Ideas for Action – Greening Worship
The collection of Psalms in the Bible witnesses to the worship that people have offered to God in hymn and prayer, personally and as a community, in sorrow and in joy, in the everyday and in the festival, for thousands of years. Through time new lines have been written and liturgies developed to enrich worship. It is in this tradition that this collection of resources is offered for churches to use and adapt for their worship, and hopefully to inspire new prayers and new songs.
Some of this material has been prepared especially for this Ideas for Action; other material has been compiled from a variety of sources. May these words, thoughts and ideas come alive when they are taken from the printed page and offered to God in worship.
Download the latest version: Greening Worship (please note that the current version is still called Celebrating Creation. The document will be updated with the appropriate title shortly, but can still be used as the content will not change)
Additional materials
Scottish Resources
Creation Time – Does your church celebrate Creation Time? The European Christian Environment Network invites all the churches in Europe to celebrate a “Time for Creation” in the Church calendar each year, during the period 1 September to the second Sunday in October.
For further information see our seperate Creation Time page.
Worship material with an environmental theme from Eco-Congregation and other organisations:
A Rocha UK produces worship resources geared to Environment Sunday (the Sunday nearest to World Environment Day: June 5th) but which can be used at any time of year. These are excellent and comprehensive and include sermon notes, service outlines, bible studies, a sketch, powerpoint presentations, meditations and films about A Rocha’s work.
Arthur Rank Centre has a huge range of worship materials available on its website related to rural (including environmental) contexts, or you can purchase them direct from the Centre.
Christian Ecology Link produce a prayer guide, liturgies and suggestions for services: Daily prayer guide, Harvest Festival, Harvest Prayers, A LOAF Service (Local, Organic, Animal friendly, Fairtrade) and LOAF ingredients for a more informal sort of worship
CEL also produces a monthly prayer guide which you can access by clicking on this link.
- Churches together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) and The European Christian Environment Network (ECEN)
Has a huge resource of liturgies and hymns. An American site that is really encouraging to read as there is a lot going on over there!
The churches’ climate change campaign based in London. There are lots of resources to help you launch a campaign locally to get the Government to take climate change seriously: Inspirations, liturgy, group studies (“Between the Flood and the Rainbow” by Ellen Teague), briefings and factsheets
Books
Here are some books that provide liturgies, prayers, meditations, songs for use in worship:
- Don’t stop at the lights – Sermon ideas and bible study notes arranged in the church year, along with practical suggestions by Claire Foster and David Shreeve Published by Church House Publishing
- Harvest for the World – A Worship Anthology on sharing in the work of creation Compiled by Geoffrey Duncan for Christian Aid Published by Canterbury Press
- What a World – Compiler and Editor Geoffrey Duncan, Textile Art Pamela Pavitt Published by Granary Press
- Eggs and Ashes: Practical & liturgical resources for Lent and Holy Week – Ruth Burgess and Chris Polhill, Wild Goose Publications. Includes a comprehensive environmental challenge for a Lenten discipline. Only available as a digital download.
- Care for the World: ideas for all age worship & assemblies – An all age worship and assembly book. For primary age children but it is also ideal for use in all-age worship.
- Common Ground hymnbook – has some beautiful hymns and songs about creation, produced by St Andrew Press Edinburgh
Note on using the Ideas for Action
Ideas for Action have been designed to fit into church life and support and enhance church mission. They were designed collaboratively with churches to provide a resource that is not a textbook, but a toolkit, to suit all the different varieties of church life represented in the Eco-Congregation programme.
All congregations using our Ideas for Action should first register, and registered churches can also order printed copies. Find out how to register, or contact us if you’d like to know more.
All our resources may be freely copied and distributed within your church, but please accredit Eco-Congregation.