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Worship Aids

Litanies
Prayers
Sample Worship Services
Song Bibliography
Creation-Honoring Hymns
Sermons and Sermon Tips
Stations of the Cross
Creation Devotional
Greening Congregations Worship page (ideas and stories from congregations)
Other Worship Resources and Links

Litanies

Call to Worship, Earth Day Sunday 2004
(From the National Council of Churches [NCC] Earth Day Sunday 2003 resource packet: "Air ... Life-giving Breath of God: Protecting the Sacred Gift of Air."  To download this helpful resources, go to http://www.nccecojustice.org/EarthDay/2004/index.html.) 

O God, Holy Spirit, whose breath gives life to the world
and whose voice is heard in the soft breeze,
we need your strength and wisdom.
Come to us and among us;
Come as the wind and cleanse us.
We join with your Creation and with each other
to sing the song of the stars;
to rejoice in the sunlight;
and to refresh the air.

Call to Worship, Earth Day Sunday 2003
(From the National Council of Churches [NCC] Earth Day Sunday 2003 resource packet, "Waters of Life: Enough for All."  To download this helpful resource, go to http://www.nccecojustice.org/EarthDay/2003/index.html.)    

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory that is due the holy name;
worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over the mighty waters.                 Psalm 29

Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord, my God, you are very great.
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills,
giving drink to every wild animal;
the wild asses quench their thirst.
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.    Psalm 104: 1, 10-13

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.”
And let everyone who hears say, “Come.”
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes
take the water of life as a gift.                  Revelation 22:17

(Can be read responsively with congregation.)

Call to Worship, Earth Day Sunday 2002 (Based on the hymn, "Forward Through the Ages.")
(From the National Council of Churches [NCC] Earth Day Sunday 2002 resource packet, "Caring for Creation: Making the World Safe for Children."  To download this helpful resource, go to http://www.nccecojustice.org/EarthDay/2002/index.html.)  

Leader: Forward through the ages in an unbroken line, move the faithful spirits at the call divine.
People: We gather today in the presence of God and in communion with those who have gone before us and those who will come after.
Leader: On this Earth Sabbath, we open our minds to learn about ecological threats to the health of present and future generations and to the whole community of life.
People: We open our hearts to the message of hope that comes to us through Jesus Christ.
Leader: We reach out our hands to bring healing and change, for the sake of the children of the earth--past, present, and future.
People: And we raise our voices to join with the rest of creation in singing praise to God, whose steadfast love and faithfulness endures to all generations.

Call to Worship, Earth Day Sunday 2000
(From the National Council of Churches [NCC] Earth Day Sunday 2000 resource packet. To download this helpful resource go to http://www.nccecojustice.org/EarthDay/2000/index.html.)    

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Creator of heaven and earth!                              Psalm 124:8
Praise be to Jesus Christ! 
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
In Christ all things in heaven and on earth were created.
All things have been created through him and for him.
In Christ the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
Through Christ God was pleased to reconcile all things,
things on earth and things in heaven,
making peace through the blood 
of the cross.                                                         Colossians 1:15-20

Chinook Blessing Litany
(Reprinted by permission of Nancy Waddell on behalf of the Whidbey Institute, Whidbey Island, WA.)

We call upon the earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring heights, its vitality and abundance of life, and together we ask that it:
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the mountains, the Cascades and the Olympics, the high green valleys and meadows filled with wild flowers, the snows that never melt, the summits of intense silence, and we ask that they:
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the waters that rim the ear, horizon to horizon, that flow in our rivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields, and we ask that they:
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the land which grows our food, the nurturing soil, the fertile fields, the abundant gardens and orchards, and we ask that they:
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the forests, the great trees reaching strongly to the sky with the earth in their roots and the heavens in their branches, the fir and the pine and the cedar, and we ask them to:
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the creatures of the fields and forests and the seas, our brothers and sisters the wolves and deer, the eagle and dove, the great whales and the dolphin, the beautiful Orca and salmon who share our Northwest home, and we ask them to:
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the moon and the stars and the sun, who govern the rhythms and seasons of our lives and remind us that we are part of a great and wondrous universe, and we ask them to:
Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon all those who have lived on this earth, our ancestors and our friends, who dreamed the best for future generation, and upon whose lives our lives are built, and with thanksgiving, we call upon them to:
Teach us, and show us the way.

And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred, the presence and power of the Great Spirit of love and truth which flows through all the universe ... to be with us to:
Teach us, and show us the way.

Litany of Six Directions
(Source unknown; inspired by a traditional Native American blessing.)

Leader:   We turn to the West for a blessing to the Spirit of Shalom, Peace: make us whole, make us holy, help us to love You and one another with our whole heart, our whole mind, our whole being, we pray:
People:   Empower us, Holy Spirit.
Leader:   We turn to the North for a blessing to the Spirit of Integrity: give us Your strength and the courage to endure all the problems we may face, we pray:
People:   Empower us, Holy Spirit.
Leader:   We turn to the East for a blessing, to the Spirit of Illumination: open our eyes to the sacredness of every living thing, we pray:
People:   Empower us, Holy Spirit.
Leader:   We turn to the South for a blessing, to the Spirit of Transformation: help us to grow in wisdom and grace and the goodness of the ages, we pray:
People:   Empower us, Holy Spirit.
Leader:   We look to the Heavens, to the Spirit of Openness: fill us with a breadth of vision to see that Your love embraces all, we pray:
People:   Empower us, Holy Spirit.
Leader:   We touch the Earth for a blessing, and thereby touch the Spirit which lives among us and within us: help us to be more human and to praise you through the work of our hands, we pray:
People:   Empower us, Holy Spirit.
Leader:   Let us go from here blessed and renewed in the Spirit of Peace, in the Spirit of Integrity, in the Spirit of Illumination, in the Spirit of Transformation, with hopes lifted high to the heavens and with hearts loving the earth in the name of our loving, creating, nurturing God.
People:   Amen!

"Citizens of all Creation" Litany
(From the National Association of Conservation Districts.)

Leader:   O sing to God a new creation song.
People:   For God has done marvelous things.
Leader:   We are born citizens of God's world.
People:   For God has done marvelous things.
Leader:   Let us see the earth as children of the earth.
People:   Give us a clear vision, O God.
Leader:   May our sights be greater than house to house.
People:   Give us clear vision, O God.
Leader:   Grant us the knowledge to make tough choices for our world.
People:   God, you are with us from the foundations of the earth.
Leader:   Cause us to share life from generation to generation.
People:   God, you are with us from the foundations of the earth.
Leader:   Challenge our stewardship to renew the heights with living things.
People:   God's hands are upon all creatures who live upon the earth.
Leader:   Many and great are your things, O God, maker of earth and sky.
People:   God's hands are upon all creatures who live upon the earth.  Amen.

Responsive Benediction, Earth Day Sunday 2002
(From the National Council of Churches [NCC] Earth Day Sunday 2002 resource packet, "Caring for Creation: Making the World Safe for Children."  To download this helpful resource, go to http://www.nccecojustice.org/EarthDay/2002/index.html.) 

Leader:    Certainly God is raising up people even today to bring us through this dark time.
People:    Life-giving God, we offer ourselves in service to you, supported by a great cloud of witnesses who urge us on.
Leader:    We are connected to other people of faith and conscience around the world who are working for a peaceful, just, and sustainable world.
People:    This global community supports us; we support each other. 
Leader:    We are related to the earth and all its creatures in a web that cannot be broken without injury to all.
People:    The earth and our fellow creatures support us; we are their advocates...
Leader:     Therefore, let us lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, resisting all powers that destroy, bringing healing and hope to the world.
People:   O God, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, we offer our lives in service to you.

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Prayers

Opening Prayers 
(From St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Medina, Washington.)

Celebrant: Blessed be the Lord God, Author of all Creation.
People: Glory to God forever and ever.
Celebrant: God of unchangeable power, when you fashioned the world, the morning stars sang together and the host of heaven shouted for joy: Open our souls to the wonders of creation and teach us to manage faithfully the riches of this good earth, to the honor of your glorious name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. ...

Celebrant: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Celebrant: Let us pray.  O heavenly Father, who has filled the world with beauty.  Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works; that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness.  For the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Responsive Prayer
(From the National Council of Churches [NCC] Earth Day Sunday 2003 resource packet, "Waters of Life: Enough for All."  To download this helpful resource, go to http://www.nccecojustice.org/EarthDay/2003/index.html. Written by Rev. John Paarlberg.)    

Creator God,
whose Spirit moved over the face of the waters,
who gathers the seas into their places
and directs the courses of the rivers,
who sends rain upon the earth
that it should bring forth life:
we praise you for the gift of water.

Redeemer God,
who spared Noah and creatures of every kind
from the waters of the flood,
who led your people over dry land through the sea
and across the Jordan to the land of promise,
who marks our adoption as children
with the sign of water:
we thank you for the gift of water.

Sustaining God,
create in us such a sense of wonder and delight
in this and all your gifts,
that we might receive them with gratitude,
care for them with love
and generously share them with all your creatures,
to the honor and glory of your holy name.

Prayers of the People
(From St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Medina, Washington.)

We give you thanks and praise, O God of creation, for the grandeur of all that you have made, saying 
We thank you, God.

For the healing waters of creation, which bring pleasure and health, purity and life,
We thank you, God.

For the richness of the good Earth that brings forth fruits and flowers, a pleasure to taste and a joy to behold,
We thank you, God.

For the soaring birds of the air, the crawling creatures on the Earth, the gliding fishes in the seas, for all creatures great and small with whom we share this precious web of life,
We thank you, God.

For the invigorating sunlight of day, the deepening mystery of night, the wonder of the stars, and the call of the unknown in the universe,
We thank you, God.

From heedless misuse and dishonoring of the wonders of your hand,
Good Lord deliver us.

From squandering resources, abusing our companion species, and polluting the habitat we all share,
Good Lord deliver us.

From the folly of imagining ourselves free from the fate of your whole creation,
Good Lord deliver us.

For the courage and wisdom to confess how little we have cared for your gifts,
Strengthen us, O Spirit.

For the conviction that you have called us to love and restore the Earth,
Strengthen us, O Spirit.

For repentance and the determination to begin our stewardship anew,
Strengthen us, O Spirit.

O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for your loving providence; and grant that we, remembering the account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of your good gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever, Amen.

Pastoral Prayer (using Genesis 9, Genesis 17, and Deuteronomy 30)
(From the National Council of Churches [NCC] Earth Day Sunday 2002 resource packet, "Caring for Creation: Making the World Safe for Children."  To download this helpful resource, go to http://www.nccecojustice.org/EarthDay/2002/index.html.) 

Gracious God, your amazing love extends through all time and space, to all parts of your creation, which you created and called good. You made a covenant with Noah and his family, putting a rainbow in the sky to symbolize your promise of love and blessing to every living creature, and to all successive generations. You made a covenant with Abraham and Sarah, blessing them and their descendants throughout the generations. You made a covenant with Moses and the Israelite people to all generations, giving them the 10 commandments and challenging them to choose life. In Jesus, you invite us to enter into a new covenant, in communion with all who seek to be faithful to you.

As people of faith, we are called into covenant. Your covenant of faithfulness and love extends to the whole creation. We pray for the healing of the earth, that present and future generations may enjoy the fruits of creation, and continue to glorify and praise you.

Prayer of Praise
(By St. Gregory Nazianzen, c.330-389)

You alone are unutterable,
form the time you created all things
that can be spoken of.
You alone are unknowable,
from the time you created all things
that can be known.
All things cry out about you;
those which speak,
and those which cannot speak.
All things honor you;
those which think,
and those which cannot think.
For there is one longing, one groaning,
that all things have for you ...
All things pray to you that comprehend
your plan
and offer you a silent hymn.
In you, the One, all things abide,
and all things endlessly run to you
who are the end of all.

Intercessory Prayer
(From the National Council of Churches [NCC] Earth Day Sunday 2001 resource packet. To download this helpful resource, go to http://www.nccecojustice.org/EarthDay/2001/index.html.)  

Creator God, you make all things
and weave them together in an intricate tapestry of life.
Teach us to respect the fragile balance of life and to care for all the gifts of your creation.
Guide by your wisdom those who have power and authority,
that, by the decisions they make, life may be cherished
and a good and fruitful Earth may continue to show your glory and sing your praises.

Almighty God,
you have called us to tend and keep the garden of your creation.
Give us wisdom and reverence for all your plants and animals who share this planet with us and whose lives make possible our own.
Help us to remember that they too love the sweetness of life and join with us in giving you praise.

 

Prayer of Compassion
(By St. Basil the Great, 330-379.)

O God, enlarge within us the sense of 
fellowship with all living things,
our brothers the animals to whom thou
gavest the earth as their home in
common with us.

We remember with shame that in the past
we have exercised the high dominion
of man with ruthless cruelty
so that the voice of the earth,
which should have gone up to thee
in song, has been a groan of travail.

May we realize that they live not for 
us alone but for themselves and for
thee, and that they love
the sweetness of live.

NCC Offertory Prayer
(From the National Council of Churches [NCC] Earth Day Sunday 2002 resource packet, "Caring for Creation: Making the World Safe for Children."  To download this helpful resource, go to http://www.nccecojustice.org/EarthDay/2002/index.html.) 

Generous God, you have blessed us with the resources to share the good news of your love for all creation. We dedicate these gifts and pray that they may bring healing, wholeness, and hope to the world, that future generations may also know your graciousness and love. Amen.


Offering Prayer
(By Tanya Marcovna Barnett)

All good gifts come from you, dear God, and you reveal glimpses of your grace through them.  Thank you for inviting us to be partners with you in caring for your creation.  We offer these gifts now, knowing that they come first from you, then from other members of your family of creation, then from us.  Bless these symbols of our awareness that we depend upon you and your creation for all that we call "ours."  Please accept these gifts and our desire to be your partners.  In Your name, Amen.

 

Prayer of Thanks
(From St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Medina, Washington.)

Gracious God, you have given us much this day: the wheat and grapes which found our feast, the wit and will to transform them into bread and wine, and the precious presence of your Son who transfigures and redeems all that we have broken and lost.  Send us out now to care for this fragile earth, our island home.  Grant us the wit and the will to transform the toxic, irreverent ways we live, and the saving presence of your Son, Jesus Christ, who goes before us and calls us into this world you love.  To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit be honor and glory, now and forever, Amen.


Prayer for Restorative Work
(By Tanya Marcovna Barnett, Earth Ministry.  A prayer to precede a tree planting or other hands-on restoration event.  May be read/prayed using four different people.)

People: Our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer,
Today, we come together with You, with one another, and with Your larger family of creation and ask that you bless:
One: These trees and plants –
that they may continue to grow as blessed members of Your intricate family of creation
that they may remind all lives they touch of Your sustaining presence.
One: These tools –
that they may be “instruments of Your peace”
that they may remind us that we too are called to be instruments of Your peace.
One: Our hands –
that they may know their strengths and limitations
that they may lovingly touch other members of creation as kin.
One: Our hearts –
that they may be open to Your presence in this place, in this community of life
that they be renewed through this work to and render back to You expressions of justice and joy.
People: May this be so!

Prayer after Restorative Work
(By Tanya Marcovna Barnett, Earth Ministry.  A prayer to follow a tree planting or other hands-on restoration event.) 

Let us leave this place of blessed work
With the joy of having joined our strengths
With a gratitude for our kinship with the lives we’ve touched today
With the hope of life-giving verdancy for these and all our kin in God’s family of Creation.
With the resolve to honor and be a blessing to our kin.  Amen.

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Sample Worship Services

United Nations Environmental Sabbath: An interfaith service with designed by the UN Environment Programme for the Environmental Sabbath, June 1990.

Earth Day Eucharist: A Christian service based on the Book of Common Prayer (Anglican/Episcopalian).

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Other Worship Resources and Links

Resources for creation-honoring prayers, litanies, and meditations:

Earth and All the Stars: Reconnecting with Nature through Hymns, Stories, Poems, and Prayers from the Word's Great Religions and Cultures, edited by Anne Rowthorn.  New World Library (2000).

Earth Prayers from Around the World: 365 Prayers, Poems, and Invocations for Honoring the Earth, edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon. Harper San Francisco (1991).

Life Prayers from Around the World: 365 Prayers, Blessings, and Affirmations to Celebrate the Human Journey, edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon.  Harper San Francisco (1996) (has a chapter entitled “Earth Praises”).

Prayers for a Thousand Years: Blessings and Expressions of Hope for the New Millennium, edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon.  Harper San Francisco (1999).  (Has chapters entitled “This Holy Earth,” “Prayers of Solidarity and Justice,” and “Reflections on Politics, Economics, and Morality.”)

 For many other worship resources, go to the Poetry, Prayer, and Meditation section of our Annotated Bibliography.

Links to web sites with download-able worship aids:

 
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