Prayers with a focus on lament, confession and conversion

Collections of Prayers – online

• Material in the ‘Confession’, ‘Commitments’ and other sections of CTBI’s collection of ‘Additional Resources for Creation Time‘ – a useful resource, gathering materials from a wide range of organisations, church traditions, etc.
• The (C of E) Diocese of Guildford’s collection of liturgical materials has a gathering of confessions, collects, and prayers of dismissal that call for action
• The (C of E) Diocese of Leeds has a superb collection of ‘Creation Care Prayers’, divided into sections including ‘Laments’ and ‘Confessions’
• Section on ‘Lament and Confession’ from Greening the Lectionary

Collections of Prayers  – Offline

• A Heart for Creation, ed Chris Polhill (Wild Goose, 2010). A collection of prayers and reflections on the environment.
• A Time for Creation, ed Robert Atwell, Christopher Irvine, Sue Moore (Church House Publishing, 2020) A wide variety of material, some from the Church of England’s main prayer book (Common Worship) and some newly commissioned.
• Creation sings your praise: A Christian Aid worship book, ed. Annabel Shilson-Thomas (Canterbury Press, 2010) A collection of prayers and services for every time of the year.
• Mary Low’s Cherish the Earth (Wild Goose, 2003) contains some non-Christian material, but also a wealth of Christian texts from around the world
• Anne and Jeffery Rowthorn, God’s Good Earth: Praise and Prayer for Creation (Liturgical Press, 2018) 52 liturgies – rich in selections of scripture, prayers and hymns, alongside reflections drawn from a range of Christian and other sources.

Individual Prayers

•  Not a prayer … but an exploration of the importance of prayers of lament from the Archbishop of Canterbury
• Litany to the Holy Trinity (Global Catholic Climate Movement)
• Fiona Murdoch’s  Prayer of Gratitude for All Creation unites praise, thanksgiving, confession and commitment.
• A beautiful short prayer from Catholic Charities (downloadable as a prayer card from Catholic Climate Covenant) calls us to thanksgiving and to conversion in the way we look at the earth, our common home.
• Revd Hallie Hottle’s prayer starts with wonder and asks God to help us lament and to reshape our hearts so that we can care for God’s gift. (The section heading comes from this prayer)
• Emily Morgan’s short Prayer of Confession helps us look at times when we are unjust
• Anne Richard’s ‘Prayers for the earth based on the 5 Marks of Mission‘ are short collects that, with an economy of words, take us from wonder and praise through recognition of hurt, lament, confession and conversion. (p6 of resource)
• Samford University’s ‘And it was good‘ service includes a helpful  confession based on the 7 days of creation and a suggestion for alternating readings from the letter attributed to Chief Seattle and current headlines.
• From the Sisters of Mercy, a Lenten Novena for Protectors of Mother Earth

Services with a focus on lament, confession and conversion

Ecological Stations of the Cross – from the Franciscan Action Network

‘Prayer of Lament’ – a short service from the Anglican Communion Environmental Network and the Anglican Alliance

General Creation Care Services (cover a variety of themes)

“And it was good” Earth Day Celebration from Samford University’s Center for Worship and the Arts

A prayer vigil from the Church of England.

World Day of Prayer for the Prayer of Creation – Guidelines from the Vatican for a short, meditative service