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 recent Creationtide Ministry Mailing for even more Creationtide resources, news and events!
Season of Creation
The symbol for the Season of Creation 2024 is the firstfruits of hope. Hope is an instrument enabling us to overcome the natural law of decay. Only through hope we may realise the gift of freedom in fullness. Freedom to act not only to achieve enjoyment and prosperity, but to reach the stage in which we are free and responsible. Freedom and responsibility enable us to make the world a better place. Only when we work together with Creation can the firstfruits of hope emerge.
The Celebration Guide is a free and extensive toolkit with unique resources for local communities to celebrate the Season of Creation. It contains an explanation of this year’s theme and symbol, prayers, and ideas for ecumenical events involving spirituality, education and sustainability, among other materials. Download the resources from seasonofcreation.org.
Harvest Thank you to our Farmers
A new resource from arthur rank centre designed specifically for churches leading Harvest services.
This guide offers a wealth of materials to enrich your celebrations, including suggested readings, prayers, hymns, and interactive activities that emphasise gratitude for God’s provision and the beauty of creation.
The resource is crafted to be adaptable for churches of all sizes and settings, ensuring that each congregation can create a meaningful and engaging Harvest service.
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.
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.
Net Zero Carbon Church
Explore the kinds of changes that can help your church cut its carbon footprint. Choosing the right actions for your church will help meet the prophetic call from General Synod for all parts of the Church to be ‘net zero carbon’ by 2030. The Diocese of Ely is committed to its own Synod debating and agreeing a Net Zero Carbon Action Plan before the end of 2023.
Read the Practical Path to Net Zero Carbon for Church Buildings, a short guidance note from the Church of England, which summarises all the key actions you can take.
Webinars, advice and support are available from the Church of England team, as well as support from our NZC Officer, DETG, the Archdeacons and the DAC for faculty support throughout.
Ely Cathedral Environment Memorial Lecture
Climate Change and Nature loss: twin crises, shared solutions. Canon Dr Peter Brotherton, Director of Science at Natural England, delivered this insightful talk on 17 September 2024 at Ely Cathedral. It’s an engaging session, covering some stark realities but also offering hope – if you missed it you can watch the lecture on the Cathedral's YouTube channel here.
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.