Living water, and Season of Creation  

The water sector is in crisis, yet we each have agency and we can have hope, writes BUEN's Hannah Gray. One way of connecting with this year's Season of Creation is being more intentional in how we use our water

Usually in the UK, we take water for granted, but the recent heatwaves and drought are testing that assumption. Appropriately, this year’s Season of Creation theme is Living Water. 

Water features 722 times in the Bible, from beginning “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2), to end “Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17).  

Water was used for judgement and justice; healing and purification. Jesus controlled the storm, walked on water, offers himself as living water. We fully immerse ourselves in water to symbolise our spiritual transformation.  

But our world is in troubled waters. A warmer atmosphere has more energy and holds more water, leading to intense rainfall and floods. Climate change also means more frequent and intense droughts. Usually, the poorest suffer most. 

Scientists predict global demand for freshwater will outstrip supply by 40 per cent by 2030. Here in the UK a nationwide public awareness initiative - Let's Save Water - officially launched earlier this year to remind us of the role we can all play. Water is an increasingly precious resource, like it was in Bible times.  

What steps can you take this Season of Creation to value and save water? Here are some ideas:

• Shorten your shower and fix those leaks 
• Install a water butt for your garden 
• Take a reusable bottle with you instead of buying bottled water 
• Make a donation to a water charity like WaterAid 
• Survey your local river and submit data to The Rivers Trust’s Big River Watch 
• Report any leaks you notice to your water company (it's common for more leaks to happen in drought due to changing ground conditions) 

For other ideas check out Let's Save Water. 

The Season of Creation webpage says: "every act of care for creation becomes part of a global stream of hope", which echoes the well-known verse in Amos 5:24: “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”.

Amongst all the publicity about a water sector in crisis, it's worth remembering we each have agency and we can have hope – our God sustains creation and the Spirit hovers over the waters still.  
 

Hannah Gray is a member at Light of Life Baptist Church in Ormesby, Norfolk. She coordinates the Baptist Union Environment Network (BUEN) in the Eastern Baptist Association, and works for Water Resources East, an organisation safeguarding water in the East of England. 


Season of Creation is an annual global time of prayer and action for the environment observed by Christians worldwide. The theme for 2026 is "Living Water," inspired by the prophetic vision of Ezekiel 47. It takes place from 1 September to 4 October. 

“The Season of Creation offers a vital invitation to the global Church to rightly apprehend, and faithfully respond to, God’s lovingly and intricately fashioned gift of creation—upon which all creatures, including humanity, depend for life.

As Evangelicals, we affirm that ‘the earth is the Lord’s,’ entrusted to our care, and that faithful discipleship includes receiving and enjoying the fruit of creation without diminishing its fruitfulness—relating to creation with wisdom, humility, and other Christian virtues.

The Season of Creation, therefore, offers an opportunity to participate personally in the full reality of the Gospel and to become agents of God’s renewing work—embracing both personal salvation and the restoration of all creation under the lordship of Christ.”

The Revd Botrus Mansour, a Baptist and World Evangelical Alliance General Secretary

 

Image | Ormesby Broad, Norfolk