Celebrating Earth Day with Worship

While churches might feel more comfortable celebrating holidays like Christmas and Easter because of their more direct connection to Christ, I would make the case that celebrating Earth Day/week can be Christ-centered too.

While some churches celebrate Earth Day and Week, it can be uncomfortable for many. The environmental movement has sadly been confused with politics, earth worship, and elevating the creature above the creator.

But if we truly believe that God created the Earth and everything in and on it, us included, and the giant expanse of space in which our planet is but a speck, why should we be afraid to praise the one who created it all? Why can’t we sing of the beauty in the natural world that declares his glory? Why can’t we talk about ways in which that glory has been obscured by our sin and brokenness, and how we can work to restore it? Or why can’t we practice lament, a form of sorrow that can lead to repentance, for how we and generations before us have harmed our planet and its inhabitants, human and non-human?

While churches might feel more comfortable celebrating holidays like Christmas and Easter because of their direct connection to Christ, his birth, and resurrection, I would make the case that celebrating Earth Day/week can be Christ-centered too.

In the spirit of 1 Corinthians 10:31, I truly believe that everything we do can be done to the glory of God, including celebrating Earth Day. The passage goes on to say that all things are lawful, but not all things build up. Perhaps this might give occasion for pause, but this is immediately followed by: “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” Earth Day is about protecting our planet, which in turn protects and benefits all. If we keep Christ at the center, and we are mindful not to elevate creation above him, I believe that we can see Earth Day/week as an extension of seeking the good of our neighbors, human and non-human.

Even if a church is interested in celebrating Earth Day/week, they might not know where to start. I think that one of the simplest ways is to assemble a setlist of worship songs with themes of God as Creator and/or elements of nature. In the past, there were few options of worship songs to choose from in this topical area. Thankfully this is changing. Alongside more traditional hymns like “This is My Father’s World” and “All Creatures of Our God and King” we have contemporary worship songs like Hillsong’s “So Will I,” Third Day’s “God of Wonders,” Phil Wickham’s “You’re Beautiful,” and Chris Tomlin’s “Indescribable.” We even have whole albums of songs like the Porter’s Gate Climate Vigil album, and music released by Sandra McCraken’s Rain for Roots group.

My hope is that the collection of songs about God as creator will continue to grow and that even more diverse worship styles will be represented. I picked a handful of songs and highlighted them below. Some of them are more well suited to personal worship time or reflection, and others are great for congregational worship. I encourage you to find which ones work best for you!

1. “Declaring Glory” by The Porter’s Gate

I love how this song makes creation come alive with movement and motion that declares God’s glory! One of my favorite verses from the song is the part where it mentions creatures dancing across our skin. Depending on how squeamish you are, that might sound frightful. I suppose it is, but when I listen to that part of the song, my nerdy biologist instincts get excited, mostly because it’s true.

We have lots of microbes on the surface of our bodies, thankfully most of them are not harmful. Yes, there are opportunistic ones, and it escapes me as to how those ones might declare God’s glory, but God made them too. I would rather not look at any of them under a microscope, but the metaphor of dance, and the extension of God’s spirit to even the smallest creatures among us is quite beautiful.

“New life begins
Your creatures dance across my skin
Like me, they have Your Spirit within
But soon they fade away as I spin
They fall to dust
And dress me in decay and rust
Their secrets buried deep in my crust
I praise You in the layers of dust

Declaring glory, glory
Declaring glory, glory”

2. “We Stand in Awe of You” by Every Nation Music

I fell in love with this song the moment I heard it. This song also echoes the theme of God’s glory through creation. But more than just his glory, I love how the song connects this being in awe of God. I’ve heard it said before, as Christians, we more than wonder, we worship. With this song, I see exactly that.

“All creation speaks Your glory
Angels declare You are worthy
You spoke a word and created the earth
The stars erupted in praise
The stars erupted in praise

We stand in awe of You
We stand in awe of You
Here in Your presence
We set our eyes on You”

3. “Arms Around the World” by Phil Joel from the Newsboys

Phil Joel is a musician and singer-songwriter best known for his work with the Newsboys. He recently came out with the song “Arms Around the World.” He has publicly shared that he hopes the song will spark important conversations about conservation and creation care. He wants to help get people talking about “how we can better steward this wonderful planet we’ve been given to look after.” It’s a great up-beat song, with rhythm, with a message full of love for the planet God has loaned us.

“Feels like we‘re yelling at the ocean
Yelling at the ocean
Trying to keep this tide from coming in
Feels like we‘re moving in slow motion
Moving in slow motion
Trying to keep this thing from happening

I wanna throw my arms around the world
Wanna throw my arms around the world

I see the beautiful, beautiful, the beautiful
I see You in it all, all the beautiful”

4. “Wonderful God” by Montell Fish, featuring Jonathan Ogden

This song has all the vibes. It’s smooth, easy listening, with a beat that carries the groove. The lyrics are simple, but beautiful. Wonderful God and beautiful Savior are juxtaposed beside “my Creator." It is only him who is worthy of glory and the highest honor. With this song, there is no room for confusing worship of the creature more than the creator. It’s all about him.

“Wonderful God
Beauty of a Savior
You are a wonderful God
Oh my Creator
You are a wonderful God
Beauty of a Savior
You are a wonderful God
Oh my Creator
Only You are

Only You, are worthy of the glory, God
Only You, deserve the highest honor
Everything, You've given me I give right back to You
What a joy it is to give my life to such a...”

5. “Praise Him” by Aaron Keyes

This song is all about praise, and the energy in the song conveys that perfectly! I love how the song calls us to praise God with music, and to join in the sound of all creation, with all people. It’s such a beautiful song, and the recording of the song linked below was from a live worship gathering. It’ll really get a congregation singing along, and praising the amazing, unchanging one.

“To The Amazing One
To The unchanging One
To Him the anthem raise
Lift up Your hymns of praise

For all the things He's done
For all the things to come
To Him the anthem raise
Lift up a shout of

Praise Him with all of the music
Praise Him in all of the nations
Praise Him with all of creation
We praise Him
We praise Him”