It is not often that we get to celebrate the adoption of a brand new liturgical holiday, but that is just what we're doing this year! The Feast of Creation in Christ has been officially added to the Revised Common Lectionary, to be celebrated annually on the first Sunday in September. This new feast day offers a chance for congregations to give thanks for the diverse gifts of God's creation. The adoption of this observance also ties us more closely to our Orthodox siblings, who have celebrated a similar feast day in early September since the seventh century.
On Sing For Joy, our September 6 program will be devoted to the Feast of Creation in Christ. We will spend time with the Genesis creation narratives, hearing a movement from Haydn's Creation, and will explore the psalmist's hymn of praise in Gustav Holst's arrangement of Psalm 148. We will encounter John's cosmic gospel prologue as we hear Rosephanye Powell's dynamic choral anthem, "The Word Was God." And we will hear poetry of gratitude for creation through the words of well-loved hymns, "All Things Bright and Beautiful" and "For the Beauty of the Earth."
As I examined each of these pieces of music in preparation for our September recording session, I thought about the diversity of landscapes that I have had the pleasure of experiencing over the summer months. I traveled to the Great Smoky Mountains with my congregation's high school youth group, and we enjoyed an evening of lake swimming, surrounded by mountains. I spent time in the Blue Ridge Mountains for a worship conference, where I enjoyed vibrant rhododendron bushes and numerous black bear sightings. I spent a vacation weekend on the beach in North Carolina, lulled into a sunny afternoon nap by the sound of lapping waves. And then there's the extraordinary beauty of my own backyard: zinnias and hosta, chipmunks and butterflies, climbing clematis and honeysuckle vines.
In the words of John Rutter, "Praise to Thee, O Lord, for all creation; give us thankful hearts to see all the gifts we share and every blessing. All things come of Thee!"
Peace be with you this September,
