Harvest at BJCC

Harvest at BJCC

It's harvest time.

Well, it is and it isn't. Out there, in the fields around Burton Joyce, the combines have been at work. What with the exceptionally dry weather and everything, wheat and barley have been cut even earlier than usual this year. The harvest started in July.

However, in the church here at BJCC, our harvest festival is scheduled for October:

Harvest Festival: Sunday 14th October 2018
Sunday worship with a hot lunch after the service

 Are we out of step? 

By October, the harvest will have been well and truly gathered in: apples, plums and pears as well as the cereal crops like wheat and barley and maize. You can check out our Harvest Festival and other events on the Throughout the year page.

We have this poster outside our church this week:

 
Anyway, what does harvest mean anymore in our urban, post-industrial, 24 hour society? 

The Wikipedia entry on harvest contains a reminder that crops can fail. Historically, and even today Geographically, crop failure has meant (means) famine and starvation. Even in our 24 hour, post-industrial, urban society, we are still dependent on the harvest, even if we prefer to pretend that we are beyond all that. Harvest, wherever it takes place, and the subsequent arrangements for the distribution of the crops, underpin our daily or weekly visit to the supermarket. 

Of course, some people, many people, do not enjoy the privileges we have. They do not have what we call 'food security'. Often, they go without. Often, children go hungry. That is why, as a church at BJCC, we support charities like the local Foodbank and Christian Aid.

We have good reason to be thankful: thankful that the crops grow, thankful for (to) the people who plant, watch and gather them in, thankful that someone transports the crops to us, thankful that someone works in our local store. There is so much to be thankful for.

But this year, more than ever, we have been reminded to be thankful for the rain, and the sun, and the good earth without which we would starve.

And remember, Harvest Festival is on Sunday October 14th. See you there!



Footnote:
Here's a relevant blogpost about looking after the soil from the Easton Estate near Stamford in Lincolnshire. And here's a link to Friends of the Earth if you want to learn more about how we can look after the earth.