God’s Good Earth in Crisis

“At once bracing and beautiful, anguished and expectant, this stunning collection of liturgies is an essential resource for congregations seeking to reclaim the power of collective lament. Jeffery Rowthorn and the late Anne Rowthorn have produced a vital worship guide to give voice to our grief, loosen the grip of despair, and connect us with the one who weeps with us and whose power, working through us, does infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”


—Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, missioner for creation care, Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts & Southern New England Conference





“What a crucially important follow-up this book is to Anne and Jeffery Rowthorn’s earlier volume, God’s Good Earth: Praise and Prayer for Creation. Today, the liturgies of lament collected in the present volume are urgently needed on our pained and imperiled planet. May these practices of lament contribute to keeping hope alive.”


—Teresa Berger, professor of liturgical studies and Catholic theology, Yale Divinity School





“Weaving together rich voices from sacred texts, prayers, litanies, poetry, and hymns, Anne and Jeffery Rowthorn have gathered a global chorus of lament around friends who bear personal witness to the many threats shared by all of earth’s peoples, animals, plants, and habitats. Addressing God directly and facing head-on our own complicity in suffering, these timely liturgies offer a prophetic invitation to our communities of faith to weep, to worship, and to rise up in faithful response to the groaning of God’s good creation.”


—Thomas John Hastings, editor, International Bulletin of Mission Research