The Bishop’s Challenge:

Worship and Education

Congregation Challenge:

Integrate care for creation into regular or seasonal liturgies, special celebrations, and educational offerings for children and adults.

Ready to try an action in this area?  Ideas for actions (and resource links) are below, or you can come up with your own innovative action idea and let us know about it.

Education

VBS - Augsburg's ReNew: The Green VBS and Operation Restoration VBS

VBS curricula that focus on caring for creation.

Third Grade Tree Planting

Send third graders home with a seedling to plant!

Integrate new environmental habits and care of creation emphases into Lenten or other devotional materials.

A daily calendar of scripture and sustainable ideas to try throughout Lent or other devotional materials that include the care of creation. Care of Creation Lenten Calendar

ELCA Care of Creation study guide for adult education

Caring for Creation expresses a call to pursue justice for creation through active participation, solidarity, sufficiency and sustainability, and states the commitments of the ELCA for pursuing wholeness for creation — commitments expressed through individual and community action, worship, learning, moral deliberation and advocacy." Includes a study guide.

Integrate Care of Creation topics into Sunday School programming

Use educational resources from Web of Creation and/or creative ideas such as: growing plants from seeds, eco-craft / upcycling projects, Climate Superheroes play and idea-sharing, Confirmation energy 'audit' of the church building, signage, and recycling stations, etc.

Hold adult forums on sustainability topics

Discussion or presentations on dangers of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), the ecology of coral reefs, proper recycling, zero waste living, single use plastics, etc.

Hold an adult forum series on the ELCA Social Statement on Care of Creation

Use ELCA Care of Creation study guide for adult education.

Worship

Integrate liturgies from Lutherans Restoring Creation in worship

Preaching resources, commentaries, and highlighted educational resources from a grassroots group of Lutherans.

Add Season of Creation to your worship calendar

Seasons of Creation, a liturgical season of prayer and action: "To Hope and Act with Creation" and resources from Engage Worship or Wild Goose publications

Try "Branch Sunday" instead of Palm Sunday

Encourage parishioners to bring in branches to use for Palm Sunday to raise awareness and potentially reduce the quantity of palms needed.

Include Earth Day celebrations and blessings in worship

Blessing of pollinator garden, native plant giveaway, tour of property by a naturalist; Sing at congregational Earth Day celebration (Sunday School children)

Congregations already working in these areas:

St. Paul (Ridgefield)
Sharla DeLawter

St. Mathew (Moorestown)
Pastor Eric Trozzo

Zion (Oldwick)
Jenny Gelson

Abiding Presence (Ewing)
Karen Le Morvan

St. Matthew Moorestown (Rev. Eric Trozzo) incorporated Seasons of Creation liturgies in worship in 2023.

The season helps us focus each year on different aspects of God’s creation and our call to care for it.

For 2023, St. Matthew used these themes:

Sept. 3: Ocean Sunday
Sept. 10: Land Sunday
Sept. 17: Forest Sunday
Sept. 24: River Sunday
Oct. 1: Renewing the Earth Sunday