Nature and Nurture Worship Theme

Trash in the Lancaster Theological Seminary's Chapel
from when a similar worship was done.

Hook: Have trash strewn about the worship space. Happy meals, magazines, coffee cups, Styrofoam packaging, etc.

Theme: Nature and Nurture. The theme will be one of environmental stewardship and taking care of the world God has created and has charged us with its care.

Scripture: There are many. The Fund for Christian Ecology has a great list of Scripture passages found in the link provided.

Experience: The experience is one of confession and seeking pardon. Walking into a trashed area will automatically unsettle your worshipers. Allow them to sit in it before cleaning it up (to be done IN worship, not after). Allow the trashed space to serve as a metaphor for our larger world and reality.

Sending: This prayer by William N Richards and James Richardson should be offered in closing:
Father God,
just as children spoil their presents,
so we abuse your good gifts to us.

We dump rubbish in the rivers,
we leave litter on the streets.
Our beaches are contaminated with oil.
The air is filled with fumes and smells.
Noisy machines and radios destroy our peace.
And so many of these things we allow in the name of progress.

Give us a great respect for the world you entrust to us,
so that by our greed and selfishness,
we do no destroy or spoil,
that which we could never have created for ourselves.
(from Prayers Encircling the World: An International Anthology. Westminster John Knox Press, page 80)