The Season of Creation, the annual ecumenical celebration that encourages parishes to listen and respond to the cry of Creation, begins September 1 on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and ends October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

This year’s theme is “Let Justice and Peace Flow” and invites us to join others in working for climate justice.  A range of actions are suggested, from prayers to meeting with national climate negotiators to influence their decisions. The Season of Creation Celebration is intentionally scheduled just prior to the annual UN climate convention (the COP) to encourage climate action and advocacy in parishes. The Season of Creation Celebration Guide and promotional resources are now available in several languages.

The Season of Creation formally begins September 1 with a global ecumenical online prayer celebration at 09:00 New York, 15:00 Geneva, Johannesburg 16:00, 21:00 Manila, 01:00 Aotearoa. It will be streamed on the Season of Creation YouTube channel.

ACT members are involved in many different ways. The Celebration Guide is  available in Arabic thanks to translation provided by the Middle East Council of Churches. The Season of Creation has been “on fire” in the MENA region, says ACT MENA Regional Representative Rachel Luce.

Patricia Mungcal of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and co-chair of ACT’s Global Youth Community of Practice introduced the Advocacy section in June’s global online Celebration Guide launch. “This guide sharply unites us towards our advocacy goals,” she said. “For climate justice, now that we have the commitment for a Loss and Damage facility, we need to ensure that fair funding is allocated… with no colonial conditionalities for the Global South.”

Patricia was followed by a video of ACT General Secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria speaking of the power of united faith action on climate justice. “Together we can be a river that can move the mountains of injustice,” said Bueno de Faria. “As an ecumenical family, we can engage in these actions to ensure the web of life is preserved and cared for.” See video below.

ACT General Secretary Rudelmar Bueno de Faria