Parishes across the Diocese of Missouri are encouraged to celebrate Earth Day on April 22 by planting a tree as part of the Communion Forest project.
Bishop Deon Johnson gave every congregation in the Diocese a potted oak tree at our 2022 annual convention last November. He instructed members to care for the trees until the weather allowed planting outdoors.
Earth Day is a great opportunity to plant those trees! If you've already planted your tree, consider blessing or dedicating your tree in honor of Earth Day. If your tree did not survive the winter, consider getting another tree so you can be a part of this project!
Here are prayer resources for your event:
- Creation Season Prayers - a collection of prayers by Bishop Deon Johnson (found on our Creation Care page)
- Earth Day Resources - from Episcopal Church Foundation
- Book of Occasional Services - several short liturgies that can be used/modified for a tree planting
- Forest Launch Liturgy - a prayer service used by the Anglican Communion during the 2022 Lambeth Conference
We do this in solidarity with the Communion Forest Project, an initiative of the Anglican Communion created in 2019. The Communion Forest builds on a history of creation care, tree growing in particular, within the Anglican Communion around the world. It is a global reforestation project with several goals in mind:
- Protection – advocating and taking action to stop deforestation or prevent the destruction of other habitats.
- Restoration – restoring a piece of waste land or other degraded environment.
- Creation – starting a forest initiative on church land or support a project in the wider community.
- Growing – protection and restoration should be considered ahead of establishing something new. Where something new is set up, the emphasis should be on growing, not just planting. It is about growing the right kind of tree in the right place.
- Multiplying – helping others get involved. Churches or dioceses can be a ‘multiplier’ by setting up a tree or plant nursery to enable wider participation in afforestation.
The Communion Forest is a global act of hope which involves a wide range of creation care activities. Together, these projects will form a virtual, global “forest.” Over time, these will be made visible through the sharing of initiatives among creation care ministries.
The forestation activities are determined locally (by provinces, dioceses and individual parishes) so that they are geographically, culturally and environmentally appropriate. The “forest” will therefore look very different in different parts of the Communion. Local expressions might be about trees but could equally be about grasslands, wetlands or coastal habitats, whatever habitat you find yourself in.
Be sure to let us know about your tree planting and Earth Day plans. And when you plant your parish tree, please take pictures or video of the event and share your stories with the Diocese. (Contact communications director Janis Greenbaum.)