Churches across the diocese celebrate Harvest in numerous different ways. For many of us, it is a time when new people or occasional attenders are in church so a great opportunity for mission and evangelism. We can also find ourselves under pressure to find ‘something different’ to say this year. The ideas below are designed to provide a few thoughts and ideas for you.
- Welcome – make it extra special. If you’re expecting extra people, have some welcomers to greet them and show them to their seat/pew so they’re not afraid of ‘sitting in the wrong place’. Explain the service as you go through it and do not presume they know what to do.Why not treat them to great refreshments – cakes or good quality biscuits to go with the drinks?
- The Arthur Rank Centre has numerous harvest worship resources, not only for rural churches. See here.
- Give them something to take away. A favourite of mine is a simple card with a bible verse on one side and some internet sites on the other. Perhaps choose a verse you are preaching on in the service. For more on how to do this go here
- The Farming Community Network (FCN) also produce Harvest materials; available here