By Rev Ellie Elia, Minister at St Andrew's Uniting Church Glenbrook
Something is growing at St Andrew’s Uniting Church Glenbrook NSW, and it’s wild and beautiful and surprising.
The Season of Creation gives to the worshipping life of the congregation an opportunity to awaken the senses, reconnect and recommit to our place in God’s creation, and reflect on how our words and actions bring care, compassion and justice to the world.
Yet, there is something else happening, something unexpected.
The spiritual imagination of the congregation has begun to grow and bloom, there is a feeling of excitement and wonder. An intergenerational creativity is shaping who we are and hope to be.
Last week one of our beloved seniors said to me: “Ellie, each week I come to church and have no idea what will happen, it’s so exciting”.
On the same day I found two of our primary aged children standing at the lectern reading through the liturgy. I said: “Do you know that in a few weeks the kids will be preparing and leading the whole service?” They erupted with ideas.
I received a letter from a golden soul, who shared with me how a service had touched her, evoking the memory of her mother who taught her that "God is Spirit, God is everywhere, absolutely everywhere."
It started with a picture in my mind of church green and growing, wild and beautiful, but I could not have imagined how this season of creation would come alive in us.
The Season of Creation website has a collection of resources available.