“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are humans that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?”
- Psalm 8:3-4
The psalmist looked to the nighttime sky and was awe struck. Our Lord God made all this? The stars and constellations, the moon and the planets, the movements of the cosmic dance that mark the seasons and the changing of the years, yet remain unchanged year after year; our Lord God made all this? Surely the Lord must be majestic and grand, yet God is mindful of us, God is attentive to us, God loves and cares for us.
This is why we worship our God, because of the great love God has for us. We see God’s grandeur on full display in the works of God’s hands, and we see God’s grandeur on full display in our lives, where God cares for us like a parent caring for a child. God is worthy of all our praise and worship.
Season of Creation 2022 is upon us, starting this Thursday. We will begin our month-long focus on our Creator and this Creation with a worship service at St. Andrews UMC (1201 Maxwell Dr., Raleigh, NC 27603) starting at 7:00. St. Andrews’ creation care leader, Randy Senzig, will be bringing us the Gospel message, and we will worship in song and Communion. A love offering will be collected for Partners for Environmental Justice, in Raleigh.
Additionally, Randy Senzig has offered tours of St. Andrews’ Sacred Circle meditation trail. This is a great opportunity to learn how this local congregation is using creation care to reach out to the unchurched and under-churched in a unique and meaningful way. Tours will be offered from 6:15-6:45. You can read more about that work here.
Can’t make the worship service? It will be recorded and made available online.
Webinars
On Tuesday, September 6 at 7:00, our first webinar of the month is Creation Care: How to Talk About the Environment in Church. In our divisive times, many topics seem taboo in our churches, as we do not want to cause further rifts in the body of Christ. Unfortunately, the environment has become one of these topics. However, we cannot solve the problems we face without talking about them, and if we are going to talk about them in the church, we must be able to talk about them as the church. Join Rev. Jarrod Davis and the NC Conference creation care committee in a look at how environmental issues can be talked about in our churches, from Sunday school and Bible study classes, to worship and the pulpit, to church council meetings, we must learn how to love our Creator through caring for creation. Click here to register.
And on Tuesday, September 13 at 7:00, join us for Advocacy Is Action: What You Can Do. The task of stopping and reversing climate change is daunting. Often it seems that a lot of pressure is put on individuals to change their lifestyles, but how can we sway corporations and governments to change their policies and practices? Rev. Keith Sexton and Dr. Steve Jurovics lead this webinar on how to be advocates for creation, drawing on their years of experience in and out of the church. They will not only address why advocacy is important, but also where our attention is most immediately needed, and real, practical guidelines to becoming a creation advocate. Click here to register.
We are excited to welcome New York Times’ bestselling author, Doug Tallamy, who will present on Nature’s Best Hope on September 20 at 7:00. Dr. Tallamy will teach us what we can do in our own backyards to care for creation; to create landscapes that enhance local ecosystems rather than degrade them, we must 1) remove the invasives on our property and 2) add the native plant communities that sustain food webs, sequester carbon, maintain diverse native bee communities, and manage our watersheds. Follow this link to register.
All webinars are free via Zoom, and all must be registered for in advance. All webinars will be recorded and made available at a later date.