Monday 30 September 2013

The first harvest festival



There is nothing like a busy day and a good night's rest to put life in perspective! The first of several benefice harvest services is over. The small village church was alive with flower arrangers on Saturday and people bringing donations of fresh produce. It certainly looked like a bumper year for crops. The Rectory garden was able to provide raspberries, sweet corn, runner beans, apples, tomatoes and spinach. This is the first time I have had a garden harvest for many years. Being new in the village, I was aware that people have been decorating the churches for years and I didn't even realise they had started until the Rector@6 happened to pop in and found a hive of industry. I did know that there wasn't a regular harvest loaf maker so I decided to spend my Saturday morning making one. Kneading bread must be one of the most therapeutic activities there is! All those teaching years with salt dough and play dough paid off, and I was pleased with the result.

The church really did look splendid. In a village surrounded by farms, there is a particular relevance to Harvest festivals. We have all witnessed the long hours the farmers have worked to bring in the crops as the tractors thundered through the village to empty their trailers. We have watched the changes in the weather - hoping that it won't affect the yields. The fields are already ploughed and replanted and so the landscape has changed through a spectrum of colours from the green ripening shoots, to the golden stalks, to the dusky yellowing stubble and back to the rich brown or chalky white soil that village is built on. The flower displays reflected all these colours and also remembered the harvesting of the sea with some poor little sardines that had been washed up on a beach and brought back to the village, dried and added to the church displays!

A traditional service attracted regular and not so regular churchgoers and the church was full. What a difference it makes to sing hymns of praise with so many voices! If only these rural churches were full more often as they can radiate such warmth and sense of community. Yet many people are moving away from wanting to recognise or believe in a God who loves them. Attending church doesn't seem relevant to their lives as they are struggling to make ends meet or are busy working to provide for their families. And yet this church will be busy on Monday morning with people coming for a chat and coffee at the regular coffee morning and bric-a-brac stall run to support the church building fund. The harvest lunch that followed the service, was bustling with people. So I suppose the Church has to look at its changing role in these small communities. It is very much wanted to carry out the 'matching and dispatching' of parishioners. It is wanted for traditional festivals like Easter, Christmas and Harvest. It is wanted because it is there and has been there for hundreds of years. It's strange how the focus of a church very quickly becomes fund raising and then they are perceived as always chasing money. Perhaps it is even more important for rural churches to turn and look outside the doors of these beautiful buildings and seek out where they can serve best.


I nearly forgot to mention that on our return from holiday, we had difficulty getting to the rectory front door due to the arrival of fifty or sixty yellow squashes that seemed to be breeding on the doorstep! They had been there all weekend. Nobody will own up to  placing them there ....so we can't thank them but they made us laugh!

12 comments:

  1. What a fantastic harvest loaf! Well done. I'm glad to hear things feel more positive now and that you enjoyed your first Harvest Festival. It really matters to country people and we need to meet them there.

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    1. Oh yes , the service had to be just right ( traditional ) but a few modern bits were squeezed in with no complaints so far.

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  2. What lovely photos from one of your churches. I'm also intrigued by the 'great squash mystery'.... Do let us know if you find out any further information! Jx

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    1. I didn't notice they were put like a smiley face, with the marrows as the eyes. We have a likely suspect now. After all, you can't grow that many squashes without someone noticing.

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  3. The church is beautiful ... bountiful as well. Your posting brought back memories of singing Bringing in the Sheaves one of my favourite hymns:) Sadly the church where we sang that so lustily is now no longer due to falling numbers:(
    Loved the squashes on your doorstep. I imagine that before the year is over someone will let slip over their appearance.

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  4. What a shame these churches close but the maintenance is such a burden. I think this village is on the right lines by fund raising to put in a kitchen so it is easier to use. People don't want to see it close but are no longer needing it for it's primary purpose. Lot's of good, loud songs of praise services might do the job! I shall have to look up 'bringing in the sheaves' - I don't know it.

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  5. Any of the parishes Dibley? Love that show every Sunday evening here in the US.

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    1. Hi Donna, they could be! We have a similar interesting mix of people in each parish. That's rural England for you ...and you have to be able to have a laugh now and then.

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  6. All so beautiful. LOVE your squashed doorstep!

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    1. How lovely to hear from you - thank you for your comments. We were impressed by the creative element - my husband was sure the squashes were set out as a smiley face.

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  7. Hello! I just wanted to leave a comment to say how very much I'm enjoying your blog. I'm also a minister's wife, although in the Methodist church and across the ocean in Canada, and it's so nice to find women in similar lives near and far. And what lovely pictures you take. All the best - I'll keep reading away.

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    1. Hello - it is so kind of you to comment - I always wonder if I am reaching other 'spouses' of ministers. I needed their support when I started in this life as I was so unprepared for it. It's even more special to hear from you across the water! Do keep reading and adding your comments.

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