Earth Day & Creation Care Sunday

You may well have heard that this Thursday, April 22, is Earth Day.  What you may not have heard is that this week many celebrate Creation Care Sunday as well.  So what are these days? Should we participate?  How?

Earth Day

Earth Day is an effort by the Earth Day Network to raise awareness and motivate people to change their behaviors in order to help the environment. According to their website, “Earth Day Network was founded on the premise that all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment.” It is celebrated every year on April 22. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.  When it started 40 years ago 20 million were involved. Now they boast that over 1 billion people worldwide will be involved in Earth Day .

For all intents and purposes this is really a great event. It’s worldwide recognition and impact are undeniable. That said, I believe that our motivation for involvement and the message we send is distinct. I will refer you to my post about Earth Hour last month if you are new to the site or do not remember. I believe that as Christians we are able to participate in events such as Earth Day, while co-opting it to share our special message of hope. So, I encourage you to celebrate Earth Day this Thursday. While we share the call to action, this is not because we believe the earth is doomed. On Thursday, we celebrate the glory of God’s creation as it worships and helps point us to Him AND we rally around redeeming work of Jesus to participate in caring for and restoring His creation.

Creation Care Sunday

Many churches celebrate Creation Care Sunday this week. Although some churches celebrate it the Sunday before Earth Day (aka yesterday), it seems to me that more tend to celebrate it the Sunday after Earth Day.  It is a way to intentionally focus on creation care in our services. While we hope that you are working towards regularly involving this into your worship, this is a great way to really focus in on it.

Here are just a few things that some churches do on Creation Care Sunday:

• Intentionally sing hymns or praise songs that highlight God’s creation
• Meet outside for worship
• Have a sermon that directly focuses on creation care
• Center the entire worship service (from the music to the message to the liturgy) on God’s creation
• Use PowerPoint backgrounds composed of images of God’s creation
• Create awareness around some key environmental issue
• Have information in the bulletin or elsewhere about how congregants can better care for creation.

Note that some churches, like this one, also do stuff the week of Creation Care Sunday to care for creation such as a cleanup day, an awareness event, or a nature walk.

Online Simulcast Opportunity

Finally, I just want to bring you attention to one last thing. This year a ministry called Blessed Earth is doing a simulcast on Wednesday night (April 21) called “Hope for Creation.” Their director is Matthew Sleeth, a former ER doctor turned creation care advocate who has authored Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action and has just released The Gospel According to the Earth: Why the Good Book Is a Green Book. If you would like to learn more about them or about how to participate in this event visit their website.

What are you doing this week? Will you be involved in any Earth Day events? Is your church doing anything special for Creation Care Sunday? Please be sure to share what you plan on doing or come back next week and let us know about your experiences.

Whether or not you are intentionally involved in any events this week, do not forget the message of hope that Christians have to offer this week. This is not a week for us to retreat but rather to engage and share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Also consider:

Earth Hour

Eco Theology: Redemption of All Things

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