Karen Brau, pastor of Luther Place Church in Washington, D.C., blesses pets—from cats and dogs to goldfi sh.
suggested actions. T e season’s roots go back many
centuries, but the practice was revived several decades ago by Norman Habel, a Lutheran pastor and Old Testament professor for the Uniting Church in Australia. Hundreds of U.S. Lutheran churches and others around the world now celebrate this season. Each Sunday is devoted to a
diff erent domain of God’s creation, such as “Land Sunday,” “Mountain Sunday” or “Animal Sunday.” Les- sons draw on biblical passages that relate to each domain. Many con- gregations also engage the artistic imaginations of their members by: • Draping blue streamers from the baptismal font to other parts of the sanctuary (“River Sunday”). • Taking worship outdoors and planting trees (“Forest Sunday”). • Having children dress up as sea creatures (“Ocean Sunday”). • Showing video of hurricanes and tornadoes (“Storm Sunday”). • Projecting pictures of outer space (“Universe Sunday”). • Sharing images of Jesus from around the world (“Humanity Sunday”). • Displaying pictures of endangered species with lighted prayer candles (“Animal Sunday”). • Creating banners and paraments. • Composing hymns and litanies. St. Andrew Lutheran Church in
Racine, Wis., has celebrated the sea- son of creation for the last 10 years. Michael Mueller, its pastor, said he appreciates that the liturgy refl ects “both the great wonder at the beauty and mystery of creation and the real tragedy and the danger of our lack of awareness and the consequences of
August 2014 35
human actions that are putting cre- ation at risk. If we don’t see the con- nection in worship, then it’s going to be diffi cult to live out this ministry in the rest of our life together.”
For a list of resources, fi nd this article at
www.thelutheran.org/feature/ august.
Author bio: Rhoads is a retired pro- fessor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He lives in Racine, Wis., and
directs Lutherans Restoring Creation (www.
lutheransrestoringcreation.org).
Sundays of the Season of Creation in Year A (2014) ■ First Sunday: “Forest Sunday” “All the trees of the forest sing for joy” (Psalm 96:12). ■ Second Sunday: “Land Sunday” “Let the fi eld exult, and everything in it” (Psalm 96:12). ■ T ird Sunday: “Wilderness Sunday” “Let the wilderness lift up its voice” (Isaiah 42:11). ■ Fourth Sunday: “River Sunday” “Th e river of God is full of water” (Psalm 65:9). ■ Blessing of the Animals
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