On Sunday 2nd October
RE:NEW will be joining with Holy Trinity in Bottisham for an all-age harvest
celebration. We’ll have representatives from the local charity, Red2Green, and
pupils from the Eco-Council at Bottisham Primary School. Both will be sharing
with us their experiences of sowing seeds, watching the plants grow, and then
reaping the fully grown produce at harvest time.
Throughout the year I often enjoy
looking out of my window and watching the farmer tend his crops of wheat, barley
or sugar beet. Sometimes, however, it’s only when we see the price of a loaf of
bread going up, and hear on the news that this is the consequence of a poor
wheat harvest, that we are reminded of the processes that put our food on the
table. Yet, in so many places around the world, people are acutely aware of how
dependent we are upon the land, and on the rain that waters it.
We were pleased to send a
donation to the East Africa Famine Appeal after the ‘Cruising with Noah’
musical staged at our holiday club in July. I want to thank the 40 children who
performed, as well as the families and friends who enjoyed the performance and
contributed to the offering which was sent to Tearfund. We had a great time on
the day of the performance and many of the families stayed afterwards for a
picnic, and a bounce on the bouncy castle.
One of the acts at the centre of
the Christian experience is the breaking and sharing of bread. Whilst in our
churches we celebrate the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, with liturgy and ceremony,
the Bible warns us that such religion is worthless if it doesn’t cause us to
‘share our bread’ in more practical ways. In the Bible, when God’s people pretended
to be pious, and yet were neglecting the needs of the poor, He told them: 'I
hate your religious festivals; stop your noisy songs; instead, let justice roll
like a river, and righteousness like a stream that never runs dry.’ (Amos
5, 21 – 24)
Harvest is not only a time for us
to thank God for providing us with our daily bread, it is also an opportunity
for us to share that bread with others. We hope you’ll be able to join us for
our all-age harvest service, or at the school for one of our other services
during the month.
