Season of Creation
The Season of Creation is an optional season of the church year that turns worship toward God as Creator. It is typically celebrated from the beginning of September until St. Francis of Assisi Day, with four Sundays each year exploring a different part of God’s creation. Everything on this page is free for your congregation to use.
THIS YEAR’S THEME
Living Water
This year, the ecumenical Season of Creation movement’s theme is “Living Water,” drawn from Ezekiel 47:9 and 12. See the ecumenical resources at seasonofcreation.org.
Year A — Forest, Land, Wilderness, and River Sunday (the current church year)
Year A is the lectionary cycle the church is using right now, from Advent 2025 through November 2026. Its four Sundays are Forest, Land, Wilderness, and River Sunday.
Forest Sunday
Trees praise God simply by being trees — thriving, growing, and giving us the air we breathe. This sermon looks at what forest loss costs us, and what one congregation is doing to plant a memorial tree grove.
By David Rhoads
Forest Sunday
From Smokey Bear to the garden in Eden, this sermon traces what forests teach us about tending creation — and about being born again.
By Jeff Wild
Land Sunday
The ground beneath our feet is alive and sacred, not just property to buy and sell. This sermon explores what Scripture and Martin Luther both said about honoring the soil that feeds us.
By David Rhoads
Land Sunday
Preached to a congregation opening its doors to migrant neighbors, this sermon asks what it means to belong to land you didn’t grow up on — and what we owe the land that feeds us.
By Neddy Astudillo
Land Sunday
From earthworms to topsoil, this sermon marvels at what lives beneath our feet — and trusts the God who sustains it, in good years and hard ones.
By John Paarlberg
Wilderness Sunday
Wilderness in the Bible is often a place of testing and deprivation — but this sermon asks whether it might instead be a place where God cultivates the faithful, and what it takes to protect the wild places we have left.
By Marcy Wieties
River Sunday
From the Jordan to the Mississippi, rivers run through the whole of Scripture. This sermon follows that current from the flood story to Revelation, and asks how we’re treating the waters God promises to sustain.
By Nick Utphall
Feast of Creation
In 2026, the ELCA encouraged congregations to celebrate the “Feast of Creation” or “Creation in Christ Sunday” on September 1 or the following week, following the using the lectionary texts provided by the Consultation on Common Texts. This is a great way to kick off the Season of Creation! The ELCA and Augsburg Fortress now have resources online. The resource “Creation in Christ Worship Resource- Year A” is available from the ELCA in both PDF and DOC formats from the ELCA. This resource includes liturgical texts, music suggestions, and preaching guidance.
More Resources
A few more places to find Season of Creation materials, from us and from partner organizations.
seasonofcreation.org — the international, ecumenical movement behind the Season of Creation, with this year’s theme and resources from around the world.
Northern Illinois Synod Season of Creation Resources — free liturgies, preaching resources, and hymn suggestions for every lectionary year, from the synod’s Creation Care Committee.
A Theology of Liturgy in a New Key: Worshiping With Creation — a downloadable book excerpt by David Rhoads, Paul Santmire, and Norman Habel, offering a theological foundation for worshiping with creation.
One Home One Future Worship Resources — a wide range of multi-faith prayers, liturgies, and hymns for creation care worship, gathered by our partner organization.
A Season of Creation Prayer Service — a recorded, roughly 30-minute prayer service from the Northwest Intermountain Synod’s EcoFaith Action Network, ready to use for personal reflection or worship.
Year B — Planet Earth, Humanity, Sky, Mountain, and Saint Francis Sunday
Year B runs from Advent 2026 through November 2027. All five commentaries below were written by Robert Saler.
Planet Earth Sunday
The Bible consistently calls creation good — a bold claim in the ancient world, and still a needed one today. This sermon looks at what it means to honor God by honoring the goodness of the Earth God made.
By Robert Saler
Humanity Sunday
Humans have a special place in creation, but Scripture calls us to use that place in humility and service, not domination. This sermon asks what it looks like to care for creation the way Christ calls us to care for one another.
By Robert Saler
Sky Sunday
The heavens declare God’s glory — and can also bear witness against injustice, like pollution that darkens the sky. This sermon connects an old prophecy from Jeremiah to environmental and social harm today.
By Robert Saler
Mountain Sunday
Scripture pictures mountains as places where healing and justice begin — Mount Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, God’s “holy mountain.” This sermon asks how that should shape the way we treat mountains today.
By Robert Saler
Saint Francis Sunday
Saint Francis is often pictured as simply gentle, but his life was also a bold challenge to wealth and power. This sermon looks at how Francis, like Jesus, paired tenderness toward creation with courage in speaking up for what’s right.
By Robert Saler
Year C — Ocean, Animal, Storm, and Universe Sunday
Year C runs from Advent 2027 through November 2028. All four commentaries below were written by Leah Schade.
Ocean Sunday
When Jesus tells Peter to cast his net, the catch overflows — a sign of God’s abundance. This sermon holds that story up against ocean trash and overfishing today, and asks what it means to help restore the waters.
By Leah Schade
Animal Sunday
This sermon suggests a Blessing of the Animals service, where the congregation brings pets, farm animals, or photos of favorite creatures. It asks hard questions about how we treat animals, from pets to the animals we eat.
By Leah Schade
Storm Sunday
Storms in Scripture can bring both comfort and warning. This sermon links today’s more frequent, more destructive storms to human-caused climate change, and asks what it means to “wake up” the way the disciples woke Jesus in the boat.
By Leah Schade
Universe Sunday
From the first moments of creation to the smallest ray of light, this sermon traces the wisdom and radiance that runs through the whole universe — and through every person in it.
By Leah Schade
Celebrating in Your Congregation?
If your congregation celebrates the Season of Creation, we would love to hear about it! Share your stories and photos here.