Let’s have a Feast

In 1925, a jubilee year of reconciliation and forgiveness, Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy, Hitler published Mein Kampf, and Stalin was consolidating control in the Soviet Union. The world was once again teetering on the edge, less than a decade after the horrors of the Great War. In response, Pope Pius XI, a prolific writer of encyclicals (particularly on social justice and the dangers of rampant capitalism) pitted the weight of the Roman Catholic church firmly against dictatorship – and established a new feast day. The Feast of Christ the King, celebrated on the Sunday before Advent, was the centrepiece of church resistance and the first significant change to the liturgical year for 250 years. It strongly asserted that ‘Christ has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but by his essence and by nature’ (so says Cyril of Alexandria).

I have never paid one iota of attention to the Feast of Christ the King until this year. I knew nothing about its history and context, it seems remote, anachronistic, and I’m not good at processing ‘dominion’ language. But a century after its inception, I’m beginning to get it. A sign of resistance, hope and faithfulness, a profound statement of identity in the global context of the time, was embedded in the church year.  And now, in 2026, as another jubilee year ends (this one themed as a year of pilgrim hope), in the midst of crisis on a scale never before experienced by humanity, the worldwide family of churches, east and west, has read the signs of the times and together established a new feast. This one is variously called the ‘Feast of Creation in Christ’, or ‘Feast of Creation’ or simply ‘Creation Day’ and is henceforward celebrated on the first Sunday of September.

The churches have done this together, asserting that we have more in common than divides us, most especially our one common home. This has not happened out of the blue, nor has it been simply tacked on to an already heavily-encrusted calendar (a charge sometimes levied against the Season of Creation). Patriarch Bartholomew in the Eastern Orthodox church has been calling the world to wake up for over 35 years. Pope Francis published ‘Laudato si’ in 2015, spawning a movement of ecological conversion. There have been numerous ecumenical conferences, appropriately held in Assisi, home of St Francis, whose Canticle of Creation we will sing this Sunday. Reams of theology have been written and argued, sustaining conversation across difference. And in July 2026, accompanied by significant theological effort, the Church of England General Synod formally adopted the feast day. As in 1925, a sign of resistance, hope and faithfulness, a profound statement of identity in global context, has been planted in the church year.

So what does this mean, for individual churches, denominations and a worldwide faith? There is a special colour assigned for the altar cloth and clergy apparel (it’s green, so that helps!) but we’ll need more than that if the feast is not to roll on by each year, gathering theological dust and a few specialist prayers, like Christ the King for many of us. Sometimes at St James’s we talk about being the early church, Christianity being a mere 2000 years old, making it clear that we have a job of growing and especially maturing to do. Faithful maturing in an era of ecological breakdown that impacts us all, but the most vulnerable, human and other-than-human, first and worst. This Season of Creation we are leaning into liturgy, pilgrimage and conversation as ways into this growthfulness, affirming that creation is ongoing and that we are intimately bound up in its flourishing.  Our framework is ‘Encounter at the Wellhead’, reflecting this year’s international theme of Living Water, and growing out of our own ‘Wellspring’ project.

Wells have been places of renewal, the centre of communities, sites of encounter and changing-of-minds for centuries. At the Sunday eucharist on 6^th Sept, we listen to our parish wells themselves, through a sound installation based on their resonances, as interpreted by composer and former lay singer Sze Ying Chan. Imagine columns of air and water held in the well shafts vibrating as water rises and falls in response to oceans and the moon, or the feet of millions of Londoners in the streets above. Each well has its own pitch and harmonics, and so is able to sing.

Pilgrimage is much on the minds and hearts of the SJP community as we prepare to leave Piccadilly and co-habit at St Pancras. Acts of pilgrimage everywhere are also opening up new horizons and relationships in response to a suffering planet, whether it’s a 500 mile walk to a COP conference, or a short stroll to sit with a local river. In the past, St James’s rogation pilgrimages have delineated boundaries, marking the edges of the parish. This season we walk beyond our boundaries in search of coalitions and friendship with our neighbours in the diocese and the Thames watershed. We’ll follow the trail of wells and their associated churches to St Martin in the Fields (which has a secret modern borehole!) and east to St Olave’s Hart St (with its medieval well in the crypt). How can parishes and communities respond together as our common home is ever more damaged and traumatised? Come along to join the conversation.

In Norfolk recently I spent time in the parish of Reepham which abuts 2 other parishes at a 3-way corner. In medieval times all three chose to build their churches and churchyards hard up against each other rather than in the middle of their respective lands. They literally had each other’s backs and I am enjoying the metaphor very much. Today two of the churches still remain with a solidly built connecting room between them. And yes, there were wells to facilitate conversation.

There is a link to the full Season of Creation programme in the newsletter, including carbon literacy training, talks and opportunities to take action together. Please do get involved, and you can also take part in a worldwide prayer service at 2.00pm on 1^st September here https://bit.ly/45D3eAL

Happy Creation Day! And wishing us all many more creating-days to come.