
Litany for Earth Day

Praise and Recognition
People: Let us rejoice and be glad in it
Leader: The Bible tells us that on the sixth day
of the Creation, God looked over
everything God had made; it was so
good, so very good!
People: The stars and moon, the mountains and
valleys, the forest and fields, the
oceans and the babbling brooks; all of
it was good, so very good!
in God’s image; all of it was good, so very
good!
Confession of Individual and Collective Sins
People: But our appetites for stuff grew big.
Leader: So the poor were exploited and the Creation was filled with the waste of consumption.
People: The water, soil and air were filled with toxins;
Leader: The poor were exploited so profits could be made.
People: This was not what you intended for your Creation, for we who were created in
your image.
Leader: Forgive us Creator God, for we know not what we do.
People: Forgive us Creator God, for now we know not what to do.
Leader: Forgive us Creator God, for under our watch, we made co-victims of the poor and our
environment.

Leader: Who will speak for the poor?
People: “Speak up for the people who have
no voice, for the rights of all the
down-and-outers. Speak out for
justice! Stand up for
the poor and destitute!” (i)
Leader: I know that the LORD secures
justice for the poor and upholds the
cause of the needy. (ii)
People: LORD, you have called us to be good
and faithful stewards of the earth;
Leader: Teach us how to reduce our
demands upon the Earth.
good and faithful stewards of the
earth;
Leader: Free us from coveting more than
we need, to live and to share with
our neighbors in need of better
shelter and an environment that
they too can call “good.”
People: LORD, you have called us to be good and faithful stewards of the earth;
Leader: Teach us to listen to your Creation.
People: Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which
of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all humankind. (iii)
Leader: Hope is found where we live in harmony with our neighbors and with the
environment we call the Creation.
People: Hope will be found when we are committed to justice for all who call the planet home.
Leader: And all of God’s people said:
All: Amen
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i Proverbs 31:8-9 The Message
ii Psalm 140:12 New International Version
iii Job 12:7-10 New International Version
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