Celebrate Christmas and support Water and Wilderness Church (WWC) at our first Christmas Party, Cookie Context, and Fundraiser Dec 21, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
WWC exists for the nourishment of all churches and people in the DC area, so come support our mission to draw people to God through nature!
Bring your best Christmas cookies!
Light hors d’oeuvres and beverages provided.
The 2025 Season of Creation is almost here (observed from September 1st through October 4th each year) and St. Mark’s, Fairland is looking forward to again celebrating all that we have done, all that we will do, and to renewing our commitment to care for all of God’s Creations.
The liturgical color we’ll use during the season is rose. Rose reminds us of the spectacular beauty of the Earth God created for us; a reminder of the joy we feel when we care for our environment; and a celebration hue that signifies St. Mark’s intentional emphasis on loving and caring for all of God’s creations.
Just as we are charged by our baptismal covenant to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being, we believe we are also tasked with caring for and respecting the earth, the environmental home that God created for us all to share.
Daily news reports tell of the destructive evidence of climate change, and of the heat trapped by the “greenhouse effect” of our burning of fossil fuels. The energy in this heat is melting polar ice caps and fueling destructive storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes. All of this is evidence that God’s creation needs more care, attention, compassion, thought and action.
St. Mark’s has been implementing Creation Care initiatives for the past five years, and celebrating the Season of Creation since 2023. We require that our contractors use environmentally friendly gardening and janitorial products. We recycle mixed paper, cardboard, and glass. During the Season of Creation, we choose readings, hymns, prayers, and liturgy for our worship services that glorify creation. We also feature a project each year that demonstrates our intention to not only care, but also to act.
In 2023, we celebrated with the dedication of our newly installed solar panel array. In 2024, we turned to nature and planted 15 native trees and deciduous shrubs.
This year, St. Mark’s will focus on practices that our parishioners can adopt to be personally responsive to the imperative for change and to grow individually in faith by working to sustain all of God’s Creation, intentionally. We will provide information and access to resources. We will encourage daily prayer and devotion.
We will plant more native trees this fall. We will learn how to begin composting and adopt the practice in our parish kitchen. We will encourage intentional acts of political and environmental advocacy in the community. We will be using clean energy, conserving water, recycling, planting native trees and plants, caring for animals, loving our neighbors, and serving Christ in all persons and in all places. These are the positive and proactive ways that St. Mark’s will “take up the cross,” lean into our faith, and care for all of God’s creations.
And yes, we will enjoy our rose vestments, we will acknowledge the profound glory of nature, and we will give praise to God each time we experience a moment of awe as the color rose permeates the sunset sky over our beloved Fairland community.
Alleluia, Alleluia. Thanks be to God.
Janis Smith
St. Mark’s Fairland
For more resources from EDOW to celebrate the Season of Creation in 2025, click here.
Water and Wilderness Church (WWC) is an outdoor church and watershed community for anyone, anywhere who connects to God and one another in the wilds of nature. We gather in creation to worship, pray, and learn—rain or shine—listening for God’s heartbeat in the rhythms of the earth. Our mission is to nurture deeper relationship with the Body of Christ made manifest in all creation, offering an ecclesial and liturgical response to the climate crisis.
After more than a year of monthly gatherings, WWC will become a full weekly worshipping church on Sunday, September 14 at 5 p.m. at Fletcher’s Cove/Boathouse in Washington, DC. Please join us!
In addition to worship, we host weekly book studies, in-person retreats, and seminars on wilderness spirituality, environmental theology, and related topics.
WWC is a resource for all EDOW faith communities. We welcome a “dual citizenship” model, where many in our community also belong to other congregations. This synergy strengthens us for the work God has given us to do.
Because we worship in the evenings, I am available to preach and lead forums at your church earlier in the day on Sundays on wilderness spirituality, liturgy, and creation care. In fact, I’d love to. Contact me to make arrangements.
One special invitation this fall: our Sea and Soul Retreat at Chincoteague Bay Field Station in Wallops Island, VA, October 10–13. This immersive weekend is open to adults and youth ages 12+, offering time for rest, renewal, and connection with God through the beauty of the coast.
Learn more about the Sea and Soul Retreat.
While worshipping in the wild places in all weather presents occasional challenges, it also brings the church into important spaces we wouldn’t otherwise be. This blog shares a poignant example of how we can be witness to God’s sanctifying power in the midst of tragedy: Last Rites on the River.
At its May meeting, Diocesan Council voted to welcome Water and Wilderness Church as an official church plant and, through a grant, to provide 50% of our expenses for the next 2.5 years. We are deeply grateful for this partnership as we begin this next chapter.
I look forward to meeting you in the months ahead. For more information, visit www.waterandwilderness.org.
The Rev. Pete Nunnally is priest-in-charge at Water and Wilderness Church, a council member of the Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission, and a board member for the Center for Spirituality in Nature.
Join us for a soul-stirring organ concert featuring Eric Plutz at the historic Church of the Epiphany in downtown DC. Sunday, September 14 at 4:00 PM.
Reception to follow.
Proceeds support The Music Ministry & Welcome Table Café at Epiphany, DC.
A celebration of music and creation during the Season of Creation.
Register here: http://bit.ly/4miFUyC
Tickets: $50
In Greek, the word for creation means fundamentally the act of bringing into existence. In Latin, the word conveys bringing forth something new. Thus, it is an active and intentional process; not random. In Genesis 1:31, God described the creation of the heavens and earth as “very good.”
Creation care is not about focusing on a singular aspect of our world. It is about recognizing how all things are connected. The challenges we face today—rising temperatures, frequent natural disasters, and environmental degradation—urge us to take action.
But the actions we take as individuals may feel insignificant. This is why community is essential. Working together, we can amplify our efforts, share our concerns, and inspire one another. We need to engage with each other in community to make a meaningful impact.
To further that collective engagement, the EDOW Creation Care Committee invites every congregation to participate in an online workshop on energy savings on Tuesday, February 11 from 7:00 – 800 p.m. With our partners at Interfaith Power and Light, this workshop will explore one important way we can all care for creation by reducing energy consumption and promoting sustainability. You can learn more about the project in this article. Use this link to register.
Many of our churches already embody creation care in inspiring ways. We come together during the Season of Creation each fall with a special liturgy of prayer, worship and song. We celebrate Saint Francis of Assisi, who taught us to love all of God’s creation. We feed the hungry, care for the sick, and protect our fragile earth by planting trees and gardens and reducing our carbon footprint. These actions reflect the wonder and beauty of God’s creation, reminding us that nature itself inspires worship and gratitude.
At its core, creation care is about love: love for God, love for one another, and love for the world entrusted to us. As creation stewards, we are called to protect and cherish the earth, ensuring that it remains “very good” for generations to come.
Join us on February 11 as we take our next faithful and practical step in caring for all of creation.
In the words of Fyodor Dostoevsky:
“Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.”
Teresa Hobgood
Church of the Epiphany, D.C.
Member, Creation Care Committee
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