WCC News: The Feast of Creation: an Eastern Orthodox gift to the whole church

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" The words of the Prophet Isaiah, cited throughout the gathering, found fresh meaning on 18–19 March, when more than 600 church leaders came together online, according to event organisers, to explore the Feast of Creation, a liturgical observance rooted in Eastern Orthodox tradition that is now taking hold across confessional boundaries worldwide.  Webinar – Feast of Creation: New Liturgical Feast, Gift for the Third Millennium 02 April 2026 World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee moderator, Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, speaking in his capacity as chair of the Feast of Creation committee, placed the moment in its broader context: "The ecumenical process towards a common liturgical Feast of Creation started with a powerful conference in Assisi in March 2024," he said, adding that its success "might become a landmark in the history of Christianity." Convened by WCC, Middle East Council of Churches, and churches and communions spanning the global Christian family, the event, titled "The Feast of Creation: A New Liturgical Feast, a Gift for the Third Millennium,” drew on a decade of steady ecumenical groundwork. "The strong backing by so many church families can be seen as an encouraging sign that the ecumenical miracle of joint ecumenical action for establishing this feast in the church calendar globally could become a reality," Bedford-Strohm added, reflecting his personal reading of the process. Celebrated on 1 September, or the following Sunday, the Feast of Creation already sits in the liturgical calendars of many churches. Dr Louk Andrianos, WCC consultant for Care for Creation, Sustainability, and Climate Justice, traced its Eastern Orthodox origins for those attending, drawing on the 10th-century Menologion of Basil II, the oldest Byzantine liturgical calendar. "September 1st represents 'the day of Creation,’ God's act of the creation of the universe," he explained. In 1989, Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios widened its scope by inviting "the entire Christian world to offer every year on this day prayers and supplications to the Maker of all." Creation Day has since gained steady momentum alongside the extended Season of Creation, both among grassroots communities and church leadership worldwide. Rev. Dr Antoine Al Ahmar, director of the Theological Department of the Middle East Council of Churches and a theologian of the Maronite Catholic Church, presented a new theological report drawing on three academic conferences held in Assisi since 2024. "Creation is a multifaceted mystery," he said. "Therefore, the Feast of Creation is a multifaceted feast." He outlined four dimensions celebrated on the holy day: God's act of creation, creation as a Christological mystery, creation as a Trinitarian mystery, and creation as a sacramental and covenanted gift. Rev. Dr Cheryl Lindsay of the Consultation on Common Texts and Rev. Tony Franklin-Ross of the World Methodist Council walked participants through a growing set of resources, chief among them the addition of the Feast to the Revised Common Lectionary in April 2026, with new biblical readings available to congregations ahead of this year's celebrations. Prayers from Frances Namoumou of the Pacific Conference of Churches and Karen Westerfield Tucker of the World Methodist Council closed the gathering, drawing attention back to what the feast ultimately asks of its observers: a living commitment to the care of creation. As one tradition's gift becomes the whole church's celebration, that commitment grows a little more visible. The full recording is available on the WCC website. Learn more about the Season of Creation here Watch the Feast of Creation webinar in various language here Feast of Creation webinar unites churches across time zones on 18–19 March (News Release, 18 March 2026) Christian leaders unite in Assisi to establish historic Feast of Creation (News Release, 06 May 2025) See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

Good Friday

Good Friday is the day we remember Jesus’ crucifixion. The hours of noon to 3 p.m. are particularly significant as these commemorate the time Jesus hung on the cross. It is an especially important time to pray for the church and the world for whom Christ gave his life.

Good Friday morning in Jerusalem, May 2022. Walking the Via Dolorosa. Photo Credit: Maddi Froiland, ELCJHL.

Passion and Paradox: An excerpt from the Companion to the Book of Common Worship 

(Geneva Press, 2003, 113-116, 131-132)

The Good Friday service is a penitential service, yet it is also a celebration of the good news of the cross. So, retain the paradox of the day in the form, mood, and texts of the service. Good Friday is a day in which to allow for numerous contemplative moments, and to permit the power of silence to speak for itself.

The passion narrative according to John is read on Good Friday, because at the heart of John’s passion narrative is the good news of the cross — the victory of the cross. Thus, John’s emphasis on crucifixion and glory corresponds to the tension and ambiguity of the day. 

The Good Friday service is intentionally in concert with the broad ecumenical tradition, and representative of many ecumenical aspects. It, therefore, reflects a commonality with many strands of Christian tradition. 

The proclamation of the readings for the day may replace the sermon, or a brief sermon may precede, interweave, or succeed the readings for the day. Those who plan the liturgy may consider letting the gospel speak through the power of silence, or through an appropriate liturgical dance or offering of music, which may help deepen reflection on the cross for all worshipers.

A fitting response to the hearing of the passion of Christ is intercession in the form of bidding prayers for the whole family of God and the afflictions of the world [the Solemn Intercession]. This is an important element of the Good Friday tradition. Such bidding prayers are signs of our joining in Christ’s priestly ministry of fully extending his arms in order to embrace all God’s people (that is, his posture on the cross).

The Solemn Reproaches [of the Cross] are an ancient text of Western Christendom associated with Good Friday. They need to bread slowly and clearly. The Solemn Reproaches take the place of confession in this service, so no Confession of Sin and Declaration of Forgiveness are included in the service. 

The Service for Good Friday draws people into the story of the passion of Christ. It is composed of contrasting actions and moods of the solemn reading of the passion of Christ and, yet, a hopeful look toward the resurrection. … [I]t is most dramatic and meaningful when all depart in silence. The service continues with the Great Vigil of Easter on Saturday, or an Easter Day service.

Prayers for Our Community, Our Nation and Our World

We can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Between Monday, April 6 and Sunday, April 12, we'll lay before God the needs listed below.

• Sunday, April 5, 2026 - That we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ by renewing our commitment to life.
• Monday, April 6, 2026 - That God protects all civilians impacted by the conflict in Gaza.
• Tuesday, April 7, 2026 - That we remember those who died in service to their country.
• Wednesday, April 8, 2026 - That we remember the dedication shown by our teachers. 
• Thursday, April 9, 2026 - That we live our daily lives with both faith and focus.
• Friday, April 10, 2026 - That our leaders have the courage and wisdom to confront the racial divisions within our country.
• Saturday, April 11, 2026 - That we renew our commitment to life.
• Sunday, April 12, 2026 - That our leaders would be honest, humble and God-fearing men and women who recognize that they are accountable to God for each decision and action.

The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service - Sunday, March 29, 2026

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service ...: During the worship services of Holy Week,  we’re focusing  on  The Paradox of the Passion: Exploring Holy Week in the Gospel of Matthew . No...

Sunday's Message - The Paradox of the Passion (The Paradox of the Triumphal Entry)

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: Sunday's Message - The Paradox of the Passion (The...: During the worship service next week,  we’ll focus on  The Paradox of the Passion: Exploring Holy Week in the Gospel of Matthew . Now, a par...

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday begins the Three Days (or Triduum), remembering the new commandment that Christ gave us in word and deed as he taught us how to love one another, washing our feet as a servant. We also celebrate the Lord’s Supper, remembering the meal Christ shared with his disciples before his death.

Historically, this was the traditional day in which those who had undergone a period of public penance under church discipline would be restored to full communion.

A new commandment

An excerpt from the Companion to the Book of Common Worship (Geneva Press, 2003, 113-116, 131-132)

The name is taken from the first words sung at the ceremony of the washing of the feet, “I give you a new commandment” (John 13:34); also from the commandment of Christ that we should imitate his loving humility in the washing of the feet (John 13:14-17). The term mandatum (maundy), therefore, was applied to the rite of the footwashing on this day.

The opening service of the Triduum is not inherently mournful. The penitential acts of Maundy Thursday have celebratory aspects as well: restoration through the bold declaration of pardon; the act of footwashing connoting humility and intimacy; the celebration of the Lord’s Supper embodying the mystery of Christ’s enduring redemptive presence. Maundy Thursday’s acts provide the paradox of a celebratively somber and solemnly celebrative service.

Footwashing. A powerful symbolic response to the Word, representing the way of humility and servanthood to which we are called by Christ, is the act of footwashing, practiced within the church since at least the fifth century. The practice of footwashing in first-century Palestine may have been as common as when today a host helps guests take off their coats, a waiter seats diners, or a driver holds the taxi door open for passengers. Hospitality underlies all such welcoming gestures. …

What is startling if not jolting about the footwashing story in John is not the act of footwashing, but the identity of the servant who washed others’ feet — Jesus, God-with-us, the least likely person. Following the footwashing, Jesus took on himself the humiliation of the cross, the ultimate symbol of his selfless love for others. …

In the priesthood of all believers (not hierarchies of power), all members of the body of Christ can “kneel” before each other and wash one another’s feet as did our Lord and Savior himself — neighbor to neighbor, perhaps even stranger to stranger. More important, as the priesthood of all believers, our corporate kneeling before others for the earthly task of footwashing symbolizes our servanthood within and beyond the body of Christ.

The Lord’s Supper. Though on this night we remember and celebrate the final supper Jesus shared with his disciples in the context of Passover, we are neither celebrating a Seder (“order of service”), nor reenacting the Last Supper, but sharing with our risen Lord a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. …

The term “last supper” suggests that it was only one of many meals shared by Jesus and his disciples, and not the meal. The Eucharist is rooted not only in the Last Supper but also in Jesus’ eating with sinners, and in his feeding the crowd with the loaves and fishes, and it foreshadows the meals after his resurrection. All together they constitute the multiple meanings of the Lord’s Supper. To reduce the Lord’s Supper to the Last Supper is to cut off the Sacrament from its eschatological significance (that is, as it relates to the unfolding of God’s purpose and in the ultimate destiny of humankind and the world).

Stripping of the Church. The final act of this service is the evocative stripping of the worship space. This is most effectively done in absolute silence, and in an unhurried, orderly fashion. Designate several people to extinguish the candles, strip the Lord’s table of all cloths and vessels, and remove all textile hangings, candles and candelabra, flowers, and so forth, carrying all the items out of the room. The stark, bare, unadorned church now reflects Jesus’ abandonment during the night in Gethsemane. The visual aspect of the transformed worship space gives people a dramatic depiction of Christ’s desolation. The church remains bare until the Easter Vigil when the process is reversed and the worship space is “dressed” again.

Ordinarily, neither a blessing is given nor a postlude played on this night, as the services for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday (the Great Vigil of Easter) are actually one unified ritual. … The church remains in semidarkness, and all depart in silence, thus making the transition from the eucharistic celebration to Jesus’ crucifixion and death. Symbolically, Christ, stripped of his power and glory, is now in the hands of his captors.

WCC NEWS: Easter prayer expresses deep longing for peace on the Korean Peninsula

An Easter prayer published by the National Council of Churches in Korea expresses deep longing for peace on the Korean Peninsula, and for the day when Christians from the south and the north can come together in prayer and worship. Odusan Unification Observatory, South Korea. Photo: Marcelo Schneider/WCC 01 April 2026 This year’s prayer comes after a significant moment in Korea’s democratic journey. The ecumenical community in Korea continues to pray earnestly that inter-Korean relations may move from hostility toward peace. “God of life, who raises the dead, we give you thanks for the sound of flowing water beneath the frozen ground, telling us that spring is coming,” the prayer opens. “God, remember this land, the Korean Peninsula.” The prayer reflects that the armistice has become an unfinished war. “Dialogue has come to a halt, and military tension and the arms race continue to place this land on the brink of conflict,” reads the prayer. “Even as we speak of peace, we have deepened distrust and chosen confrontation.” The prayer expresses a longing to move toward the path of a peace treaty. “Let broken relationships be restored,” the text reads. “Let blocked paths be opened, so that exchange and cooperation may begin again.” The prayer also remembers those who suffer from war in our time.  “We cry out for lives being lost in the Middle East and in many places around the world,” the prayer reads. “May our prayers become a voice, our solidarity become action, and even our smallest acts become seeds of just peace.” Easter prayer for peace on the Korean Peninsula 2026 See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland