Creator of Life,

At Your word, the Earth brought forth plants yielding seed and trees of every kind bearing fruit. The rivers, mountains, minerals, seas and forests sustained life. The eyes of all looked to You to satisfy the needs of every living thing. And throughout time the Earth has sustained life. Through the planetary cycles of days and seasons, renewal and growth, you open your hand to give creatures our food in the proper time.

~Excerpt from “Season of Creation 2020 Prayer”

Each year many in the Christian community celebrate the Season of Creation between September 1 and October 4th.  The season starts with a Day of Prayer for Creation, and ends with the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology. During this time, we are all called to heal our relationships with creation and each other. The 2020 season that just ended had the  theme “Jubilee for the Earth: New Rhythms, New Hope,” and people of faith were encouraged to use the season to reflect on the call for a radically new way of living with Creation.

For all of you who have been engaged with IPC, this call is not new.  Almost every day we are in tune with our responsibility to care for Creation and be good stewards to the Earth.  Over the summer many of you have renewed your commitment to environmental stewardship by  forming new green teams and taking steps to strengthen existing green teams at your congregations.  Among many other congregational actions, we have heard how the St. Thomas Episcopal Church team, in the Jones Falls watershed, installed a pollinator garden in front of their church; All Saints Lutheran Church in Bowie reports how their newly re-energized green team is connecting and collaborating with other ministries of the church that have formed: Ale Saints (Beekeepers making Mead), the God, Grounds and Fellowship (Property Care), and Wholely Foods (a composting initiative); and we have heard about more than 2,000 trees that will be planted at Stillmeadow Peace Park in Southwest Baltimore this fall.

We know that this is just a small subset of the actions that are taking place all around us.  We have also heard your calls for tips and resources for keeping your teams active even during these unique times that we are in.  Please visit our new resources page to learn more.   

Together we will continue to unite in our protection of the Chesapeake Bay watershed so all our communities, and future generations, may thrive.