ENVIRONMENT SUNDAY - 2011 LITURGY (THEME: FOREST: OUR GOOD NEIGHBOUR)

ORDER OF SERVICE

THE PREPARATION

VESTRY PRAYER

Celebrant: Thank you, O Lord, for bringing us together this morning to worship You.

Help us, O Lord, to see the beauty of Your creations and worship You with them.

Inspire us, O Lord, with Your love that encompasses and redeems all Your creation.

Transform us, O Lord, so that we return, realizing our role as co-creators with You and co-creatures with Your creation.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray, AMEN.

OPENING HYMN/LYRIC

Let us all join together with the creation in singing Hymn/Lyric no. ….

PRAYER FOR PURIFICATION

Celebrant: O God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who continues to reveal Your glory through the beauty of nature, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid, by the inspiration of Your same Spirit, that brooded over the waters and created life out of chaos, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts, that we may perfectly love You and Your creations and worthily magnify Your holy name in union with them; through Christ our Lord, AMEN.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS

In Unison: Glory to God in the highest … in the glory of God, the Father, and AMEN.

OUR LORD’S SUMMARY OF THE LAWAND THE PROPHETS

CALL TO CONFESSION

Celebrant: Dearly beloved in Christ, by the Word of His mouth everything was created and through His Body and Blood, everything was redeemed. We have come together to hear this holy Word and to receive this Body and Blood. Let us therefore, kneel and examine ourselves in, silence, seeking God’s grace that we may draw near to Him with repentance and faith.

All kneel. After a period of silence the celebrant continues

CONFESSION

For failing to realize that there are no bounds to God’s capacity for love. Silence

For not living as ambassadors of God’s inclusive love for all creations. Silence

For our reluctance to be God’s hands and feet in this world. Silence

For refraining ourselves from the call to be stewards of God’s creation. Silence

For exploiting the earth, resulting in drastic climate change, global warming and environmental hazards. Silence

For seeing forests not as a good neighbor but as a means to multiply our profit. Silence

For not voicing to speak for those tribal communities and Adivasis who are silenced. Silence

For being dormant in restoring the displaced, in feeding the hungry, in visiting the sick and comforting the faint hearted. Silence

Then the presbyter stands and reads

Hear the gracious Word of God, to all who turn to Him through Jesus Christ, the First born of all creations,

God loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. (Psalm 33:5)

The LORD is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.... The LORD is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made." (Psalm 145:9, 13)

The Lord will surely comfort Zion and look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. (Isaiah 51:3)

Through Him God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:20)

(Silence)

ABSOLUTION

Presbyter: Almighty God, our Merciful Saviour, who of His great mercy has promised forgiveness of sins to all who truly forgive fellow beings and with heartfelt repentance and faith turn to Him; have mercy upon you; pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you with all goodness; enable you to be responsible stewards of His creation; and bring you to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Congregation : Amen, thanks be to God.

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD OF GOD

Celebrant: The Peace of the Lord be with you.

Congregation: And also with you.

COLLECT

Celebrant: O God, Creator of the whole universe, we praise You for the environment, especially forests, that you have given us. Give us, Lord we pray, the vision and strength to protect all forest ecosystems and the whole of Your creation, which have been corrupted by human exploitation, pollution and destruction, so that the whole creation may be renewed, made whole and experience Your grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN.

SCRIPTURE READING

Old Testament : Gen. 2:4-9

Gradual : Ps. 104:10-17

Epistle : Rom. 8:18-23

Gospel : Mark 1:9-13

HYMN/LYRIC

NICENE CREED

THANKSGIVING (Response shall be “With joy, we thank You, O Lord”)

Celebrant: For the forests, since they release oxygen into the atmosphere while storing carbon dioxide.

Congregation: With joy, we thank You, O Lord

For the forests, since they feed our rivers and are essential to supplying the water for nearly 50% of our largest cities.

Congregation: With joy, we thank You, O Lord

For the forests, since they create and maintain soil fertility; they help to regulate the often devastating impact of storms, floods and fires.

Congregation: With joy, we thank You, O Lord

For the forests, since they are the most biologically diverse ecosystems on land, and are home to more than half of the terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects.

Congregation: With joy, we thank You, O Lord

For the forests, since they provide shelter, jobs, security and cultural relevance for forest-dependent populations.

Congregation: With joy, we thank You, O Lord

For the forests, since they are the green lungs of the earth, vital to the survival of people everywhere -- all seven billion of us.

Congregation: With joy, we thank You, O Lord

INTERCESSION (Response shall be ‘Hear our prayers’.)

Celebrant: God, in a world where mountains of garbage pile up, nuclear waste threaten life, where trees are cut down at a fatally faster rate, give us the courage to realize our call and live as stewards of Your creation. Lord, in Your mercy,

Congregation: Hear our prayer.

Celebrant: God, in a world where agricultural lands are filled up for constructions, where toxic chemicals and human waste are dumped into lakes, rivers and oceans, where fish and plants die from acid rain, give us the courage to realize our call and live as stewards of Your creation. Lord, in Your mercy,

Celebrant: Hear our prayer.

Celebrant: God, in a world, where ground water level has gone down, seasons have lost their rhythm, global atmosphere heats up from chemical gases, ozone layer is destroyed, clean air is poisoned by car and truck pollution, give us the courage to realize our call and live as stewards of Your creation. Lord, in Your mercy,

Congregation: Hear our prayer.

Celebrant: God we pray for the 1.6 billion people who depend on forests for their livelihoods are struggling to survive. We also remember the precious species face extinction and the biodiversity being obliterated. In the midst of a plundered earth, exploited forests and its resources grabbed, we groan with creation. Give us the wisdom to tend and care Your creation as stewards of Your creation. Lord, in Your mercy,

Congregation: Hear our prayer.

Celebrant: God, this day we remember all people, walking and sleeping, working and resting, fulfilled and frustrated, mourning and celebrating, all who are suffering, all who are in want, house-less, widows, widowers, orphans, refugees and prisoners, all who are banned from speaking truth and thirst for justice, all those who risk reputation, livelihood, and life itself, people of one world and of one humanity. Lord, in Your mercy,

Congregation: Hear our prayer.

Celebrant: God, this day we pray for all the Churches, especially for the Church of North India, Marthoma Church and for the Church of South India, the office bearers, the episcopate, the presbyterate, the deaconate, the sisterhood, all the 22 dioceses, churches and mission fields, hospitals, colleges, schools and other institutions, her mission partners and all other ecumenical endeavors.Lord, in Your mercy,

Congregation: Hear our prayer.

CALL TO COMMITMENT (Celebrant shall read and the congregation may repeat)

We join with the earth/ and with each other,/ to bring new life to the land,/ to restore the waters,/ to refresh the air./

We join with the earth/ and with each other/ to renew the forests,/ to care for the plants,/ to protect the creatures./

We join with the earth/ and with each other/ to celebrate the seas,/ to rejoice in the sunlight,/ to sing the song of the stars./

We join with the earth/ and with each other,/ to recreate the human community,/ to promote justice and peace,/ to remember our children./

We join together/ as many and diverse expressions/ of one loving mystery:/ for the healing of the earth/ and the renewal of life./

Help us, O Lord, / to partake in Your mission/ to be caretakers/ of Your creation./ AMEN.

FIRST BENEDICTION

Presbyter: May the Grace, Love and Peace of our Triune God, be with us, now and forever more. AMEN

THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD

( The worship service from here shall be as in the CSI Eucharist Liturgy. Along with the offertory and Bread and Wine, it will be meaningful if we could offer a tray of flowers with other signs of God’s goodness in creation, and placed on the altar)

BENEDICTION

Presbyter: May the Triune God give you wisdom, courage and strength to preserve and live as good neighbours in fellowship with the nature. Blessings of God, the Creator, the Redeemer and Sustainer, be with you all, now and forever more. AMEN.

CLOSING HYMN

Following the service, any ecologically relevant symbolic acts like planting of a few saplings

or launching any ecological programme shall be initiated.

Acknowledgements:

· The Church of South India Book of Common Worship

· ‘Environment Sunday Liturgy’ <http://www.neccsa.org.za/Resources-Liturgy2003. html>

· ‘Forests: Nature At Your Service’ < http://www.unep.org/wed/theme/>