Vicar's View

Autumn – a time of change   

As I look out of my window the leaves are already turning to that golden brown that heralds the change in the season that is Autumn. It is a time that allows us to look back and thank God for all he has provided in the year, or years, gone by and to open ourselves to the possibility of being changed ourselves. 

We are celebrating our Harvest Festival on 5th October at the 10am service. We might think this has always happened and yes, the Harvest Festival is one of the oldest known festivals, traditionally held on or near the Sunday of the Harvest Moon. This moon is the full moon around the time of the Autumn Equinox in September. The celebration of Harvest in Britain dates back to pre-Christian times when the success of the crop governed the lives of the people. These pagan traditions continued after Christianity arrived in Britain, sometimes in a slightly different form and there were ceremonies and rituals at the beginning as well as the end of the harvest and church bells were rung on every day of the harvest. A corn dolly was made from the last sheaf of corn harvested which was held aloft and carried with great ceremony to the celebrations. The horse bringing the last cart load was decorated with garlands of flowers and colourful ribbons. A magnificent harvest feast was held at the farmer's house and games played to celebrate the end of the harvest. 

However, the tradition of celebrating Harvest Festival in churches only began in 1843, when the Reverend Robert Hawker invited parishioners to a special thanksgiving service at his church at Morwenstow in Cornwall.

He was an eccentric Victorian vicar who, amongst other things built a hut out of driftwood into the side of a cliffs where he composed poetry and entertained guests including Charles Kingsley and Alfred Lord Tennyson. The hut is still there and is the smallest property in Britain looked after by the National Trust. This revival of Harvest Festivals led to the custom of decorating churches with home-grown produce for the service. Traditionally children took part by bringing gifts of fruit and vegetables to church and presenting them during the harvest service whilst singing the harvest hymn: 



'We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand'. 

This year the theme for Praise@10 on 28th September is ‘bread’ and the theme on 5th October is ‘wine’ both being prepared from God’s blessing of harvests of grain and grapes. Thanking God for his provision is still at the heart of what we do in our Harvest Festival. Instead of perishables, we ask that you bring items such as tinned and dried food. After the service, these gifts will be distributed to the local food banks. 

Martin