Creationtide or the Season of Creation is the period in the annual church calendar, from 1st September to 4th October, dedicated to God as Creator and Sustainer of all life.
It is a time when churches and congregations are called to pay special attention to the responsibility of humanity for the Earth and for all that lives upon it. Its start and end dates reflect that it is a shared idea between Western and Eastern Christianity.
Many churches choose to use this time of year to hold special services and events to give thanks for God's gift of creation, and to renew their commitment to caring for our one planet home.
Why not Read our 2025 Creationtide Ministry Mailing for even more Creationtide resources, news and events!
Season of Creation
The theme for Season of Creation this year is Peace with Creation, based on the Biblical text of Isaiah 32:14-18. The prophet Isaiah pictured the desolated Creation without peace because of the lack of justice and the broken relationship between God and humankind. This description of devastated cities and wastelands eloquently stresses the fact that human destructive behaviours have a negative impact on the Earth.
Download the resources from seasonofcreation.org.
A Rocha Eco Church Award
Eco Church: A Rocha UK’s award scheme for churches in England and Wales who want to demonstrate that the gospel is good news for God’s earth.
Engage and Equip your church to care for God’s creation with a variety of Resources for worship and teaching from ARocha.
Eco Church Support
Date
: Tuesday 30 September
Time: 6pm - 7pm
Venue: Online, via Zoom
Register here: https://elydatabase.org/events/view?course=4436
Please register to receive a zoom link (this will beincluded in your booking confirmation email).
For this session, we are delighted to be joined by Diana Cook (Churchyard Conservation Award), Chris Warner (from Coveney: St Peter-ad-Vincula - Silver Award for Churchyard Conservation), and the Rev'd Imogen Nay, Bishop’s Advisor on Climate (from Cambridge: St Paul’s). We will hear about the opportunities for improving churchyards for biodiversity and how they can be used for Forest Church. Also the opportunities available to churches to switch to more eco products and sanitary collections, plus twinning toilets and more.
Churchyard Conservation Awards
Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust
The Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust offer a Churchyard Conservation Award Scheme, which is supported by the diocese. Once registered, your church works towards the Bronze, Silver or Gold Award and you will be offered at least one free advisory visit. The scoring guide for the Award is clear, which helps provide a focus for planning e.g. the production of a mowing plan of the churchyard, to include a spring wildflowers area, will score 2 points. Registration for an Award will also help churches which are working towards an Eco Church Award.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust
For those churches in Norfolk, the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, supported by the diocese, offer a similar Churchyard Conservation Scheme. They can provides free plant surveys and management advice to churches, plus an advice pack, information leaflets on specific topics, such as Birds and Hedgerows, and Churchyard wildlife ID card which can all can be downloaded from their website free of charge.
Ely Cathedral Environment Memorial Lecture
Dr Hilary Marlowe will speak on The Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor: Ecojustice and Faith
Date: Monday 22 September
Time: 6.45pm
Venue: In the North Transept, Ely Cathedral
Entry is free.
Dr Hilary Marlow is a biblical scholar, researcher and writer on theology and the environment. She is an Official Fellow at Girton College, Cambridge and a member of the Faculty of Divinity in the University of Cambridge. Hilary’s on-going academic research focuses on the Bible’s depiction of the interaction between people and the natural world, and the relevance of this in contemporary contexts. She is particularly interested in religious, especially Christian, motivations for environmental concern and the use of the Bible in environmental ethics. Hilary regularly speaks on faith and the environment in churches and other non-academic contexts. For many years she has been actively involved with the Christian conservation charity A Rocha where she is currently a Trustee. In her spare time, she enjoys tending a small field just outside Cambridge with her husband Ian, where they grow their own fruit and vegetables and try to be mindful of their own ecological footprint.
The Ely Cathedral Environment Memorial Lecture was set up in honour of The Revd Dr Jenny Gage, the Cathedral’s Social Justice Minister, who died after a short illness in September 2022. Jenny was transformative for the Cathedral’s environment programme and goals, and it is very fitting that this lecture should be part of her enduring legacy.