When we immigrated to the U.S.A. we brought many of our U.K. traditions with us. We obviously don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but we do have harvest thanksgiving services in our churches where we decorate the church with such things as fruits, vegetables, breads, wheat, grain, autumn flowers and plants to represent His abundant provisions.
The windowsills are lined with a variety of fruits,
We tie tall husks of wheat at the end of the pews,
The altar area is covered with many reminders of God’s provision.
The church doesn’t only look warm and inviting but I remember it smelling so good.
We would praise the Lord for His many provision with grateful harvest hymns
such as:
“ We plough the fields and scatter
The good seed on the land
But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand:
The seed time and the harvest
Our life, our health, our food.
Accept the gifts we offer for all thy love imparts,
And what thou most desirest,
Our humble, thankful hearts.”
After the service the food and displays are distributed to the needy and less fortunate.
While attending Hawthorne Gospel church in New Jersey in the 1970’s we offered to provide and decorate the first ever display they had in the church of God’s provision. We are told that forty years later this U.K.tradition is still alive and has become a tradition of Hawthorne Gospel Church. Perhaps an idea for your local church this coming Sunday as you prepare to celebrate not only Thanksgiving but also God’s faithful harvest.
