and ways 

to incorporate and reflect on this year’s theme and its symbol- The firstfruits of hope. In addition, it offers ways to participate in this year’s joint advocacy initiative to support the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty which calls for a halt to new fossil fuel projects  

Find an ecumenical prayer service, ecologically themed Bible readings, links to eco-theological commentaries and songs, and more in the 2024 Celebration Guide,  To hope and act with Creation.The 2024 Celebration Guide was launched by a rich inter-generational dialogue on this year's theme  “To hope and act with Creation.”