Fear not, rejoice and be glad!

Fear not, rejoice and be glad!  Joel 2:21

Services this Sunday 15th September

St. Marys 10.00am  - Sung Holy Communion

All Saints 10.30am -  Harvest Holy Communion followed by Harvest Lunch

Donation of tinned and packet food welcome.

Donations to Christian Aid by envelope,  or  virtual envelope. Envelopes can be taken away and returned with a donation throughout September.

Greetings from Rev Diane

This Sunday sees the first of our Harvest Festival services – at All Saints at 10.30. Then next Sunday 22nd September  at 10.00 Harvest will be celebrated at St.Mary’s with the Guides.

I confess I remember hymns more than sermons from my childhood and I loved decorating the church for Harvest Festival, savouring all the colours and shapes of flowers, fruits and vegetables. I remember sitting next to the sheaf of oats attached to the end of my pew and enjoyed investigating and eating the flour inside the grains. Oats grow well in the Irish climate. 

My dad, a city boy from Belfast's Shankill Road, ended up as a Church of Ireland rector among farmers in South Armagh and Tyrone in the 60s and 70s. He was a good singer and a favourite harvest hymn of his was 'God whose farm is all creation' - partly because it was written by beloved cricket commentator of the day John Arlott.  In church we thanked God for the sights, sounds, scents and tastes of harvest - a welcome respite from the sectarian violence of the Troubles. 

Today we continue to live in a world of both bounty and scarcity, peace and war, reassurance and uncertainty.  And yet as Arlott's hymn says, God takes our 'hopes and fears of sun and rain', ‘all our thinking, planning, waiting',  still ripening the fruits and grains. God is good. All the time. He rewards the farmers’ labour –  their ‘calendar of care’, as Arlott describes it.

Harvest reminds us to give something back out of what we have generously received from God. 

Our thoughts turn to people who lack food and financial resources both locally and across the world. 

So throughout the Benefice of All Saints and St Mary’s we are offering two ways to give to others this harvest.

1) by donating tinned and packaged long life foods for local foodbanks 

2) make a donation to Christian Aid - by virtual envelope or envelope in church.

Christian Aid works with communities to help mitigate the effects of climate change by using alternative crops and farming methods. The charity supports the relief effort in Gaza and places on the brink of famine and advocates for climate justice worldwide. 

In the  Week Ahead

Mon 16th	10:30am	Tiny Tots	All Saints
Tues 17th	10:30am	Music 4 Toddlers	St Marys
Weds 18th	9:00am	Celtic Prayers	All Saints
Thurs 19th	10:00am	Holy Communion	St Marys
Fri 20th	11:00am	Living After Loss	St Marys
Sat 21st	12noon	Saturday Lunches	St Marys
Sun 22nd	8:00am	Holy Communion	All Saints
	10:00am	Harvest Holy Communion	St Marys
	10:30am	Café Church (King David’s legacy)	All Saints

Thank you for sending rain and sunshine 

Thank you for giving harvest growth

Thank you that we can share our food

With those who need it most!