Harvest Milford on Sea

We held our Harvest Festival service on Sunday 11th October when people attending were invited to bring along donations that could be passed onto the New Forest Basics Bank. A wonderful array of packets and tins of food along with a variety of toiletries were collected and delivered to the New Forest Basics Bank hub in Lymington the following day.

The service was led by our minister, Revd Andrew Pottage and his theme for the day was “Education – a harvest that lasts” and this was developed through the readings, prayers and his talk. A short video produced by All We Can highlighted the work of its partner agency Pikin-to-Pikin in providing education to children in Sierra Leone. We will be holding a collection for All We Can at our carol service in December.

One of the Bible readings was Ezekiel Chapter 47 verses 1-12 and concerns the stream flowing from the temple. To help people visualise this, we recreated the stream and some of the life that flows in it at the front of the church as can be seen in the photo. The footprints were given out to everyone, and they were asked to write on them, the name of someone that they wished to pray for, and a concern that they had for which prayer was needed.

The service also included the receiving of over 30 shoeboxes that had been filled by the church’s members during the previous month as our contribution to Operation Christmas Child, which is run each year by the charity, Samaritan’s Purse. Our grateful thanks go to Avril Armstrong who was the organiser for the shoebox project. The shoeboxes and the gifts for the New Forest Basics Bank were blessed by the minister before they were sent on their way.

After the service, we held a Harvest lunch which was enjoyed by all of those who stayed.