The Season of Creation is the annual Christian celebration of prayer and action for our common home. Together, the ecumenical family around the world unites to pray, protect, and advocate for God’s creation.  The Season of Creation is a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment together.  

Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I proclaimed 1 September as a day of prayer for creation for the Orthodox in 1989. In fact, the Orthodox church year starts on that day with a commemoration of how God created the world.  The World Council of Churches was instrumental in making the special time a season, extending the celebration from 1 September until 4 October.

Following the leadership of Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I and the WCC, Christians worldwide have embraced the season as part of their annual calendar.  Pope Francis made the Roman Catholic Church’s warm welcoming of the season official in 2015, declaring the Season starts 1 September, the Day of Prayer for Creation, and ends 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology beloved by many Christian denominations.  Throughout the month-long celebration, the world’s 2.2 billion Christians come together to care for our common home.

Each year, the ecumenical steering committee suggests a theme to unify Christian communities in their celebration of the season.   For the 2022 Season of Creation, the suggested theme is:  LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF CREATION.  

This year, the symbol of God’s Spirit calls us to listen to the voice of creation, and the burning bush is the symbol for the Season of Creation 2022.  Today, the prevalence of unnatural fires are a sign of the devastating effects that climate change has on the most vulnerable of our planet. Creation cries out as forests crackle, animals flee, and people are forced to migrate due to the fires of injustice.

On the contrary, the fire that called to Moses as he tended the flock on Mt. Horeb did not consume or destroy the bush. This flame of the Spirit revealed God’s presence. This holy fire affirmed that God heard the cries of all who suffered, and promised to be with us as we followed in faith to our deliverance from injustice.