Harvest Festivals are a time of joy, thankfulness and giving within our churches, schools and communities. Across our diocese, we have enjoyed hearing how our parishes have been celebrating God’s gifts in different ways and the spirit of sharing and generosity towards one another and those in need.
Parish of Four Saints, Bournemouth
The Parish of Four Saints came together to celebrate Harvest and St Francis-tide at St Francis of Assisi Church in Charminster, one of the four churches in the parish.
The congregation was joined by local uniformed organisations including the Sea-Scouts, Scouts, Cubs, Beavers and Squirrels. During the service there was a collection for the Bournemouth Foodbank.
The parish recently changed its worship pattern with congregations from across the parish joining together on the first Sunday of each month. The new inter-generational communion service has contributions from both younger people and older members of the church community.
In September the focus was on Jesus calming the storm with a blessing of school backpacks and in October it focused on God’s creation. The Parish also hosted a Pet Service at St Francis as a celebration of creation, and the joy pets bring.
Revd Canon Michael Smith, Rector of the Parish of Four Saints, said, “Celebrating harvest is so important to us as a church community to remind us of the importance of the care of God’s creation and what our response to climate change should be. As a parish that engages with A Rocha and Eco Church, it is an important time in our calendar. Through food collections we are also able to help support the local foodbank.”
The Parish also welcomed local schools. Queens Park Academy visited St Francis Church to learn more about the need to care for creation and Moordown St John’s School held their harvest services at St John’s Church.
St Leonard’s, Sherfield on Loddon
After the Harvest celebration at St Leonard’s Church, more than 40 people came together for lunch in the church annex. Thanks were given to everyone who gave their time to prepare, cook and serve the meal.
PCC member John Moule said, “It was a vibrant atmosphere filled with laughter and conversation. Our meal was a delightful surprise to many, featuring a two-course menu that went well beyond the expected cheese and bread! The lively chatter and glowing smiles throughout the room reflected the warmth, love, and sense of belonging that define our Sherfield Parish community.”
The children of Kids Church joined with the congregation at St Leonard’s and played a key part in the service.
John continued, “At St Leonard’s, we are committed to spreading the word of Jesus Christ through meaningful social events and by fostering a genuine sense of family.” John continued “People often tell us how much they value the welcoming spirit at these gatherings, and we believe this is God working through us, bringing together individuals from all walks of life to celebrate unity and love. St. Leonard’s has served the local area for over 900 years, and these community events remain at the heart of our mission. We are already planning our next one.”
Christ Church, Freemantle
Harvest was celebrated with the church’s first international service. It was run entirely by members of the congregation from across the globe including Nigerian worship with drumming. Readings and prayers were said in different languages and translated into English, to capture the wide diversity within this Southampton church.
The congregation also shared an international meal prepared by different people.
The international service will now take place once a month and will be advertised locally to reach people of all nationalities within the community.
Revd Karen Linington said, “It’s all about giving people a space where they belong, to feel part of the service and feel needed. Before this service, many of the international community were hesitant about stepping up and now they have increased confidence. It’s important for our children to see faces from all over the world leading at the front”.
Holy Epiphany, Bournemouth
Dogs, a tortoise, a hamster and some large African Snails were brought to Holy Epiphany in Bournemouth for their Harvest and Blessing of Pets service.
The local Brownie and Rainbow groups joined the Breakfast Praise service. Donations of tinned and packet foods were made for the local foodbank.
Revd Canon Helen Griffiss, Priest-in-Charge at Holy Epiphany, said, “The Harvest celebration and pet service combined to make a morning of worship and fun for all age groups of people, including Rainbows and Brownies and 20 pets at Holy Epiphany Church in Bournemouth. A tortoise, two snails, guinea pigs and many dogs joined in the worship with humans, to give thanks for God’s wonderful world. The Brownies led the prayers, creating a leaf prayer tree, and our drummer had made bread from local flour which was shared amongst everyone.”
Anna Benefice
Messy Church is held at Abbotts Ann War Memorial Hall on the second Sunday of every other month and regularly welcomes around 16 to 28 children, along with parents and grandparents. This month they celebrated harvest. They talked about farming, autumn leaves and caring for the wildlife and they created apple bird feeders.
Revd Teresa Townsend said, “Building on our church schools’ Harvest services, we heard the Parable of the Sower to help us understand what helps us grow – food, water, sunlight and love – and reminded everyone that Jesus’ love helps us grow too because he is the light of the world.
“Sharing a meal together at the end is always a highlight – a chance to chat, laugh and get to know families better in a relaxed, friendly way. It was wonderful to see some new faces this month, with comments shared such as ‘we didn’t know that you would do so many things for the children’, ‘we really look forward to coming every month’.
“Messy Church is one of the most important outreach activities that we do to engage children and families in the life of the church and in developing their understanding of Jesus. We are excited to see how God continues to grow our Messy Church family in the months ahead.”
Parish of Bentworth, Lasham and Shalden
The church of St Peter and St Paul in Shalden welcomed children from the local playgroup, the Shalden Beehive who brought donations of produce and tinned goods for the Alton Foodbank, which were added to those collected by the church congregation.
The church also celebrated with a traditional service, followed by a Harvest meal in the village hall. A raffle was held with proceeds towards the church fabric and organ fund.
Maybush Parish and Southampton City Farm
Maybush Parish joined with Southampton City Farm and Oasis Church for their first Harvest celebration on a farm. It was a chance to reflect and be thankful in God’s creation.
Despite the rain more than 30 people of all ages gathered. Around the farm there were different activities including a challenge to see who could peel an apple to get the longest single piece of peel, making a bug hotel in the garden and making sun catchers with the autumn leaves. There was also an opportunity to meet the animals.
Lizzie Whitbread, Strategic Community Development Lead for Oasis Southampton, said, “The activities were designed to help people slow down, pause and notice what is around them. Around the farm there were questions to help people consider inequality and our impact on the environment and how they might choose to act to help address that. We also invited people to write thoughts or prayers on leaves about anything they were thankful for or felt anxious about.
“The rain stopped our plan to end with a campfire but instead we gathered indoors for a hot chocolate and marshmallows, and ended with a reminder, to take away, of the peace that God can bring and a call to be thankful for all we have. It was a great time of all ages coming together and sharing in the peace of the farm and having an opportunity to reflect or pray in a different way. We are planning to run another reflective and celebratory event in the run up to Christmas.”
