The “Feast of Creation,” also known as Creation Day, is observed annually on September 1st (or the following Sunday—this year on September 7th). Rooted in the ancient tradition of the Orthodox Church and now embraced by many denominations, it celebrates God as Creator and calls us to faithful stewardship of His world.
It is more than a day of praise. It is also a time of repentance for how humanity has harmed the earth and a prayer for its renewal. Creation itself is central to our Christian confession:
- The Father – Almighty Maker of heaven and earth
- The Son – through whom all things were made
- The Holy Spirit – the Giver of life
This year, as the global church marks 1,700 years since Nicaea, Creation Day invites us to connect the Creed with our ecological responsibility, grounding care for the world in the gospel itself.
A Season of Creation: Honoring the Creator in Hope and Responsibility
Evangelicals have sometimes struggled to balance proclamation of Christ’s death and resurrection with care for creation. Yet, as Scripture reminds us (Isaiah 1:17; James 1:27), our call to justice and stewardship is inseparable from the gospel.
At the Assisi conference (May 2025), the WEA reflected on this balance:
“We should increase our commitment to caring for creation, not out of fear but much rather out of faith, responsibility, and love for our fellow men… The crisis of ecology is an opportunity—both evangelistic and ecumenical. It allows us to proclaim Christ, who will make all things new, while uniting Christians across traditions in honoring the Creator.”
“Our fellow men who do not have eternal and temporal hope through Jesus are often guided by fear of losing their only hope, a functioning immanent earth.
To help them see that Jesus means a hope and a future beyond the grave and pollution, those who confess Jesus’ name should be increasingly visibly identified with care for creation.
And even though they who follow Jesus have the greater hope of the resurrection, we should not be ashamed to use a designation for the celebration that appeals to the fears of humanity. Feast of Creation, Earth Day, or whatever one calls it – by recognizing this event with a loving and concerned heart, as a missiological reflection, we would possibly honour the Creator more than by using his name, to which fearful humanity does not yet relate, in the celebration’s designation. It should be a celebration that could appeal to all.
The crisis of ecology is an opportunity.
On one hand it is an evangelistic opportunity, as we proclaim Christ who not only made the world that we spoiled, but is coming back and finishing His work, fulfilling His creation and till then giving hope and courage to change things within our responsibility and possibilities on this earth.
On the other hand, there is also a truly ecumenical potential here, as recognizing God’s creation provides a natural way of coming together without watering down one’s own theological identity.”
Read more from the full speech delivered at the May Assisi on a Feast of Creation here.
The World Evangelical Alliance affirms that creation care has always been part of our calling. Observing a Feast—or even a Season—of Creation provides a witness of hope to a fearful world, a testimony that the Creator and Redeemer is renewing all things.
May this Feast of Creation renew our commitment to honor the Creator, care for His world, and live out our faith in hope, love, and responsibility.
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