Harvest Festival
20th September 2009 at 10.30 am
at St Peter's Church, Swepstone

Images and Commentary by
Site Editor: Louise Smedley-Hampson
All unauthorised reproduction strictly prohibited
Service copyright "The Appleby Group" and the Church of England

Parents, guardians, carers and the children themselves, were consulted before photos were taken

"The Land has yielded its harvest; God, our God, has blessed us." (Psalm 67:6)

Sunday 20th September 2009, was an unusually warm, sunny, golden day of the sort most of us wish we had seen more of in July. It was a pleasure to greet the many people of all ages, who walked through the great arched, oak door.

As I sat in church waiting for the Harvest Festival to commence, I thought about all the ceremonies which must have taken place throughout the long years since Saxon times. It is a time of gaiety and rejoicing as 'all is safely gathered in.' There is so much to look at and absorb inside church, even for the people who were present. These notes and photographs help to share the pleasure of the feast day, all over again.

After the service, coffee and biscuits were served, giving everyone a chance to chat and catch up with each other. A gentleman approached me, taking both my hands in his. He said "I consider it a real privilege to live in Swepstone, where there are so many kind and caring people and a church that can organise a wonderful event like this."

The processional hymn, during which harvest gifts were brought forward was:-

Come, ye thankful people, come,
raise the song of harvest home!
All is safely gathered in,
ere, the winter storms begin;
God our maker, doth provide
for our wants to be supplied;
come to God's own temple come;
raise the song of harvest home.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

For the rich soil of the countryside, for good seed, and for the green corn springing out of the earth,
we thank you O God, and praise your holy name.

For the warm sweetness of the fertile rain,
for the hot days of ripening sun, and the harvest,
we thank you O God, and praise your holy name.

For the yield of the forests, the earth and the sea,
we thank you O God, and praise your holy name.

For all who work on the land, in the mines,
or on the waters,
we thank you O God and praise your holy name.

For these and all your blessings we make our harvest thanksgiving, and give you all the glory.

AMEN

Percussion instruments were handed out and a lively, easy to follow hymn was sung "Thank you Lord for this new day".

Daphne and Eileen brought the Sunday Club children forward to the chancel steps, each child holding a large coloured alphabet letter, from which they read:

H is for hard work, honey, hips, hedgehogs, hops
A is for apples, acorns, autumn and animals hibernating
R is for rich colours, radishes, red, rocket lettuce, reaping
V is for vegetables and variety
E is for exhausting work for farmers; everything growing and harvested
S is for seeds, sharing, squirrels collecting nuts for winter
T is for trees changing colour, tomatoes ripening and thanking God for his good work.

The Bible reading, read by Nurse Jo, was selected from Deuteronomy 26:1-11 and told how the Israelites in the time of Moses, celebrated settling down in the promised land and bringing in their first crops.

Reverend Stella Polashek who was officiating, asked the children present if they had eaten toast for breakfast?

Stella asked "What is toast made of?"
Children: "bread".
Stella: "Who do we have to thank for buying the bread?"
Children "Mum and Dad"
Stella: "Where did Mum and Dad buy the bread?"
Children: "Tesco/from a shop"
Stella: "Who made the bread for the shop?"
Children: "The baker"
Stella: "Who ground the flour to make into bread?"
Children: "The Miller"
Stella: "Who gave the Miller the grain to grind?"
Children: "The Farmer"
Stella: "Who made the weather and the earth for the farmer to grow his crops?"
Children: "God"
Stella: "So we have a long list of people to thank for that breakfast toast, but the list always comes back to God. We need to make this special time of harvest to thank God for everything he has given to us."

This hymn followed "All that I am, all that I do,
all that I'll ever have, I offer now to you".

Prayer

We confess to the Lord of the harvest
that we are people who are
eager to improve our lives,
but slow to improve our world;
eager to enjoy the comforts of the world's resources,
but slow to stop the suffering of the world's poorest;
eager to do well,
but slow to do good.
We pray to God to forgive us,
To change us,
And to show us a better way.
O Lord of the rich and poor,
Have mercy on us we pray.
AMEN

The Lord's Prayer was said by the congregation.

It was then back to the children of the Sunday Club, who returned to the chancel steps with Eileen, whilst Tricia sat down at the piano. They sang together "Orange, Yellow and Brown", a song of autumn.

Hymn

"We plough the fields and scatter
the good seed on the land,
but it is fed and watered
by God's almighty hand:
he sends the snow in winter,
the warmth to swell the grain,
the breezes and the sunshine,
and soft refreshing rain.

All good gifts around us
are sent from heav'n above;
then thank the Lord,
O thank the Lord,
for all his love."

Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God,
we offer you our hearty thanks
for your fatherly goodness and care
in giving us the fruits of the earth
in their seasons.
Give us grace to use them rightly,
to your glory,
for our own well-being
and for the relief of those in need;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
AMEN

Hymn

You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace,
and the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you.
There'll be shouts of joy and the trees of the field
shall clap, shall clap their hands.
And the trees of the field shall clap their hands,
and the trees of the field shall clap their hands,
and the trees of the field shall clap their hands,
and you'll go out with joy.