EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Six, Number Two January/February 1997 EPISCOPAL CHURCHES CELEBRATE CREATION IN LITURGICAL CYCLE By The Rev. Franklin E. Vilas, Rector, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Chatham NJ For the past five years an increasing number of Episcopal congregations have been celebrating a liturgical Creation Cycle on the eight Sundays in the season of Pentecost. Beginning on the Feast of St. Francis, the first week of October, the Cycle extends to the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday before Advent. Originating in the Church of the Redeemer of Morristown, New Jersey, in 1991, the idea of an eight week observation of environmental spirituality has caught fire in other congregations across the country. The National Episcopal Environmental Coalition is seeking to have the Cycle included in the Book of Occasional Services. At St. Paul's, readings from the Bible and modern prophets, music and prayers reflect the importance of environmental issues and the role of humans in the Earth process. Seasonal altar hangings and vestments display images of Earth from space, animals and plant life, as an organic response to the usual conceptual nature of liturgical design. The Cycle incorporates the natural autumn themes of stewardship, harvest and thanksgiving. It offers an opportunity to celebrate the First Person of the Trinity, The Creator, who has been largely forgotten in the liturgical year built solely around the Incarnation of Jesus. The eight week period of the Creation Cycle literally grounds our theology, bringing it back to Earth, touching the roots of the human soul that are so often ignored in our cerebral worship. An environmental outreach ministry to the interfaith community has developed, due in large part to the growing awareness, engendered by the Creation Cycle, that the Christian faith calls us to engagement with the crises facing our planet. Our response to environmental concerns comes from our deep sense of oneness with the Creator and with the created order. For more write The Rev. Franklin E. Vilas, 94 Chatham St., Chatham NJ 07928; 201/ 635-8085 Home     Table of Contents