Minister's Monthly Letter - October

Dear Friends,

I’m writing this with Harvest Festival services coming up soon. This last year has been a difficult time for many farmers in this country, with the long hot, dry period affecting their crops and animals and posing risks of fire. During the summer, some farmers have had to feed their livestock some of their winter feed because their yields were so reduced. But in the last few weeks there has been plenty of rain and some of the fruit crops in gardens and allotments have been very abundant. There seem to be plenty of apples and plums!

We recognise our dependence on the weather and the rhythm of the seasons, on the land and the work of farmers both here and abroad. We are reminded too that we are stewards in God’s world, with responsibility to care for it. Harvest is an opportunity to thank God for our daily food in all its variety. For many of us who buy most of our food in supermarkets, we are often very removed from the sources of our food, and harvest festival is an important time to thank God for our food and for those who grow, harvest, transport, package and prepare the food that we eat.

Harvest is also a sharp reminder of the many people who do not have enough to eat and in our harvest festivals, we will be thinking about people in some of the poorest countries in the world, who struggle to survive on their land. It’s an opportunity to support charities such as Christian Aid and All We Can (the Methodist Relief and Development Fund), who work with partner organisations to provide training and resources to help alleviate poverty.

We will also be trying to help those much nearer home, in our own city, who often go hungry. Here, as in many churches, we will bring gifts of tins and packets of food to donate to the Food Bank. Food banks have been growing rapidly across the country in recent years as voluntary groups, including many churches, are working together to provide food parcels for people who are struggling to have enough to eat. It is deeply disturbing that in the UK, which is one of the richest countries in the world, nearly one and a half million people were last year reliant on emergency food support through food banks. Some of those who are going hungry are also working, but on very low incomes. Many of those who rely on food banks have suffered family crisis or have been unable to obtain the welfare they need. There are growing concerns over the rollout of universal credit, which has been identified as a significant factor in the rise in food bank use.

As well as supporting the Food Bank, are we also restless to see changes in policies in our welfare system to provide better support for the most vulnerable in our society so that food banks are no longer needed? The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, addressed the TUC recently about food poverty and homelessness and referred to words from the Bible in the book of Amos, “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” He called for us to work for the day when food banks would be put out of business, night shelters would be empty, debt advice charities would be without clients and people would recover hope of better lives for themselves and their children.

This harvest, as we give thanks to God for our food, we pray that we will be committed to working for a more just society, where no one is hungry.

In our world-wide task of caring
for the hungry and despairing,
in the harvests we are sharing,
God’s will is done. (STF 729)

Every blessing,
Katherine