Season of Creation ran from 1 September to 4 October and Caritas Diocese of Plymouth invited parishes to share any actions they took during that period. The Exeter CAFOD/Live Simply group organised an Ecumenical Service of Creation at Blessed Sacrament Church on 2 September and kindly shared an account of that event:
“We worked together with our friends from other churches to create a service based on the theme of “Seeds”. This followed our successful Salina letter signing event to support CAFOD’s petition to the World Bank to defend the rights of farmers to keep and use their own seeds. The theme was used for the hymns: “We plough the fields and scatter”; “Seed scattered and sown”; “Unless a grain of wheat shall fall” and “For the fruits of his creation”. We also had readings on the same theme from Matthew: The Parable of the Sower; The Parable of the Mustard Seed and The Parable of the Darnel. We included prayers, a litany and commitments created by the group as well as visual images to accompany the readings, poetry and you tube videos of a time lapse flower and a lovely animated version of “So Will I” from Hillsong Worship.
We had an amazing team of musicians and singers from different churches who came together in a very short time to create a truly ecumenical event. I don’t think we have ever had so diverse a group of instruments: keyboard, cello, violin, guitars, flute, and ukulele. Father Jonathan pulled everything together with a beautiful homily around holding the earth in our hands and our care for creation. During the final hymn we processed with the symbols of creation: light, water and seeds and our lovely “God’s Creation” wall hanging created by the sewing group at Blessed Sacrament church.
We followed the service with a plant-based feast of homemade food and we were blessed with a sunny day so that people could enjoy the wildflower garden behind the presbytery. We also had seeds that people could take away with them and we were gifted some produce that people could help themselves to.
It was a real ecumenical team effort to create the service and it was lovely to also welcome so many people including clergy from other local churches. This is the second time we have run this event using a different theme each time. We may not do it every year, but I am sure we will do it again.”
Celebrating and reflecting on Care for our Common Home is not confined to Season of Creation. If you would like to do something similar, the group are happy to share their power point presentation – please contact caritas@prcdtr.org.uk
Caritas Diocese of Plymouth is also holding a day of reflection on Care for Our Common Home in Wimborne, Dorset Deanery on Saturday 25 November from 10.30-15.30. All are welcome and you can register online or by emailing us at caritas@prcdtr.org.uk