Liturgies and Liturgical Resources

Liturgies and Prayers

• Thurgood Marshall Feast Day - A day to commemorate the life and ministry of Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall is being proposed for inclusion in the Episcopal Church Calendar. In addition to being a faithful servant to this nation, he was also a faithful member of St. Augustine's Parish in this diocese. Liturgical guidelines for 2011 available here for commemoration in congregations on 17 May or the Sunday preceding.
  Letter from Bishop Chane | Commemoration Lectionary
   
• Same-Sex Marriage Blessing Liturgy - a liturgy, related documents, and guidelines have been established to clarify expectations regarding pastoral care and guidance of those who come seeking the Church’s blessing upon their marriage.
   
• Cycle of Prayer - view the diocesan cycle of prayer or the anglican cycle of prayer
   
• Season of Creation  - "We worship a creator God. The more we learn about the natural world, the more wonderful we discover it to be. [However,] we are discovering that [God's] creation is seriously under threat."  With this statement, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa invites all to celebrate God's creation in a six- Sunday African worship program.
  
  The Season of Creation liturgies focus on biodiversity, land, water, climate change, need not greed, and caring for God's creation. Each Sunday's theme includes a study guide. Bishop Chane commends the Season of Creation liturgies to all. He joins with Archbishop Makgoba in praying that this resource may deepen our comprehension of God as Creator and broaden our understanding of our calling to be faithful stewards of creation.
   
• "Words to Live By" - A Collection of Scripture Passages Related to Creation

Liturgies and Prayers for Animals

Liturgies for Animals

• Blessing of the Animals Liturgy (RSPCA)
• Blessing of the Animals Liturgy (Episcopal Network for Animal Welfare)
• Liturgy for the Burial of a Pet
   

To commemorate the feast of St. Francis, Assisi, October 4.
Almighty and Merciful Father, whose care and loving kindness are over all thy creation, breathe forth into us thy spirit of compassion and tenderness towards all creatures thou hast made and in whom thou are the indwelling life. Teach us, O Lord, to look upon our younger brethren as a trust from thee, that the day may be hastened when men shall neither hurt nor destroy in all thy holy mountain; through Christ our Lord.
--From The Liturgy of the Liberal Catholic Church ( London : St Alban Press.)

 

O God, I thank thee
for all the creatures thou has made,
so perfect in their kind--
great animals like the elephant and the rhinoceros,
humorous animals like the camel and the monkey,
friendly ones like the dog and the cat,
working ones like the horse and the ox,
timid ones like the squirrel and the rabbit,
majestic ones like the lion and the tiger,
for birds with their songs.

O Lord give us such love for thy creation,
that love may cast out fear,
and all they creatures see in man
their priest and friend,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

--George Appleton in The Oxford Book of Prayer , Oxford University Press, 1985.

Prayer of St. Basil
O God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, for
our brothers and sisters, the inarticulate beasts, to whom Thou gave the
earth as their home in common with us. We remember with shame that in the
past we have exercised the high dominion of humanity with ruthless cruelty
so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to thee in song
has become a groan of anguish and a cry of torment. May we realize that they
live not for us alone, but for themselves and for Thee, and that
they too love the sweetness of life. Amen.

Additional Resources available from the Episcopal Network for Animal Welfare