On Sunday 11th October, we celebrated our Harvest Thanksgiving at St. Cross.
In the midst of the current Coronavirus pandemic we enjoyed a very well attended (socially distanced of course) Family Eucharist. Gifts of non-perishable foods were brought and these will be distributed to 'The Welcome' Food Distribution Centre on Longridge. Thanks to our talented flower arrangers the beauty of God's creation was there for all to see in the floral display, but also in the bouquets that were distributed to the recently bereaved, the housebound and those self-isolating at the present time.
The Harvest Service is always a popular one for our younger members. Mary gave the illustrated talk and highlighted for us the injustice of 785 million people worldwide who do not have convenient access to clean water, and shared examples of this. In the current times of this virus, comes an even greater need of good sanitisation. Many people's lives have been touched by WaterAid whose mission it is to ensure the whole world can have access to clean water. A collection bucket is in church for three weeks for the congregation to donate to WaterAid. (update: the collection raised £350 for WaterAid)
Thank you to everyone who helped to make today so special. Let's hope the gifts of our food, the donations for clean water and the bouquets that were delivered can help to make a difference and help people to know that they are loved by God.
Pictured below is Mary with the food bin full of Harvest Gifts for delivery to Hope Central at 'The Welcome'.
