13 September - Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Year A

A downloadable version of this page is available for anyone who would like to save or print it out.

The Faith Action Programme would like to thank Eco-Congregation Scotland for their thoughts on the 16th Sunday after Pentecost and throughout this Season of Creation Time.

Revised Common Lectionary material

Weekly worship material throughout Creation Time is hosted on the Eco-Congregation Scotland website and can be found, along with other resources for the Season at Eco-Congregation Scotland.

Introduction

Welcome to this year's Scottish resources for Creation Time/Season of Creation, this special season of ecumenical solidarity. Each year from 1 September to 4 October the Christian family unites for this worldwide celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home. It is a special season where we celebrate God as Creator, and acknowledge Creation as God's continuing work, calling us as collaborators to love and care for all that is created. As followers of Christ from around the globe, we share a common call to care for Creation. We are part of all that God has made. Our wellbeing is interwoven with the wellbeing of the Earth.

The global theme this year is based round "Living Water" – water which sustains life, as in Ezekiel 47:9,12. These resources are based on the Revised Common Lectionary, which for the first time offers dedicated readings for Week 1 as ‘Creation in Christ'.

These resources are curated by EcoChaplain Rev David Coleman for Eco-Congregation Scotland, with guest contributors, offering notes and prayers, and thematic items in poetry and video. You're very warmly invited to explore our new webpage at https://ecocongregationscotland.org/resources/season-of-creation-2026/. The five full-length video reflections may be used in sermon slots, viewed by groups or individually.

Permission is given for devotional, not commercial use, for the material presented, and copyright remains with the writers.

Themes for this week – Summary

For the full resources for this week visit Eco-Congregation Scotland's website.

  • Exodus 14:19-31 You can go with the joy of the vulnerable and oppressed, or be horrified with the company of the oppressors, that Nature – not unexpectedly – rebounds on communities of injustice, and such action is seen in this book of the Bible as expressing God's justified decisiveness.
  • Psalm 114 Disaster ‘at the hands of nature' is indiscriminate, though the Red Sea story is exceptional to current experience – in that the most-suffering community survived – by taking notice of the signs they were given.
  • Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21 The triumphant song of Miriam is that of a woman (and her community) freed from unjust suffering. Under what circumstances would a Christian church share such rejoicing at the suffering of enemies?
  • Genesis 50:15-21 Joseph, the gifted survivor (though also Pharoah's enslaver, in the meantime (Gen 47:35) of the Egyptian people), finds he is liberated by faith and love to put distance between his own hurt and the common good. Where do we find such maturity in our own lives?
  • Romans 14:1-12 Paul, in a clearly opinionated fashion, introduces the challenge of finding common purpose in a community of diverse lifestyles: difference need not imply conflict or incompatibility. And the clear global call to eat less meat – https://unfccc.int/news/we-need-to-talk-about-meat is a stimulating starting point.
  • Matthew 18:21-35 Matthew continues guidance on the moral quality of a church and a reflection – apposite for every community in the Global North – on what our nations may have got away with at the expense of loss and damage to our global neighbours. Neighbours on whose graciousness we will increasingly find we rely!

Prayers

Gathering Prayer
The song for the downtrodden
is sung by the Soil

The song for survivors
is sung by the Sea

The birds of the heavens:
their song fills the sky

And God's blessing's bequeathed to the creatures excluded
for they shall inherit the Earth.

Prayer of Confession / Repentance
Beloved and liberating God;
to praise and worship You,
and to extol Your love and compassion
is also to acknowledge
our most urgent, constant need:
to reflect, and then again,
on choices and customs,
costs and purchases,
attitudes and scorn;
on speech and action,
and even on silence and disinterest
which carry us away in collusion
with injustice that injures the Earth.

The crises that surround us, it is true
may be beyond what we can remedy alone;
so that fear and despair constrain
what yet our hands can change;
our lips correct.

The harm we're part of here and now.
For the call of Christ has not diminished:
to change minds for each new day;
let go of harm;
and seek Good News.
To hear Christ's call:
"Those who come to me, I do not turn away.

Christ forgives.

As forgiven people, and those on the way, so we pray
the way he taught us. Our Father …

Prayer of Thanksgiving / Gratitude
1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." ‘Hallelujah anyway' – the spiritual defiance of the oppressed.

God, who strengthens the enslaved
with the defiance of gratitude
for all which escapes the hands of oppressors,

With Christ, we give thanks for all that's hidden
from those in charge,
but given to the vulnerable.

We thank You for all that it's easy to love:
the sunshine, the birdsong, the puffins, the dolphins
good food and drink,
for new life, and new hope,
and the church at their best

We thank You for what You love anyway, because You see the good in it:
midges and wasps; winter and fire;
the ending of lives, like the leaves of autumn
when their time has come;
yes, for duties and obligations that shape our lives.

We thank You together, when gratitude's hard on our own.
And we thank You alone, when community's hurting too much.
We thank You … for the difference thanks makes;
And dear God for Christ, Your own thanksgiving of Yourself.
Thank You. Hallelujah, AMEN.

Prayer for Others / Intercession
Things are changing so fast that particular pressing concerns cannot be anticipated. Thus
we offer once more this framework, which can see us through the Season of Creation, and give continuity.

Let us pray with Christ:
God, who makes us with the Earth
God, who gives us to the world
God, God-with-us in our struggles:

Hear us, stand with fears and needs
And walk, hold hands, advise, encourage.

For the world
What have we heard, in the news this week?
Who is in need and who should give thanks?
How far have we got, and where have we stumbled?

And what seems completely beyond us?
Listen for Earth's voice: what is it saying?
We remember our neighbours, of whatever species
We pray for our enemies, and those we fear.
And pray for peace throughout Creation.

Hear us, stand with fears and needs
And walk, hold hands, advise, encourage.

For the Church
Give thanks for the faithfulness, undergirding prayer.
Be open about continuing divisions, including local ones.
Look to a greater integration of environmental concern in our life and work.
And seek openness to the joy of deeper fellowship with all Creation.

Hear us, stand with fears and needs
And walk, hold hands, advise, encourage.

For ourselves
Bring to God what no one else need hear: not for God to ‘hear'
but to remind ourselves that God knows and understands.

Pray for those we pray with, acknowledging and respecting
what they cannot share with us.

Look for support and perseverance,
and some sustaining sign when we get things right.

Pray for ‘impatience' – not simply to accept ‘the way things are'
and pray for peace in our heart, and the fuller joys of Christ.

[Hold a time of silence]

Hear us, stand with fears and needs
And walk, hold hands, advise, encourage. AMEN

Blessing / Closing Prayer
Praise God for our differences
Heal our divisions!

Praise God for our freedoms
Guide our bold choices!

Join Earth's many voices
for justice, for love!

Musical suggestions

God Welcomes All is the new supplement to Church Hymnary Fourth Edition. This exciting new collection features over 200 hymns and songs in a wide range of styles by writers from Scotland and around the world.

The full music and words-only versions are now available; and digital resources, including the expansion of the existing Church of Scotland music website, will be published in due course, with streaming functions and further information on each song; backing tracks; and lyric videos. God Welcomes All is available to order from https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781786225573/god-welcomes-all

Our online music resource is on the Church of Scotland website; you can listen to samples of every song in the Church Hymnary 4th edition (CH4) and download a selection of recordings for use in worship. You will also find playlists for this week and liturgical seasons and themes on the Weekly Worship and Inspire Me tabs.

  • The Compilers of God Welcomes All recognise that Creation is a major contemporary theme, and the book includes a whole section (numbers 153-165) devoted to issues of celebrating and care for Creation, climate justice, and more.
  • You can find further musical suggestions for this week in a range of styles on the Songs for Sunday blog from Trinity College Glasgow.

Reflecting on our worship practice

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the way we worship has changed and we need to reflect on the changing or newly established patterns that emerged and continue to emerge as a result of the disruption.

We can facilitate worship for all by exploring imaginative approaches to inclusion, participation and our use of technologies in ways that suit our contexts. This is not an exhaustive list, but some things we could consider are:

  • Framing various parts of the worship service in accessible language to help worshippers understand the character and purpose of each part. This is essential for creating worship for all (intergenerational worship) that reflects your community of faith.
  • Holding spaces for reflection and encouraging prayer to be articulated in verbal and non-verbal ways, individually and in online breakout rooms.
  • In online formats the effective use of the chat function and microphone settings encourages active participation in prayer, e.g. saying the Lord's Prayer together unmuted, in a moment of ‘holy chaos'.
  • While singing in our congregations is still restricted, we can worship corporately by using antiphonal psalm readings, creeds and participative prayers.
  • Using music and the arts as part of the worship encourages the use of imagination in place of sung or spoken words.
  • Use of silence, sensory and kinaesthetic practices allow for experience and expression beyond regular audio and visual mediums.

The following questions might help you develop a habit of reflecting on how we create and deliver content and its effectiveness and impact, and then applying what we learn to develop our practice.

  • How inclusive was the worship?
    Could the worship delivery and content be described as worship for all/ intergenerational?
    Was it sensitive to different "Spiritual Styles"?
  • How was the balance between passive and active participation?
  • How were people empowered to connect with or encounter God?
    What helped this?
    What hindered this?
  • How cohesive was the worship?
    Did it function well as a whole?
    How effective was each of the individual elements in fulfilling its purpose?
  • How balanced was the worship?
    What themes/topics/doctrines/areas of Christian life were included?
  • How did the worship connect with your context/contemporary issues?
    Was it relevant in the everyday lives of those attending and in the wider parish/ community?
    How well did the worship connect with local and national issues?
    How well did the worship connect with world events/issues?
  • What have I learned that can help me next time I plan and deliver worship?

You can listen to samples of every song in the Church Hymnary 4th edition (CH4) and download a selection of recordings for use in worship in our online hymnary.

You are free to download, project, print and circulate multiple copies of any of this material for use in worship services, bible studies, parish magazines, etc., but reproduction for commercial purposes is not permitted.

Please note that the views expressed in these materials are those of the individual writer and not necessarily the official view of the Church of Scotland, which can be laid down only by the General Assembly.