Diocese of Portsmouth
The Church of England
Season of Creation

In this section

Festival of Creation in Christ

September 1st to October 4th

September – a season for creation

The month of September is, for Christians around the world, a season of thanksgiving, prayer, and action for God’s creation. It encompasses three overlapping observances – the newly established Festival of Creation in Christ, the Season of Creation, and the Harvest festival – and culminates with the Feast of St Francis of Assisi on October 4th.

For many congregations, Harvest is the most-loved and most-attended service of the year. It is also, at its heart, a creation celebration – a moment of gratitude for the goodness of God, the fruitfulness of the earth, and our dependence on what God has made. The Season of Creation and the new Festival of Creation in Christ do not displace Harvest; they deepen it. They invite churches to take the instincts already alive in a Harvest service – gratitude, wonder, responsibility, generosity – and extend them across the whole month, rooting them in a richer theological and ecological vision.

Whether your church marks the Festival of Creation in Christ on the first Sunday in September, weaves creation themes through the whole Season, gathers for a traditional Harvest service, or does all three, September offers an extraordinarily rich opportunity to engage your congregation with creation care in worship, prayer, and community life.

The Festival of Creation in Christ

In July 2026, the Church of England’s General Synod gave final approval – unanimously among bishops and clergy – to a new annual Festival of Creation in Christ, to be celebrated on the first Sunday in September.

The Festival has deep roots. It grows from the ancient liturgical tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which has observed September 1st as the Day of Creation since the 14th century. In 1989, the Ecumenical Patriarchate invited all churches to pray together on that day, and over the following decades the observance spread across denominations and continents. The Church of England’s reception of the Festival belongs within that wider Christian discernment – a sign, as the Liturgical Commission puts it, that “the doctrine of creation can unite Christians in praise even as it summons them together to renewed responsibility for the life of the world.”

The title “Creation in Christ” is deliberately theological. It sets the Church’s creation care within the great christological confession: all things are created through Christ, reconciled in Christ, and destined in Christ for the liberty and glory of the new creation. This framing – drawn from Colossians 1:15-20 and John 1:1-3 – distinguishes the Festival from a generic environmental observance and grounds it firmly in the gospel. As the Liturgical Commission writes: “Without that last intention, care for creation can become anxious, burdensome or moralistic. With it, such care becomes an act of hope, a sign of reconciliation, and a participation in the renewing work of God.”

Liturgical resources for the Festival

The authorised liturgical resources – including collects, lectionary readings, services of the word, eucharistic material, and seasonal prayers – are published in the second edition of A Time for Creation (2026) by the Church of England’s Liturgical Commission. The full text is freely available on the Church of England website; a printed edition can be purchased from Church House Publishing.

Harvest

Making Harvest part of the season

For many churches, the most natural way into this season is through Harvest – and that is exactly right. The Church of England’s own guidance notes that “the timing of the Season of Creation means it is an excellent way of rooting traditional harvest festivals in wider issues and firm theological ground.”

Here are some simple ways your church can connect Harvest with the Festival and Season this year:

  • Open with the Festival. Hold a Festival of Creation in Christ service on September 6th – perhaps an all-age service or an outdoor gathering – and let that set the tone for the month leading into Harvest.
  • Broaden the Harvest theme. Alongside the traditional gifts of food, invite your congregation to reflect on the whole of creation – soil, water, pollinators, climate, and the farmers and communities whose livelihoods depend on the health of the natural world.
  • Connect locally. Harvest is the service that most naturally connects a church with its surrounding community and landscape. Use it to explore what creation care means specifically for your area – coastal erosion, urban green space, a local nature reserve, or a farming community nearby.
  • Use the 2026 theme. The Season of Creation 2026 theme is “Living water,” drawn from Ezekiel 47:1-12. Water – rainfall, rivers, aquifers, and the sea – connects the global climate crisis directly to the land and harvest your congregation already understands.
  • Eco Church and Harvest. If your church is working towards an Eco Church award, a Harvest service is an ideal moment to share your progress and invite others to get involved.

Season of Creation 2026: Living Water

The Season of Creation 2026: Living water

The Season of Creation is an ecumenical observance running from September 1st to October 4th, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi. The theme for 2026 is “Living water,” based on Ezekiel 47:1-12, in which God’s life-giving water flows from the temple, growing deeper and more life-giving as it goes – restoring barren land, reviving waters, and sustaining flourishing ecosystems. The Festival of Creation in Christ on the first Sunday of September now marks the opening of the season.

Resources for worship

Resources

We have gathered together resources to help your church mark the Festival and the Season with worship, prayer, action, and all-age activities.

Festival of Creation in Christ

A Rocha UK

A Rocha, who run the Eco Church award scheme, have produced a rich collection of resources for the Season of Creation: prayers, sermons, music for worship, inspirational quotes and poems, and ideas for children’s activities.

Tearfund

Tearfund has produced “Local prayers for a global crisis” – a resource to help churches pray for people in all nations, particularly those living in poverty or being unjustly affected by climate damage. The resource includes audio versions of the prayers.

Season of Creation website

An ecumenical website with videos, liturgy, printouts, and activities for use during the Season. The Steering Committee includes A Rocha, the Anglican Communion, Christian Aid, and the Laudato Si’ movement.

National Church of England Creationtide resources

Green Anglicans

Green Anglicans is a movement started by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, focused on encouraging the Church to care for the earth. They offer resources for worship and prayer.

Prayers from indigenous authors

A collection of prayers for the Season of Creation authored by indigenous peoples from across the globe, collated by Very Rev Ken Gray, Secretary of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network.

ChooseLife – worship and action for creation

In this e-book, Diane Craven and Johannes Nobel take a creation-focused journey through the whole liturgical year, inspiring churches to link prayer with action in caring for creation.

Hymns and songs for worship

Christian Concern for One World have collated a library of hymns and songs on the theme of creation, linking to recordings, chord charts, midi files, and lyrics.

The Big Switch

Switching to a green energy tariff

One practical step congregations can take during September is to switch their church’s energy supply to a green tariff. The Church of England has done the research to help us choose an ethical green supplier confidently – and switching to a green tariff contributes to a 78% reduction in the Church of England’s overall carbon emissions from churches.