Dear friends,

October is the month in which we celebrate Harvest Festival in our churches. There are many traditions associated with this festival.

An early harvest used to be celebrated on August 1st and was called, “Lammas”, meaning, “Loaf Mass.” Farmers baked loaves of bread from the fresh wheat crop. These were given to the local church to be used as the Communion bread, during a special service of thanksgiving to God for the harvest.

By the 16th century, several customs seem to have become firmly established around the gathering of the final harvest. They include the reapers accompanying a fully laden, horse drawn cart, shouting, “Hooky, hooky.”

The horse was decorated with ribbons. The foremost of the reapers dressed extravagantly as, “Lord of the Harvest”. He usually asked for money from onlookers.

Farm workers celebrated the end of the harvest with a large meal, called the “Harvest Supper”, to which all, who had helped in the harvest, were invited. This was often accompanied by games. It was also known as, “The Mell Supper”, after the last patch of corn or wheat, known as, “the mell”, had been cut.

The modern tradition of celebrating the Harvest Festival in church began in 1838, when the Rev. Robert Hawke invited parishioners to a special thanksgiving service at his church in Morwenstow, Cornwall.

In more recent times, people brought produce from their gardens, allotments or farms. Typically, this was given away to local charities, hospitals and children’s homes.

As British people have come to rely less heavily on home-grown produce, there has been a shift in the emphasis of our Harvest Festivals. Increasingly churches recognise the difficulties of people in poorer countries, whose harvests have failed, for various reasons.

This year we have seen the impact of low rainfall and searing temperatures on the crops produced in this country, with farmers predicting decreased yields and consequently higher prices.

At our Harvest Festival we come together to thank God for the work of farmers, fishermen and all those who work to bring us our food. It is a time to appreciate our many blessings and to spare a thought for the millions around the world who do not share them.

Jesus frequently used references from agriculture and fishing in his teaching.

The disciples were called to become fishers of men.

In John 4:35 Jesus says,

“Four months more and then the harvest. I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are ripe for harvest.”

In Matthew 9:37-38 Jesus says,

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.”

It is important that we bring of our bounty to our Harvest festivals, but in these verses, we are being asked to offer ourselves, as workers in the kingdom, to reach out to those who have not yet heard the good news of Jesus Christ.

However you choose to celebrate Harvest in your church, I hope that it will be a very joyous occasion.

With best wishes,