A Prayer from the 4th Century
O God, enlarge within us the sense of
fellowship with all living things,
our brothers and sisters the animals to whom you
gave the earth as their home in
common with us.
We remember with shame that in the past
we have exercised a ruthless dominion
of human cruelty
so that the voice of the earth,
which should have gone up to you
in song, has been a groan of travail.
May we realize that they live not for
us alone but for themselves and for
you, and that they love the sweetness of life,
as do we, and serve you better in their way
than we do in ours. Amen.
─ St. Basil the Great
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Season of Creation Workshop
Thursday, May 27th
6:30-8:00pm via Zoom
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Register (free) to register here.
Learn more and download the flyer with more information here.
Workshop participants will hear an overview of the Season of Creation, its scriptural references and themes, and how two congregations introduced it and have used it for years in their contexts, along with ecologically conscious liturgies. Through large group and breakout room discussions, participants will have the opportunity to hear about more resources and practices and also share their own ideas about the joys and challenges of integrating creation care in worship.
Consider bringing a team from your congregation! All are welcome – musicians and
worship committee members, lay and rostered leaders, youth and elders, anyone who wants to deepen and broaden their worship practices for the well being of God’s creation.
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Thank you for joining us for the EcoFaith Summit on April 17th!
Here is the link for the full video recording of the Summit:
Here is a link to the playlist for all the pieces from the Summit:
Here is a description of the speakers.
If anyone is interested in native milkweed seeds, you can email Alicia Green at mallardlake0806@hotmail.com and she will ship them the seeds along with information!!! Great activity to involve kids!!!
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Preaching for the Whole Creation:
Commentary on the Lectionary
Season of Easter Pt. 2
"Theme: The community which the death and resurrection of Jesus raised into being is a
community of life that embraces all of creation. It is a community of love, one for which all
creation gives fulsome praise to its Creator as to its Savior. It is a community which hopes
that all Creation will be liberated from human possessiveness and domination. It is a
community in which the Spirit of God will make this hope a reality, until all creation is restored."
Read the whole commentary here.
Written by Rev. Dennis Ormseth. Rev. Ormseth has been writing ecologically oriented commentary on the lectionary for many years. He is active in Lutherans Restoring Creation, the EcoFaith Network of the Minneapolis Area Synod, and a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Minneapolis.
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EcoFaith in Worship and the Word
Preaching for the Whole Creation
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Creation in the Bible
This past week we celebrated both Earth Day and Good Shepherd Sunday. What
a convergence! I was invited to preach, which gave me the rare opportunity to invite the gathered flock to think of themselves as sheep. As I learned early on from my wonderful teacher Samuel Terrien, who lived several years with the Bedouin shepherds in Israel/Palestine, sheep are not easy to care for. Sheep are stubborn and willful creatures who have their own ideas about what they want to do and where they want to go. Imagine thinking of ourselves like that! Let’s think about ourselves as dumb animals who fill our still waters with polluting plastics, who destroy our green pastures by leaving them bare, who fill the air along the paths with poison, leaving untold species of sister and brother animals dead forever. How we, like sheep, have gone astray!
Check out the whole reflection here.
Also read Dr. Diane Jacobson's sermon from Care of Creation Sunday here.
Dr. Diane Jacobson is Professor Emerita of Old Testament, Luther
Seminary and the retired Director of the ELCA Book of Faith Initiative.
Her extensive speaking, writing, and workshop leading often
highlights the ecological dimensions of the Bible.
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First Lutheran Duluth Earth Sunday Liturgy
A growing number of congregations are celebrating Earth Sunday on the Sunday before or after Earth Day, with special liturgies and music. Here is the beautiful Earth Sunday liturgy from First Lutheran Church, Duluth, shared with their permission. This could be a great reference for Earth Sunday worship next spring!
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Sunday Creation Connections
This section comes from Sundays & Seasons and brings creation connections for every Sunday.
May 2 – Easter 5
It’s important to remember that Jesus taught and ministered in an agrarian society. The parables and images in his teaching often refer to the elements of creation because that’s what his listeners understood in profound ways. The importance of vineyards with pruned and healthy vines to produce grapes for harvesting was not lost on Jesus’ listeners. It was easy for them to see this as an illustration of what it means to be connected to God’s love. “Abiding” means spending time with, remaining with, and attending to. Finding ways to cultivate a connection between faith and caring for creation can help congregants develop a deep love for God and the world God has made. Abiding with God and abiding with the forests, oceans, deserts, city parks, and even our own backyards can nourish our spirits and strengthen our relationship with our Creator.
Check out the May and June creation connections here.
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This Month's Green Tips
Feel free to use these striking Green Tips created by two Synod members for your bulletins and general knowledge! These are meant to inspire earthkeeping action!
Here are Laura Raedeke's Green Tips Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa and here are Steve Spigarelli's Green Tips from First Lutheran in Aitkin.
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Read the whole book review
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Book Review
Reflections from the North Country
by Sigurd Olson.
Only when we look at the earth
as civilized thinking men with enlightened insight
will the full measure of human evolution
be possible. We must know the values
which once sustained us are still there
in those parts of the world we have not ravished. – Sigurd Olson
I imagine most mid-westerners who love and care for the natural world are familiar with the writings of Sigurd Olson, especially his book, The Singing Wilderness. I also had, Reflections from the North Country, on my shelf, having never read it. I recently picked it up and was pleasantly surprised at how insightful, relevant, and eloquent his reflections remain as modern human beings are faced with the reality that we are putting the planet and our very human existence in crisis mode.
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This book review is by John Hanson, a retired pastor living on Turtle Lake, north of Grand Rapids, with his wife, Linda. He is a member of the NE MN Synod EcoFaith Leadership Team.
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May St. Paul Area Synod Care of Creation Work Group Message |
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One Church's Energy Savings
"When the COVID-19 shutdown occurred, Gloria Dei locked its doors, turned off the boilers and shut off all unnecessary electricity demands. Beverly Sargent, Director of Finance and Administration, and Clayton Gardner, new-to-GDLC Maintenance Supervisor, quickly noted that we were not seeing energy cost reductions as anticipated and dug in. With the help of a 2017 energy audit, its corresponding 2020 update and the one-on-one support from Mark Ginsbach, Enerchange, they put the following changes into place from October through December 2020."
Read the rest of this story from the St Paul Area Synod here.
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What We've Been Reading
Here are a few other resources the EcoFaith Team is reading!
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The EcoFaith Network of Northeastern MN is a growing network of ELCA Lutheran congregations and their members in northeastern Minnesota with a mission to live out God's call to be stewards of the earth for the sake of the whole creation. Through social media, seminars, resources on current environmental justice issues, project micro-grants and active inter-and intra- congregational conversations, the EcoFaith Network encourages grassroots creation care actions among the Synod’s 133 congregations and leadership within their communities.
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