This year St Mary in Charnwood decided to do something a little different for their Harvest service and enjoyed a celebration in the barn at a neighbouring farm. Marie and Chris at Home Farm kindly welcomed the congregation in, scrubbing the barn clean in preparation and even generously laying stones over the muddy areas to ensure safe access. The Kegworth and Hathern Benefice were also generous in ‘lending’ Val, an accordion player who regularly plays for their services.
St Mary in Charnwood's church building is small, so the community enjoyed being able to gather safely in larger numbers and without facemasks. The team also sent invitations out to all of their church connections including the school and scout groups and were pleased to welcome some new families as well as others they hadn't seen for some time. This was particularly encouraging during this period when things have felt so vulnerable. Not all of the church's regular members have yet returned to worship in the building and so the community are having to re-discover who they are and what God is calling them to in this new season.
Donations of food were given for Project 5000 who offer support to local homeless people, and financial donations were invited for the Christian Aid Harvest Appeal. During the service the congregation also learned about a women’s group in Malawi harvesting fruit from the Baobab tree to support their families and even got to try some Baobab juice as part of a fruit-tasting activity! After the service, there was an optional walk through the walled garden and woodland of neighbouring Nanpantan Hall to the church grounds where tea and coffee was served along with delicious cakes. All-in-all a good time was had by all and the team are already thinking about what we do next year!