Harvest home

ON a glorious blue-sky autumn afternoon members and guests gathered at Trafalgar Square’s splendid Saint Martin-in-the-Fields church to celebrate harvest home and hear a powerful address from the Bishop of London.

Land has always been pivotal to the relationship between society and the poor, said the Rt Revd Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE. But with that connection now largely fractured there is an urgent need to reconnect, to benefit the millions on the margins of society.

Masters from various City Livery Companies joined Club Chairman John Lee, members and guests, for a splendid service led by St Martin’s Reverend Richard Carter. He offered powerful prayers of thanks for the harvest, for all farming does, and for support through difficult times, including mental ill-health, climate change and turbulent markets.

Harvest home was celebrated with five baskets of produce carried to the altar by committee members, and readings from 2022 Chairman John Lee and 2023 Chairman Designate Meurig Raymond. The church’s magnificent surroundings reverberated to glorious singing from St Martin’s Voices choir, including Francis Jackson’s canticle Benedicite in G Major.

In 1222 a church dispute over the right to income from fields between St Martin’s and what is now Covent Garden highlighted the importance of land. Land was important in Medieval times, just as it is now. And Bible times were no different.

Two and a half years spent in Devon as bishop of Crediton helped “this uptown girl” better understand farming, agricultural communities, and all they do for the nation, reflected Bishop Mullally. “There is so much to learn.”

At the mid-Devon show watching Red Ruby cattle judging she voiced a preference for “the deepest red bull”. A bystander observed she probably knew more than the judge that day!

Through the Old Testament the link between God, the land and people was clear. God’s people were rooted in the land, established in the land, and the land provided their sustenance. Giving thanks for the harvest was a priority, and uniting to help the poor a natural response.

In Bible times, and in Medieval times, the impact on the marginalised was clear for all to see. But as society moved away from the land, has it also become distanced from those who struggle to feed, clothe and heat themselves? In the UK 14 million people live in poverty, 4.5 million of them children.

Meeting the needs of the marginalised is a challenge for all society. Better understanding farming could help. Just 22% of UK people have ever visited a farm, 5% of children think strawberries originate in fridges.

In rural areas the hands of those attending communion are strikingly different to city congregations. The manual effort is evident. Reconnecting with the land could help society recognise its role in supporting the marginalised. God, the land and people.

But access to perishable food is not the whole story. Spiritual food, bread from heaven, revealed in Christ, is crucial too. “We need regard for both,” Revd Mullally concluded.

Food ingredients from UK farms took centre stage in a wonderful Harvest Festival Supper at the Club, created by Head Chef & Director of Food Paul Hogben and his team.

The Farmers Suite pulsated to the sound of energised conversations as fellowships were renewed and the state of farming and rural life debated.

Yes, the backdrop was the exceptionally hot, dry summer, the looming challenge of farming with diminishing support payments, shifting environmental objectives, soaring energy costs and ever increasing input prices.

But a more sociable discussion flowed around the tables too – companionship pushed daily issues aside in favour of more relaxing conversations, over good food and good wine. The Farmers Club was doing what it does best! Reflecting on her elevation from Bishop of Crediton to Bishop of London, Bishop Mullally told {italics}Devon Life{italics}: “I have learned so much…….. particularly from the farming community, whose resilience and sense of calling to their own work has been inspirational.” In September 2015 she was the first woman to lead a Church of England ordination service, she is a Privy Counsellor, Lord Spiritual in the House of Lords, and the first female Dean of the Chapel Royal. A former Chief Nursing Officer for England she was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to nursing and midwifery.

Eternal God, you crown the year with your goodness and you give us the fruits of the earth in their season: grant that we may use them to your glory, for the relief of those in need and for our own well-being; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

STARTERS Free Range Yorkshire Pork, Maple, Sage & Bacon Sausage Roll Blue Cheese Mousse, Red Wine Poached Pear, Grapes, & Chicory, Broken Walnuts (v) Homemade Soup of the Day (v) Ham, Egg & Chips The Farmers Club way!

MAINS Chalk Stream Trout, Mussels & Haricot Beans, Shellfish Cream Swede & Prune Bake, Squash & Roast Roots, Piccalilli Sauce (v) Suffolk Tomahawk Cutlet, Woodland Mushroom Cream

DESSERTS British Cheese Selection, Artisan Crackers, Club Chutney Apple & Blackberry Crumble, Custard Sauce Caramelised Pear Set Cream, Whey Cheese Ice Cream