Opening prayer service Season of Creation 2025
Leaders of the service will include the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development vice moderator, Rev. Dr Hyunju Bae of the Presbyterian Church of Korea, Rev. Atahualpa Hernandez Miranda, Colombia; and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Season of Creation is celebrated from 1 September until 4 October.
This year’s theme is “Peace With Creation.”
The biblical text is Isaiah 32:14-18, in which the prophet Isaiah pictured the desolated creation without peace because of the lack of justice and the broken relationship between God and humankind. This description of devastated cities and wastelands eloquently stresses the fact that human destructive behaviours have a negative impact on the Earth.
The symbol for Season of Creation 2025 is the Garden of Peace, characterized by a dove carrying an olive branch bringing life to the Garden of Peace.
In the biblical story of the flood, the dove plays the role of the blessed messenger. The dove sent out by Noah returns to the ark with a fresh olive branch in its beak, signalling that the flood is receding.
