Wednesday, September 2
6:00 p.m. – Holy Eucharist
Fr. Jamie, celebrant / preacher
Deacon John, assisting
Incense will be
offered at this mass
Supper afterward at a
local restaurant
Friday, September 4
Fr. Jamie’s day off
**Please refrain from sending Fr.
Jamie emails, text messages, Facebook messages or phone calls on his day off
unless it is a pastoral emergency.
Sunday, September 6 – Season of Creation/Christ in
Creation Sunday
11:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist
Fr. Jamie, celebrant
Amy Phillips,
preacher
James Mackay, organist
Coffee Hour following Mass
Livestream:
We would love to see you in person but
if you are unable to attend, please join us for Mass livestreamed at: https://www.youtube.com/@st.stephensfargo
Season of Creation/Christ in Creation
Sunday
The celebration of this Season began
in 1989 when Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I established 1st
September as a Day of Prayer for
Creation for the Orthodox Church. The World Council of Churches
extended the celebration to 4th
October, the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi. In 2026, it was added to the
Revised Common Lectionary as the Feast
of Christ in Creation (the first feast day added since 1983).
The yearly themes, logos, and other
resources are provided by the ecumenical organization to which we
belong as members of the Anglican
Communion. These websites have resources for observing this
Season.
seasonofcreation.org
newcreationliturgies.org/seasonofcreation
feastofcreation.com/revised-common-lectionary
The theme for 2026 is Living Water.
Our Biblical text for this year is
drawn from Ezekiel 47.1-12 (tinyurl.com/creation2026), which portrays
God’s life-giving water flowing from
the temple of God. The river grows deeper and deeper restoring
barren land, reviving waters, and
sustaining flourishing ecosystems. The vision invites human responsibility:
recognising ecological damage, embracing interconnectedness, we are called to
immerse ourselves in the water, and actively safeguarding and working for the
renewal of creation so that environmental healing and human well-being may
flourish together.
The Symbol for 2026 is Immersion in
Living Water.
The Symbol invites Christians to a
spiritual immersion – praying together while contemplating water
from rivers, sources, fountains,
baptismal fonts, lakes and sea, inspired by the Spirit of God, working
together for the renewal of Creation.
This Symbol also urges us to dive into the “tears” of creation
(Romans 8.22-23;
tinyurl.com/creationsymbol2026), by allowing our hearts to be touched by the
suffering
of our brothers and sisters. Indeed,
the Season of Creation is also an appropriate time for fraternal
closeness and solidarity with the
vulnerable and the poor, chiefly those who suffer from environmental
degradation. We can learn from their
stories, from their resilience, from their commitment, and together
keep hope alive.
Living Water, the 2026 prayer
HOLY GOD, WHOSE SPIRIT HOVERED over
the waters at the beginning, we gather as part of your
community of all creation, thirsty for
your grace. We give thanks for the gift of water, the veins of
our common home, that sustains the
cedar and the whale, the pasture and the city. We are
grateful for the local waters that
nourish our homelands and our fellow creatures. We give thanks
that in your well-watered garden,
every drop is a sacred testament to your love.
Yet, we confess that we have treated
this gift as a mere commodity. We have choked the seas
with our waste and watched the warming
tides rise in judgment. We lament the cracked earth of
the drought-stricken and the salty
tears of the climate refugee. Melt our frozen hearts, O God,
and let the waters of repentance flow.
Lord of all Life, you promised that
wherever the river flows, everything shall live. Stir in us a
calling to care for the waters—to
protect the watershed, defend the rights of water, and honor the
dignity of the thirsty. May your Word
be a spring within us, gushing forth for the healing of the
nations.
May God our Creator who brought water
from the rock sustain us in the desert. May Christ our
Lord who is Living Water refresh us
for the work of restoration. And may the Holy Spirit carry
us on currents of grace until justice
rolls down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing
stream. Amen.
Dedication Sunday
Dedication Sunday
will be Sunday, September 13. Please join us as we celebrate our 70th year of
ministry. A potluck will follow
Blessing of Backpacks
On Sunday, Sept.
13, we will bless backpacks once again. Please come and have your backpacks
blessed during the 11:00 Eucharist.
Children’s Chapel
resumes!!
We will once
again be offering Children’s Chapel during the Sunday morning Eucharist,
beginning on Sunday, September 13.
New Member Sunday
On Dedication
Sunday, Sept. 13, we will have an opportunity to welcome any new members who
would like to be recognized. If you are interested in being a new member,
please contact Fr. Jamie.
Words of Wisdom:
Don't wait for others to be kind, show
them how it's done.
From the Green Team:
The body is not separate from the
Earth. What we call burnout, the Earth calls drought. What we call anxiety, the
Earth calls imbalance. To heal ourselves, we must remember - we live within an
ecosystem and we are ecosystems.
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