The Path’s foundation rests in liturgy and prayer that recognizes God’s creation, redemption, and sanctification of the whole Creation. Praying with, in, and for the sake of God’s Creation is central to our Christian vocation, especially in a time of ecological devastation and climate crisis. We give a clear pathway and relevant resources to move beyond the anthropocentric prison of imagination that many of us inherited, assisting congregations in learning to repent and confess the sins of greed, selfishness, and environmental racism; to express climate grief; to grow in reverence for the natural world through word, silence, music, art, and architecture; and to build resolve in protecting the created order.
We enable our clergy and lay leaders to pray deeply, preach boldly, and mark seasons and holy days in ways that honor God’s Creation and articulate our interconnectedness with the web of life, supporting parishes in effecting inward transformation for outward action.
SPIRITUAL DEEPENING
WITH CREATION
PREPARE
Offer an introduction to contemplative prayer (encourage outdoors).
Offer (or encourage participation in) a retreat or Quiet Day that restores reverence for God’s Creation.
Explore spiritual outdoor practices.
GROW
Organize and or promote a local pilgrimage into Creation.
Develop eco-grief/eco-anxiety gatherings incorporating ritual and prayer.
PLANT
Offer ongoing courses on (or gatherings for) contemplative prayer.
Offer or encourage regular retreats or Quiet Days that restore reverence for God’s Creation, especially outdoors.
Prominently encourage practicing a weekly Sabbath from carbon-intensive activities.
HARVEST
Appropriately facilitate indigenous nature-based spiritual practices for parishioners.
Find ways to offer or support parishioners in nature-based spiritual retreats, trainings, etc.
MARKING
HOLY DAYS
OF CREATION
PREPARE
Honor the Season of Creation (September 1 - October 4) with at least one Sunday devoted to Creation.
Honor Earth Sunday (the Sunday closest to Earth Day, April 22) with a special service devoted to God’s Creation.
GROW
Draw on Anglican tradition to include Creation-related practices on many of our Holy Days.
Develop days of grieving and mourning for events of ecosystem loss and destruction.
PLANT
Honor the Season of Creation during all five Sunday worship services.
Honor Earth Sunday with a service incorporating liturgical action.
Celebrate Rogation days and harvest-related festivals.
HARVEST
Develop new Creation-rhythm Holy Days in our contemporary and local contexts.
Incorporate explicit Creation themes into the whole liturgical cycle the Church Year.
INCLUDING CREATION
IN OUR PARISH LITURGIES
PREPARE
Add specific petitions on Creation justice themes to the Prayers of the People on occasion.
Add the 6th baptismal promise as a permanent feature of all baptismal liturgies.
Use Eucharistic Prayer C occasionally in Sunday worship services.
GROW
Weave explicitly Creation-centered prayers into all regular Sunday worship services.
Preach monthly about our Christian vocation to love and protect God’s Creation.
Add a secondary weekly service in a Celtic or similar style that focuses on Creation.
Exclusively use Eucharistic Prayers that incorporate Creation into the Christian gospel and mission.
PLANT
Regularly include Creation in various prayers and proclamations of the liturgy.
Preach at least every 6 weeks about our Christian vocation to love and protect God’s Creation.
Introduce parish to Eucharistic Prayers that explicitly include God’s Creation.
HARVEST
Integrate our primary liturgies and Creation through new forms, contexts, and spaces.
Regularly tie Creation into preaching themes, including intersections of justice issues.
Reorient the liturgy to include the redemption of all things in heaven and earth (not just humans).
JOINING CREATION IN WORSHIP
PREPARE
Hold services outdoors on occasion, whether primary Sunday or special worship events.
Perform a baptism at a local body of water.
GROW
Organize a regular ecumenical or interfaith public outdoor worship service focused on Creation.
Begin and end work at a Good News Garden with prayers of thanksgiving.
Create an outdoor labyrinth or similar spiritual practice area.
PLANT
Organize an ecumenical or interfaith public outdoor worship service focused on Creation.
Perform blessing rituals on rain barrels, solar panels, compost bins, bicycle racks, etc.
HARVEST
Establish a regular Wild Church service in your community.
Provide Natural Burial Services and Home Death Care support.
ART AND
MUSIC FOR CREATION
PREPARE
Select hymns from the standard Episcopal sources that have a Creation focus.
Install Creation-related artwork inside the church outside the primary worship space.
GROW
Incorporate styles & instruments in music that connect with the natural rhythms of Creation.
Incorporate Creation-related artwork into worship practices and church seasons.
Incorporate Creation-related spiritual writings into the Lessons.
PLANT
Select hymns and songs from around the world that have a Creation focus.
Install artwork related to Creation in the Nave or other sacred spaces.
HARVEST
Explore drum circles, chants, and spiritual music-based practices as primary worship experiences.
Remodel/build worship spaces celebrating Creation in material, appearance, and function.
Construct a collaborative art piece representing/drawing from elements of creation for use as an altar for principle worship service.