Harvest Festival

For many churches autumn will prove to be a popular choice for a Giving in Grace programme and therefore planning groups will need to take Harvest Festival into account. Where Harvest is a major festival with possibilities for evangelism and welcome Giving in Grace may well be inappropriate. In other churches the Harvest themes of God’s provision, of gratitude and the bringing of our gifts in grateful response will offer rich teaching and liturgical possibilities for stewardship preaching. The following options should be considered. Doubtless others will suggest themselves to parishes.

• Explore the Harvest Festival resources in Preach Exodus! A standalone Harvest Festival Service with resources for all ages can be used independently of the preaching track followed. Based on the Feast of Shelters (or Tabernacles) which celebrates the harvest of fruits this Harvest resource can be adapted for Eucharistic or non Eucharistic worship and for adult worship, separate children’s groups and all together in church.
• Use Harvest to launch the programme. The harvest themes of God’s provision and our grateful response in bringing of our harvest gifts offers a model for what we teach in the area of financial stewardship. Harvest might be used to launch the preaching programme.
• Make Harvest the focus for the financial presentation. This financial presentation should take place at or towards the end of the preaching series. The theme of God’s abundant provision provides a sound theological basis for the challenge to provide the resources to sustain and develop the ministry and mission of the local church.
  
• Make Harvest the thanksgiving service. The Thanksgiving Service sets the date for returning the response forms. Set the date of Harvest two weeks after the end of the Giving in Grace preaching series. In the literature and preaching ask people to return their response forms before or on this Harvest Sunday. The response forms are offered, along with the gifts of food, within the Harvest liturgy. Where harvest is later in the autumn this offers the simplest solution to incorporating Harvest within Giving in Grace and in the majority of churches will include both children and adults at least for that part of the service.