Churches Around the World Unite for First Festival of Creation in Christ

Churches across the world are coming together this weekend for the first Festival of Creation in Christ, a new Christian celebration highlighting the call to treasure, protect and care for the world as God’s creation.

The Church of England will join churches across the Anglican Communion and other Christian denominations in marking the festival this Sunday. The celebration represents a growing global Christian consensus on the responsibility of believers to care for the environment as part of their faith.

The Festival of Creation in Christ is the first new festival to be added to the Church of England’s Common Worship Calendar since its introduction in 2000. It received final approval from the Church’s General Synod in July.

The festival provides an opportunity for Christians to give thanks for God’s creation and redemption of the world, reflect on humanity’s responsibility to care for nature, and pray for the renewal of creation.

The Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher, the Church of England’s lead bishop for the environment, said the festival comes at a critical time as the world faces climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

He described the global Christian support for the festival as an “incredible ecumenical convergence” and said it reflected the work of the Holy Spirit.

“It is a Festival that speaks into the heart of the major environmental concerns of our time – climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution – recalling us to creation being held together in Christ.”

Bishop Usher acknowledged the tension between humanity’s appreciation of creation and its role in damaging the natural world.

“We delight in God’s creation, but also know that we are complicit in its destruction,” he said, adding that the festival could help inspire the “change of hearts and minds” urgently needed to translate Christian conviction into action.

He also pointed to the devastating effects of climate change, including recent glacial collapse in Nepal and Tibet, as a reminder of the urgency of protecting the planet.

“This Festival draws us into the heart of God the Creator so that we can give praise for creation and seek to safeguard it for the good of all, now and in the future,” he said.

“Let’s be part of that journey to tread gently on this our only home. We have no planet B.”

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has also urged churches to celebrate the festival “with joy”.

In a film marking the occasion, he said years of ecumenical dialogue had brought churches around the world together around the need for greater gratitude for creation and a renewed commitment to caring for it.

He said the festival would allow Christians to “give thanks to God for our creation and for the world around us, and pray that we may be good stewards of the earth.”

The launch of the festival is also accompanied by the publication of Hope for All Creation: A Theological Response to the Environmental Crises, a major teaching document produced by the Faith and Order Commission and adopted by the House of Bishops.

The document presents a Christian response to the environmental challenges facing the world, grounding the call to care for creation in the biblical story of creation, redemption and renewal.

As churches gather this weekend, the Festival of Creation in Christ seeks to remind Christians that caring for the earth is not simply an environmental concern but part of their calling to honour the Creator and protect His creation for generations to come.

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