A View From The Vicarage

I am writing this introduction to The Dever on a beautiful Sunday afternoon having just returned from the Harvest Festival at All Saints, East Strattonmy third Harvest Festival of the season. And, Harvest Festivals (services where we celebrate and give thanks to God for the harvest) have been taking place at all churches and in all communities across The Dever Benefice.

When we celebrate and give thanks for the harvest we are indeed giving thanks to God for our local farmers, farm workers and food producers on our arable, livestock and poultry farms. Farms that surround each and every community from Woodmancote to South Wonston to produce the food that nourishes us and sustains us physically. But as we gathered this year in brilliantly decorated churches and in fields, we did so when access to food has become a little more difficult for some and significantly difficult for others. The war in Ukraine has severed the supply of wheat and grain destined to feed the world’s poor – it is these people, already desperate, who are now living with the threat of starvation and destitution. And, closer to home as a result of the cost of living crisis, there will be family and friends, people whom we know and love, who will be making choices that they have never made before: how much food can we afford? Should I miss a meal to save money? Is it time to ask for help from a food bank?

There will be people in our villages, yes, even in our beautiful villages, who will be asking themselves these questions. As a group of rural churches, we are determined that no meal should be missed by anyone in our community. As a result, each rural church will stock a limited supply of donated basics that can be accessed by those in most need (each church will advertise on its notice board when the church will be open for collections).

But harvest is not just about the food that nourishes us and the food that sustains us physically, it is about the food that nourishes us and sustains us spiritually. In John’s Gospel, Jesus makes clear that in addition to the food that sustains us in our earthly life, he ‘is the bread of life [and that] whoever come to me will never be hungry again [and] whoever believes in me will never be thirsty’.

So, as we celebrate and give God for the harvest at this time, we are called to ensure that all within our communities have enough food for nourishment and sustenance. And, as Christians, we are called to celebrate and give thanks to God for revealing himself in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the eternal harvest.

Rev’d Dr Robert Rees The Dever Benefice