Bulletins

Acting for Creation Bulletin #25 - St Francis and the Season of Creation (24/09/2026)

Acting for Creation Together in Gippsland

Email: acting@gippslandanglicans.org.au

This month’s reflection is brought to you by Michael Down. But first the news:

Next Tuesday 29th September:

Called to Care – final online book discussion – all welcome, whether or not you’ve joined in before.

Session 3 (corresponding to part 3 of the book) Call: tuning in to our own calling Response: being part of something bigger Discussion facilitated by Jack Beamish 7.30 pm Tuesday 29th September

The Zoom link for the book club is available by emailing acting@gippslandanglicans.org.au

The book: Called to Care for people and planet, by Jo Knight Order the book and find out about the author here: https://calledtocare.co/pages/about-called-to-care

2. Invitation to run Called to Care Study Groups Great resources available (free) Parishes or groups who would like to run their own study series on Called to Care: for people and planet can order books (with discounts for 5+ books) and find a wealth of free, downloadable study resources for individuals, groups and churches at https://calledtocare.co/ including a Companion Journal, Action Sheets, videos and more.

Now over to Michael:

What a wonderful Season of Creation we are having, centred as it is around Jo Knight’s book Called to Care: for People and Planet. Jo joined us here in Gippsland for the launch of the season at the Cathedral. The Season of Creation continues liturgically until the Commemoration of St. Francis on 4th October. However, our own season of creation must continue long after that because the bad news about the state of the Earth is still here and getting worse. Two examples. Firstly, the global average atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is about 427 ppm, up from about 280 ppm before the industrial revolution. And is still increasing. The Paris Agreement goal of keeping annual global warming to below 1.5 C is being challenged, with measurements of 1.7 C being reported. Secondly, here in Australia we have a five-planet lifestyle. What that means is that it would take five planet Earths to supply the resources we consume and to absorb the amount of rubbish we throw away. To live the way we do we are stealing from our children’s future, and from the poorer countries which we exploit. So how should we then live? Simply. We must simply live simply. We have a pattern for living simply in St Francis of Assisi who lived approx from 1181 – 3rd October, 1226. St Francis founded a community grounded in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, concerned for social justice by ensuring the dignity and welfare of the poor, and a love of nature that springs ‘like a flower that comes from the root of Jesse’ (Celano). There are now contemporary communities of St. Francis in the Anglican as well as the Roman Catholic churches. One of these is The Third Order of the Society of St. Francis which is an Anglican non-residential community-in-dispersion of people who, while following the ordinary professions of life, feel called to dedicate their lives to follow Christ under a definite discipline and vow. It provides the support and encouragement for us to live simply. St Francis was one of the first Italian poets, writing in Umbrian rather that Latin. He wrote a Canticle of the Creatures based on Psalm 148 and if that psalm is not already in your repertoire it is a beauty to commit to memory.

If you would like to find out more about St Francis and the Third Order of the Society of St Francis, here is a link to the Australian site: https://tssf.org.au/