26/03/2026
Many major Christian denominations structure their practices according to a Church Calendar, making use of lectionary readings, and many different denominations follow similar yearly structures including major festivals such as Christmas. Over the past few years, meetings have been held to discuss a proposed Feast of Creation, to be held each 1st September – or the following Sunday – across as wide a range as possible of different traditions. This is building on the existing ‘Creation Day’ celebrated by many churches on 1st September each year.
One of our honorary research fellows, Dr Cherryl Hunt, participating in an ecumenical conference last summer, ‘Creation Day & The Nicaea Centenary: Crystallizing the Ecumenical Dream of the New Liturgical Feast’, discussed possible lectionary readings for the Feast. More recently, she has been part of an ‘Ecumenical Lectionary Working Group for the Feast of Creation’, exploring more deeply the most promising suggestions for the three-year cycle of the lectionary. The ecumenical nature of the process, including some who, like Cherryl, worship within a tradition which makes little use of formal liturgy, and the effort to produce resources that may be of use to a wide range of traditions, are both related to the desire to draw the Christian churches together in a celebration both of God’s act in Creation and the resulting Creation itself. And this has arisen in the context of increasing recognition that our God’s beloved Creation is badly damaged from human exploitation and greed.
https://lsri.campion.ox.ac.uk/news/new-steps-towards-feast-creation-lsri-co-hosts-ecumenical-gathering-assisi
