Quick Summary:

The message on this first of three Sundays during a Season of Creation is written in the form of a skit with three characters: a scientist (microbiologist), a student, and a friendly colony of microbiota. Elements of our liturgy during this series are excerpted from several sources, including worship materials that were used at the May 2017 Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Windhoek, Namibia. This assembly gathered representatives of the world’s 72 million Lutherans from 143 countries. One of the subthemes of the gathering was: Earth is Not for Sale. The music for this Season of Creation includes tunes and lyrics from India, the Philippines, Guatemala, England, the Muskogee Tribe, and the United States.

THE FIRST THEME: MICROBIOTA
A microbiota is “the ecological community of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms that literally share our body space.” Joshua Lederberg coined the term, arguing the importance of microorganisms inhabiting the human body in health and disease.

Many scientific articles distinguish "microbiome" and "microbiota" to describe either the collective genomes of the microorganisms that reside in an environmental niche or the microorganisms themselves, respectively.

During this season we will explore how connected we are at every level of existence. From the smallest form of microorganism to the largest stellar galaxy we are, by God’s design, connected to one another.

Following the skit presentation, we invited members of our multi-generational congregation forward to round tables in our chancel which were stocked with microscopes, magnifying lenses, leafs, feathers, worms, crab shells, and barnacle encrusted rocks, etc., so that they could have a first hand experience of exploring a few of the small things that are part of our local world.