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Well, this is either giving you plenty of notice or just too late!? Environment Sunday can be held at any time you choose, but the suggested day for 2006 was June 4th, and as this clashed with Pentecost maybe your church can hold it sometime in the next few weeks? (or wait until June 3rd 2007)
The date of Environment Sunday is set by World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June, which was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972, and is one of the principal vehicles through which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.
After the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Anglican Consultative Council encouraged Anglican Churches worldwide to celebrate the Sunday nearest to World Environment Day as ‘Environment Sunday’ and has been adopted by the rest of us since then.
On Environment Sunday the hope is to challenge local congregations with the plight of God’s Creation through: biblical teaching on God's world and our place in it; Christian perspectives on the topical, vital issue of the environment; and to make a practical difference in their local community.
As I am writing I have just led an Environment Sunday service at one of my churches. (I chose to combine it with Pentecost.) To do this I found the resources supplied by A Rocha indispensable for its preparation and delivery. The theme they chose was 'Hope for the Planet' and their pack (costing £10 inc p&p) includes: service orders (suitable for a range of settings: informal, all-age, communion and word-based services); sermon outlines, small group materials, song and hymn suggestions, sketches, PowerPoint presentations, a 5 week bible-study course, and a DVD with four films on it.
Up until this point I hadn’t looked at the UNEP website which has set the theme for World Environment Day this year as ‘Deserts and Desertification’. On reflection I would have preferred there to be a link between the two, which looking back at previous years there doesn’t ever seem to have been. If the two were linked it could give the Church a creative opportunity to dialogue with the discussion and publicity of the UN programme within the context of worship and within their local communities. I’m probably making work for myself, but maybe this is something our network could explore for next year?
For anyone planning the worshipping life of a congregation there always seems too many special Sundays, and they can’t all be held every year or our diet of worship becomes all causes and no space for other aspects of our faith. That said, the climatic changes we are faced with demands we raise the priority we give to the environment, and marking Environment Sunday is a good first step or an opportunity to celebrate the range of activities a congregation is involved in during the year.
Rev’d David Coaker
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