A newsletter message written for St. David's Episcopal Church, Kinnelon, NJ
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| The "Creation Rose" at the National Cathedral |
Dear Friends,
You don’t have to have known me or Michael long to start
hearing about our dogs. As is true for
many families, they’re an important part of our family. So it’s exciting to begin planning for the
annual Blessing of the Animals on the first Sunday in October. Our pets – in whatever form they take, and
even in the form of those we “love but see no longer” – offer us a lot of
emotional comfort, and that helps to support spiritual health. It’s only natural that we should, at least
from time to time, include them in our spiritual lives.
For us at St. David’s, the animal blessing is just the first
of our month-long observance of Creation Season. This season of the church year is one you may
not have heard of elsewhere. It actually
began here in our own diocese at Redeemer Church in Morristown, but since then
has been observed in more and more places.
In fact, even at this year’s General Convention, a resolution was
proposed by the Presiding Bishop’s Advisory Council on the Stewardship of Creation
to officially include Creation Season as a recognized observance in future
revisions of the Book of Common Prayer.
You may wonder, though, why are we introducing a “new”
season into the church year – a calendar that does not change very often at
all! The thinking behind this observance
is two-fold. First, it was recognized
that the church makes space in the church year to specifically honor two of the
figures of the Holy Trinity: Christ and the Holy Spirit. But there is no specific season set aside to
honor and give thanks for God, the Creator.
Creation Season seeks to remedy this.
Additionally, environmental stewardship has increasingly become a major
subject in our culture, but Creation Season is a way of recognizing our calling
from God to care for creation. It unites
a cultural reality with a spiritual purpose – something the church should
always continue to strive to accomplish.
I look forward to hearing what you think of our observances
this month!
Peace,
Jon+
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