Noelene Osora
Australian Ecumenical Officers Network
At the recent meeting of the Australian Ecumenical Officers Network (AEON), State and Territory Councils/Churches Together joined with NCCA in committing to work together with our respective member churches to promote greater understanding of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and education about the forthcoming Constitutional Referendum on establishing a Voice to parliament for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Act for Peace
Malo ‘aupito (Thank you)
Reverend Ikani Tolu, General Secretary of the Tongan National Council of Churches recently visited the Sydney office of Act for Peace. He thanked Australians who had given their support when the devastating Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption occurred earlier in the year.
Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce
UTS Humanitarian Scholarship applications now open 
Supporting access, participation and success for students with lived experiences of forced migration and seeking asylum in Australia.
Applications for the scholarship close Friday 2 December 2022.
Safe Church Program
Coming events and celebrations
- National Child Protection Week: 4 – 10 September - Webinars and resources
- Domestic Violence and Religion round table discussion: Friday 28 October, 2022 - In person (Melbourne) and online
Season of Creation 2022
Listen to the Voice of Creation
1 September through to the feast of St. Francis on 4 October
- Season of Creation: Opening event - 1 September 2022 Watch on YouTube 11:00 pm (AEST)
- Season of Creation Prayer 2022
- Pope Francis - Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
- Season of Creation Resources
National Prayer Breakfast 2022
In person and live-streamed
You are invited to join the City Bible Forum team at Parliament House Canberra ACT for the 33rd Australian National Prayer Breakfast.
Early bird rates: available until 23 September.
When: Monday 28 November 2022 7:15am AEDT
World Council of Churches
Ecumenical International Youth Day Toolkit: Indigenous Youth and Land Rights Activism
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has published this toolkit to help people reflect, advocate, and pray about the challenges and learn more about the wisdom of Indigenous Peoples.
Social Justice Sunday 2022
28 August 2022
The celebration of Social Justice Sunday is a long tradition in the Catholic Church in Australia along with many other churches.
The 2022-2023 Statement, Respect: Confronting Violence and Abuse and resources are available to download from the The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace.
Season of Creation resources 2022
1 September through to the feast of St. Francis on 4 October
For four Sundays in September we celebrate The Season of Creation
All around the world, Christians are uniting to pray and take action for our common home. Join them and celebrate the Season of Creation
Season of Creation 2022 theme:
Listen to the Voice of Creation
“I have heard their cry…I know their sufferings…Come, now! I will send you…I will be with you” (Ex 3:1-12)
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2022 Season of Creation Prayer Creator of All, From your communion of love your Word went forth to create a symphony of life that sings your praise. By your Holy Wisdom you made the Earth to bring forth a diversity of creatures who praise you in their being. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. You called human beings to till and keep your garden. You placed us into right relationships with each creature so that we could listen to their voices, and learn how to safeguard the conditions for life. But we turn in on ourselves and away from our co-creatures. We close our ears to the counsel of our fellow creatures. We fail to listen to the cries of the poor and the needs of the most vulnerable. We silence the voices of those who hold the traditions that teach us to care for the Earth. We close our ears to your creative, reconciling and sustaining Word that calls to us through the Scriptures. We lament the loss of our fellow species and their habitats that will never speak again. We grieve the loss of human cultures, along with the lives and livelihoods that have been displaced or perished. Creation cries out as forests crackle, and animals alike flee the fires of injustice that we have lit by our unwillingness to listen. In this Season of Creation, we pray that you would call to us, as from the burning bush, with the sustaining fire of your Spirit. Breathe upon us. Open our ears and move our hearts. Turn us from our inward gaze. Teach us to contemplate your creation, and listen for the voice of each creature declaring your glory. For “faith comes from hearing.” Give us hearts to listen for the good news of your promise to renew the face of the Earth. Enlighten us with the grace to follow the Way of Christ as we learn to walk lightly upon this holy ground. Fill us with the hope to quench the fires of injustice with the light of your healing love that sustains our common home. In the name of the One who came to proclaim good news to all creation, Jesus Christ. Amen. |
Resources
Season of Creation website
Faith leaders’ invitation to join the Season of Creation 2022
Invitation to join Season of Creation 2022
Uniting Church in Australia Assembly
Resource Hub - The Assembly have a range of Season of Creation resources that highlight First Nations voices and wisdom.
South Australia - Adaptable PowerPoint slides for Prayer Service with some Australian songs: Prayer Service for the Season of Creation 2022
Western Australia - The West Australian Synod Social Justice Commission offers a liturgy outline, reflections, children’s activities and adaptable PowerPoint slides for each week: Sustainable September – Ecochurches WA.
World Council of Churches
"Creation Speaks, Let’s Listen” webinar helps prepare for Season of Creation
A webinar, “Creation Speaks, Let’s Listen,” on 23 February helped people prepare and pray for Season of Creation 2022.
Learn more about Season of Creation
WCC's work on Care for Creation and Climate Change
Pacific Council of Churches
Download PDF: Season of Creation 2022 - prepared liturgies and resources for the Season of Creation
Common Grace
An extensive range of resources, including prayers, songs and reflections that can be used as part of your church or faith community’s engagement on the Common Grace website
MediaCom
Resources for the four-weeks of September, Study and worship with the sacred text of Creation. A complete set of resources from Seasons FUSION (Seasons of the Spirit) is available from MediaCom here.
Vatican News
Watch: Season of Creation 2022
Read: Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
Watch:
- The Pope, the Environmental Crisis, and Frontline Leaders | The Letter: Laudato Si Film
- Official Trailer | The Letter: Laudato Si Film
Laudato Si Movement
Watch: What is the Season of Creation 2022?
Watch: Do you hear that? It is the voice of Creation! | #SeasonofCreation 2022 |
Season of Creation 2022 Launch
International
Download PDF: International Handbook on Creation Care and Eco-Diakonia - Concepts and Perspect ives from the Churches of the Global South
Edited by Daniel Beros, Eale Bosela, Lesmore Ezekiel, Kambale Kahongya,Ruomin Liu, Grace Moon, Marisa Strizzi, Dietrich Werner
SEASON OF CREATION BACKGROUND
1 September was proclaimed a Day of Prayer for Creation by the Orthodox in 1989 and repeated by Pope Francis in 2015.
The season takes us through to the feast of St. Francis on 4 October. Christians of all denominations and locations are invited to participate in an ecumenical Season of Creation.
“Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth” (Laudato Si’, 9).
Visit the Season of Creation website to see how we can celebrate creation.
Learn more on World Council of Churches website: https://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/events/season-of-creation
Prayers for Peace on the Korean Peninsula
Each year, the World Council of Churches and the World Communion of Reformed Churches call member churches to pray for peace and unity in Korea, and peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula.
“Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” Romans 14:19
