Season of Creation 2026 – Living Water
Scotland’s participation in global Season of Creation; since 1989. (Global Prayer Service live on YouTube 2pm Sep 1st ) LINK Prayer from Church of Scotland Moderator 2026 TEXT & GRAPHIC. Text only PDF Word
Overview
Here we offer a variety of formal and creative resources to support churches in CreationTime/CreationTide/Season of Creation. Week 1 includes the new dedicated lectionary for “Feast of Christ in Creation” bringing together a wide ecumenical consensus, in response to the needs of the church and the world in our age of crisis of nature and climate. The remainder of the Season offers Revised Common Lectionary-based material as well as Creative thematic resources for the whole Season. in the PDF files, use BOOKMARKED LINKS to navigate fast. Index of all ECS video resources HERE
Week 1
CLICK HERE FOR FULL PDF RESOURCE : NOTES AND PRAYERS FOR WEEK 1 (NEW DEDICATED LECTIONARY) plus notes for previous )
WEEK 1: A NEW HOPE: CREATION IN CHRIST
The Season begins with our first chance to engage with the fruit of painstaking and very ecumenical consultations to provide, or the first time, dedicated readings to help us reflect on Christ in the context of God the Creative Trinity. These readings have been chosen with utmost care to be complementary, but in a local church situation, choices have to be made. We therefore offer the option of a condensed version [820 rather than 1800 words] of the Three Beginnings of Genesis 1,Genesis 2 and John 1, but please work according to what is best in your location.
Some previous attempts to be ‘inclusive’ have fallen at the fence of ‘division of labour’, casting the first person of the Trinity only as Creator. It’s out of concern also that were’re not celebrating some bland and theologically toothless ecological festival, but delighting that when “the Earth brings forth” this is also how “God makes” [Genesis 1] . Creation is God’s doing, so mission too is of the Earth. Do you really need a sermon after reading the whole of Genesis 1:1-2:3?
We’re invited in this selection to join our song to the universal -and above all diverse – praise of every living fellow creature [in Psalm 148] . We’re reminded, as too in Paul’s craftily consensual and respectful outreach to the people of Athens [Acts 17] of the prophetic and indeed the missional voice of the Earth, again through variety, diversity and concern for God’s justice.. Finally, with the majestic opening of John’s Gospel, so well-fitted to be the opening words of there Season as a whole “ All things came into being through [Christ] , and without [Christ] not one thing came into being
PREVIOUS REVISED COMMON LECTIONARY
Week 1: SUMMARY
[Exodus 12 and Psalms 149 & 119]: Local churches and denominations vary in their commitment to the defining festivals of our faith, whether it’s ‘just another Sunday’ or the heavy demands of Harvest, Christmas,Easter and Pentecost, or the longer journeys of discipline and reflection in Advent and Lent. Then there’s the widely spreading Season of Creation/Creation Time/Creationtide, training us as responsible peacemakers and partners in the health of God’s Earth, and launched each year from now on, with a global ecumenical celebration of “Creation Day” under whatever title works locally or denominationally. Whatever you do, and however much or little you do, make all of it count, and seek out the potential for motivation and meaning: lip-service and ‘just going through the motions’ reflects ingratitude for such opportunities passed on through many generations of a global family gathered through the shared ‘blood’ of Christ.
This week: Ezekiel (33) affirms both the deadly seriousness of chosen injustice and the transformational value of changing course, even when it seems too late. Paul (Romans 13) continues to work on the moral quality and integrity of the worshipping, witnessing community: where ‘Green Church = More Church’, fellowship and mutual love are the foundations of effective action.
This leads on in Matthew 18 into the extraordinary care to be shown in church discipline, noting how harmful attitudes and actions left unattended can disrupt the entire community – and yet how a beloved yet wayward member should not simply be sacrificed ‘for the common good’. Be proud of this heritage. And don’t be afraid to assert it out loud against less loving ways.
Videos for week 1
SEASON WEEK 1 REFLECTION [Full length)
Week 2
OVERVIEW – WEEK 2
CLICK HERE FOR FULL PDF RESOURCE : NOTES AND PRAYERS FOR WEEK 2
[Exodus 14] You can go with the joy of the vulnerable and oppressed, or be horrified with the company of the oppressors, that Nature – not unexpectedly – rebounds on communities of injustice, and such action is seen in this Bible book as expressing God’s justified decisiveness.
Disaster ‘at the hands of nature’ [ Psalm 114] is indiscriminate, though the Red Sea story is exceptional to current experience, in that the most-suffering community got away…. by taking notice of the signs they were given. The triumphant song of Miriam [ Exodus 15] is that of a woman (and her community) freed from unjust suffering. Under what circumstances would a Christian church share such rejoicing at the suffering of enemies? Joseph, [Gen 50] the gifted survivor, (though also Pharoah’s enslaver, in the meantime, (Gen 47:35) of the Egyptian people) finds he is liberated by faith and love to put distance between his own hurt and the common good. Where do we find such ‘maturity’ in our own lives? Paul (Rom 14) in a clearly opinionated fashion introduces the challenge of finding common purpose in a community of diverse lifestyles: difference need not imply conflict or incompatibility. And the clear global call to “eat less meat” [ https://unfccc.int/blog/we-need-to-talk-about-meat ] is a stimulating starting-point. Matthew 18 continues guidance on the moral quality of a church and reflection – apposite for every community in the Global North- on what our nations may have ‘got away with’ at the expense of ‘loss and damage’ to our global neighbours, on whose graciousness we will increasingly find we rely.
Videos for week 2
SEASON WEEK 2 Full length reflection
Week 2 Short Reflection
Week 3
OVERVIEW – WEEK 3
CLICK HERE FOR FULL PDF RESOURCE : NOTES AND PRAYERS FOR WEEK 3
[Exodus 16] Good leaders are the ‘meat in the sandwich’ between their ill-informed people and the circumstances that dictate superficially unpopular measures. God is not unsupportive [cf Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45] of Moses under such pressure, which may include toxic nostalgia. Few churches are immune, so there’s plenty to learn. Jonah [3] peevishly misses out on the joy when the astounding miracle occurs of a culture making changes before disaster forces their hand. Will we remember to celebrate and voice support when our communities and leaders do make some positive environmental progress? And remember like the (imprisoned) writer of Philippians [1:21 ] to share and be fed by the stories of encouragement and ‘good green news’, which sustains others as well as delighting our own. The Gospel parable [Matthew 20:16] insists that “at the end of the day”, justice is the acknowledgment of need, rather than a childish and vindictive ‘fairness’. There’s seldom any good work which is not better set in context by our reliance on God’s grace.
Videos for week 3
SEASON WEEK 3 FULL LENGTH REFLECTION
Week 4
OVERVIEW – WEEK 4
CLICK HERE FOR FULL PDF RESOURCE : NOTES AND PRAYERS FOR WEEK 4
[Exodus 17] Do we really want to live in ‘Grumbletown’? (‘Meribah’) Exodus gives us an unlovely picture of people with genuine and reasonable grievances completely comparable to intrusive cost-of-living issues – how do we treat the leaders we ask to sort out environmental circumstances for which we need God’s help, as well as wisdom? How do we empower them to grasp nettles and weather what may be initial knee-jerk responses?
Psalm 78 suggests the resources of faith and Scripture should have something to offer – though only when devoutly recycled in daily use. What are we ‘hiding from our children’ which could inspire us to respond creatively and in partnership with the Earth and other people?
Ezekiel 18 is a helpful reflection on the ‘sour grapes’ tendency of generations to blame each other: does your church reach out to young people in despair about the damage undeniably done by those who have been in charge of human societies in our lifetimes?
Psalm 25 and Philippians 2 deal with the importance of humility in our change of course, whereas
Matthew 21:23-32 shows us the unlovely yet tragically familiar spectacle of religious (and therefore political) leaders who know they’ve lost the argument, digging in in the hope of delay by means of procedure. Have no patience with such tactics: Jesus’ sharp and crafty response is exemplary.
Videos for week 4
SEASON WEEK 4 FULL LENGTH REFLECTION
Week 4 Short Reflection
Week 5
OVERVIEW – WEEK 5
CLICK HERE FOR FULL PDF RESOURCE : NOTES AND PRAYERS FOR WEEK 5
If you’ve held on until week 5, some a garden of challenging delights is in store: the depths of the Ten Commandments in the Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 version [ you might like to compare the differing nuances of Deuteronomy 5] . Background reading – of Exodus 19 and of the omitted verses will help to grasp the awe-inspiring breath of the drama unfolding . Psalm 19’s expansive hymn of praise alongside the personalities of Creation, in which reading a variety of versions brings valuable insight.
The disappointment of a constant and attentive gardener dramatises God’s sorrow at the chosen injustice of God’s people in Isaiah 5:1-7, echoed in the similar image of Psalm 80:7-14, though with added involvement of encroaching wildlife! The gardening theme continues in passing as Paul describes his previous proud claims to integrity and superiority as ‘compost’ for the repurposed life in Christ. .Who returns in Matthew 21:33-46 with one of the darkest of all his parables, that of the wicked tenants, whose horror needs both to hit home, and also to be handled with more care than previous centuries, when this story, valuable as Scripture for every society, has been abused with racist intent.
Videos for week 5
SEASON WEEK 5 FULL LENGTH REFLECTION
Ten Commandments ( In the Cairngorms) Exodus 20
