At this time of year we celebrate Harvest Festival. We give thanks to God for the blessings of food, comfort and joy.

We live in a country, and a world, with high and increasing rates of agricultural productivity and food yields. And yet global hunger is again on the rise, with one in nine of our fellow human beings undernourished.

And it is not only food. For all our science, our social care, and our understanding of psychology, there are more than 300 million people around the world affected by depression, and close to 800,000 people die each year at their own hand.

God has provided so much opportunity, but we struggle to share it equitably with others. And so we fail to live the dream of our plenteous harvest.

“We eat while others are hungry, we laugh while others are sad. For what we have we are thankful. Grant us to remember what others have not, and, where we can, to restore it”. (Morris West, Harlequin)

So, we are doing it a little differently this year. Instead of bringing food gifts to place before the altar, we will give the value of our shopping basket in a cash collection for the Christian AId Middle East Humanitarian Appeal (see here: https://www.christianaid.org.uk/appeals/emergencies/dec-middle-east-humanitarian-appeal). And, in front of the altar we will display branches of olives, walnuts, almonds, grapes of whatever people can bring. 🫒🌰🍇

Click the link below to see Look at the World, a Harvest Anthem by John Rutter. We will be singing this as a hymn!