I’m writing this on Monday morning, following a fabulously chaotic and fun Harvest Festival weekend. If you haven’t been around then you’ve missed out on a rare treat!

 The last few Monday afternoons have seen some of us gathering together in the New Room to make butterflies out of card and old sweet wrappers and, although fewer people got involved than I’d hoped, we still managed to create almost one hundred of these. Once transformed into invitations to our Harvest weekend events they were delivered to local houses.

It might sound scary, knocking on doors and telling people what goes on in the ‘big church on the corner,’ but we were met with curiosity, smiles and promises of Foodbank donations which were fulfilled on Saturday when, after a shaken start, a small stream of new friends popped in with bags and boxes of food. People wanted to hear about what we were doing as a church in the community – it was a privilege to have those conversations. All in all, between the Saturday and Sunday donations, we collected enough food to feed 7 families for 3 days. That’s huge. Make no mistake.

And then there was Sunday and a service that will live long in my memory at least. With the enthusiastic help of the junior church, the encouragement of the adults, and rather a lot of artistic license we managed to produce a unique but certainly recognisable Harvest Loaf! This loaf serves as a symbol of our thankfulness for all that God has given us, a reminder that we are bound together by God, and are connected to Christians past, present and future, and a challenge to share what we have with others who have less.

As to the lunch, what else is there to say but a resounding ‘thank you’ to all those who contributed to the buffet and to the company. It was an extraordinary spread made holy by the friends who gathered around the table.

All round, this weekend has certainly offered a glimpse, I think, of the Kingdom.

Please let me, or one of the Stewards, know if you would like to be involved in planning the Christmas events!

Love and blessings,

Laura