Rachel Suthpin
This article contains affiliate links, as YCWI is an affiliate of Bookshop.org. We will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Click here for the entire list of books we’ve reviewed or recommended.
Many of our congregants, especially Gen Z, are experiencing climate anxiety as we witness devastating floods, severe weather, and the rollback of environmental protections. While Earth Day is not a traditional liturgical holiday, setting aside an “Earth Sunday” offers a meaningful way to honor these concerns and respond faithfully.
The liturgy offered below invites us to deepen our connection with creation and to reflect on our shared responsibility to care for the Earth. It calls us not only to awareness, but to hope-filled action grounded in faith and a love for the world we inhabit together.
Before the Service
Do some research about the land you are worshiping on– who or what was there before the building? Consider how you can name that history within the service.
Set the tone of the space by bringing elements of earth, wind, water, and fire. Perhaps, you surround the communion table with plants or attach pinwheels to the pews. Maybe you have a group watercoloring activity in the narthex.
Call to Worship
One: Blessed are the heavens, for they watch over all creation.
All: Blessed is the earth, our beloved home, for God has given abundantly.
One: Blessed is the air we breathe, for it moves freely without boundaries.
All: Blessed are the beasts of the field, for they live and die in God’s care.
One: Blessed are they who protect the earth and all her creatures, from the plants of the field to the trees of the forest.
All: Rejoice and be glad, for we are all God’s creation!
Call to Confession
One: We are just one part of God’s great creation, and yet we so often center ourselves and ignore our fellow created beings. Let us take a moment to return and remember.
I invite you to feel the floor beneath your feet, tap your toes and notice its steady strength.
Wiggle your fingers in the air and feel its movement and mystery.
Listen to the water… (pour water into the baptismal font) …and hear its freedom and life.
Take a moment now to name aloud or silently a part of creation you are grateful for… (pause) and a part of creation that is hurting… (pause)
We are not alone when coming to God. All of creation groans, sings, and prays with us. Together, let us confess:
Confession Prayer
All: God of all that lives, we often forget our place within your web of life. We take more than we need, and we turn away from the cries of the earth and the vulnerable. We have done harm to land, water, and air through neglect, through consumption, through systems of injustice. Forgive us, O God. Re-center us within your creation. Restore in us a spirit of humility and kinship, that we might walk gently, act justly, and live as faithful participants in your unfolding world. Teach us to listen to the earth, to one another, and to you. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
One: There is no ocean wide, mountain high, or prairie low that can keep us from God’s merciful love. Like the sun shining after the rain and plants springing up from the dirt, we are assured of an opportunity to start again. The past has been forgiven, and we are empowered to move forward with courage, hope, and love. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Prayer for Illumination
One: Holy One, your word is like the sun giving us life and direction. Stir in us a desire to slow down, be at peace, and recognize your presence. In every breath we take, fill our lungs with your Spirit. Ground us in this moment, in the here and now, that we may hear what you have to save to us today. Amen.
Scripture Suggestions
Genesis 1
Psalm 104
Job 38
Mathew 6:26-34
Children’s Sermon
Share with the children a part of creation that has caught your eye this week (ex. Leaf, rock, photo of sunset). Invite the children to share about a part of creation they have noticed.
Explain to the children that Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970 because people were concerned about creation. The people saw all these amazing and wonderful things, and they wanted to make sure they were protected from dangers like pollution, trash, and chemicals.
God asks us to protect the earth and all creatures. (connect to chosen scripture reading)
We continue to celebrate Earth Day because we want to keep the earth healthy and happy. Invite the children to wonder about what they can do to celebrate Earth Day.
End with a prayer thanking God for the aspects of nature that were lifted up and ask God for help with the actions mentioned.
Affirmation of Faith
“A New Creed” by the United Church of Canada
All: We are not alone,
we live in God’s world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
Charge and Benediction
Go now into the world, remembering that you are not separate from creation, but woven into its sacred life.
May you walk gently upon the soil, may you breathe deeply of the Spirit moving through all things, and may you act with courage for the healing of the world.
Go in hope, go in peace, go in love. Go with the blessings of God.
Blessed are you who protect the earth and all her creatures, for in your care, God’s love takes root and grows. Amen.
Sending Activity Suggestion
Invite congregants to take home seeds.
Invite congregants to participate in a recycled art project.
Hymn Suggestions
“All Creatures of our God and King”
“All Things Bright and Beautiful”
“For the Beauty of the Earth”
“God of the Sparrow”
“Morning Has Broken”
“Where Were You?” (praise song by The Porter’s Gate)
Song Suggestions
“Big Yellow Taxi” by Counting Crows
“How Far I’ll Go” by Alessia Cara
“Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” by Marvin Gaye
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver
“What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
Study Resources
William Brown, The Seven Pillars of Creation: The Bible, Science, and the Ecology of Wonder. 2010.
Ebenezew Yaw Blasu, African Theocology: Studies in African Religious Creation Care. 2020.
Leah Schade and Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis. 2019
