Creation Matters is the Redeemer’s ecospirituality group. Meeting monthly to centre ourselves in creation; to learn about and reflect on the state of the world in which we live; and to bring more awareness of creation into the life of the church.
Season of Creation 2020
Original art for the Season of Creation by Dawn Lee
All My Relations: Learning to Live in the Family of Earth.
“We’re all connected.” “We’re all in this together.” Phrases you hear often in these weeks of COVID 19 anxiety. I heard it most recently last evening in a TV ad for a spiffy SUV that promises to propel you and seven of your connections to post lockdown freedom, on-road and off.
Ojibway author Richard Wagamese gives “connection” a deeper and more compelling meaning. “We live because everything else does,” he says simply. “If we were to choose collectively to live that teaching, the energy of our change of consciousness would heal each of us—and heal the planet.”
This year, Season of Creation at The Redeemer will be shaped by an exploration of this Indigenous teaching. From late September through the month of October in our worship and in special events we will open ourselves to learning the meaning of the phrase “All my relations.” We will learn more about an indigenous understanding of the relationship of human beings and the Earth, to help us grasp how interconnected we are with all life, and how dependent we are on this beautiful web for every aspect of our being. This can serve to open our imaginations to how our human society can be reconfigured to enable the flourishing of all.
-Grant Jahnke, Chair, Creation Matters at Redeemer
Sunday, September 27: Launch Service – EarthSong with a sermon by Jennifer Henry, Executive Director of KAIROS.
Saturday, October 3: Workshop: What’s in a Worldview: From Creation Stories to Trickster Tales.
Co-facilitators: Dr. Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux, Chair on Truth and Reconciliation at Lakehead University, and Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat, Adjunct Professor, Trinity College, Toronto School of Theology. Here is a suggested reading list provided by Dr. Wesley-Esquimaux.
Sunday, October 4: Learning from Creation: Feast of St. Francis with a sermon by Sylvia Keesmaat.
Sunday, October 11: Learning from Gratitude: Thanksgiving with a sermon by The Rev’d Susan Haig.
Sunday, October 18: Learning from Our Place in the Universe: The Wisdom of Humility with a sermon by Nate Wall, Scholar-in-Residence.
Sunday, October 25: Learning to Live Differently: Harvesting the Teachings of our Season of Creation with a sermon by The Rev’d Canon Steven Mackison.
Redeemer’s 30-Day Challenge: An Invitation to Reflect and Act
A Repository of Links to Resources on Ecological Justice
Policy/Reflection Papers and Communications from Faith Leaders
Diocese of Toronto Policy Paper on Environmental Issues
Letter of Support from Faith Leaders for Season of Creation 2019
Pray
We pray for the life of the world
Learn/Read
A curated reading list on Creation Care
Writing from the Redeemer
Articles from Redeemer’s newsletter, The Gathering
Season of Creation 2019: How Then Shall We Live, Images, Riverblue
If you are interested in growing your awareness of creation, and how the church can navigate the environmental challenges our world is facing, please get in touch below.
