Prayer and worship

Material with an environmental theme for use in worship services.

We’re always looking for more material, so please contact us if you have some to share.

Books

“Don’t Stop at the Lights” by Shreeve and Foster (Archbishop’s Council 2008) - Themed through the church year. Ideas for study and practical action as well as sermon ideas and theological notes, good bibliography and list of useful contacts.

“Iona Abbey Worship Book” (Wild Goose publications 2001) - See especially the ‘Creation Liturgy’.

“Common Worship: Times and Seasons” (Archbishops Council 2006) - Resources for ‘The Agricultural Year’.

“A Wee Worship Book” (Wild Goose 1999) - Collects and intercessions.

“The Rhythm of Life: Celtic Daily Prayer” by David Adam (SPCK 2008) - See also other books by the same author.

“Meditations by the Sea” by Marion Vuilleumier (iUniverse.com 2000) - Resources for meditations, homilies and prayers rooted in the marine environment.

There is also a huge range of poetry celebrating and meditating on the natural world.

Websites

Shrinking the Footprint worship resources include prayers, hymns, songs, service outlines, short films.

The Christian Ecology Link has a wealth of material: a monthly prayer guide; lectionary resources for preachers; and worship materials including prayers, sermons, hymns, plays and liturgies.

Operation Noah’s resources include sermon ideas, theological notes, bible studies, and short courses.

A Rocha provides resources each year for environmental services including lists of songs, sermons, audio-visuals, sketches, children’s materials.

Eco Church* has resources for worship and teaching (click in the right-hand column)

Eco-congregation* had several relevant modules

  • Module 02 - Greening worship
  • Module 03 - Theology and Environment
  • Module 06 - Resources for small groups

The Bible Society and the Faraday Institute have developed an excellent website covering science and faith, which includes creation service resources.

The Arthur Rank Centre has an extensive range of worship resources specific to rural contexts, much of it free.

Wild Goose Publications (Iona Community) offers prayers and liturgies available as paid-for PDF downloads or books to buy.

Earth Ministry is based in US but the resources - hymn suggestions, sample sermons and liturgies - are also suitable for the UK.

Creationtide/Season of Creation

For the Orthodox Church, 1 September is “a day of thanksgiving for the great gift of creation and of petitions for its preservation and healing”. The Roman Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of Saint Francis on 4 October.  In between these two days many churches celebrate the harvest. Faith leaders often produce messages at the start of Creationtide.

Vicky Johnson (Canon of Ely Cathedral and a member of the CofE’s Environmental Working Group) has written a feature which we hope will be helpful to anyone planning a Creationtide service or event.

Worship resources for Creationtide recommended by the Church of England include: 

  • Material for Seasons and Festivals of the Agricultural Year from Common Worship: Times and Seasons, commended by the House of Bishops for use at the discretion of the minister
  • Resources for worship and prayer (pdf) produced by the Environment Task Group
  • A series of liturgical resources (docx), including collects, post-communion prayers, forms of intercession and additional material for the Eucharistic Prayer, produced for trial use by the Diocese of Guildford 

seasonofcreation.com and seasonofcreation.org have a wide variety of liturgical material for the Season of Creation.

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland has some great resources for Creation Time, and a page of links to other material available from churches, agencies and groups, related to the environment and global warming.

The European Christian Environment Network has many resources, organised by section of the service, by book of the bible, by theme, by season, and by tradition. In 2019, it has published material for the Season of Creation on the theme of “the web of life: biodiversity as God’s blessing”.

Lent Courses

Carbon Fast

Christian Ecology Link

Sections of the service

Lent Carbon Fast 2014

Example services

Rogation Days are originally about asking God to bless the crops, and are usually the three week days before Ascension Day, although many churches observe Rogation on the preceding Sunday

Devon Churches Green Action climate services, also used in Lent Carbon Fast 2014

Devon Churches Green Action

Green Christian (formerly Christian Ecology Link) - Climate Service, May 2010 (pdf)

The Staffordshire Seven - An Environmental Service, 2007 (pdf)

European Christian Environment Network - Morning Prayer, June 2010 (pdf)

Anglican Church of South Africa - Creation Time, 2008 (pdf)

Auckland Cathedral - Christ in All Creation eucharist, 2009 (pdf)

Earth Day Liturgy (pdf)

* Arocha replaced Eco-congregation with a new Eco Church scheme early in 2016. The old Eco-congregation site is available in the Wayback Archive, and we thought the old resources might still be useful.

Share