2017 Harvest Service at Christ Church Moss Vale

The traditional Harvest Service will be held April 2, with homegrown decorations, refreshments and a chance to walk the historic cemetery.

Congregation member Kathleen Bone said the service was a chance to remember primary producers and all those who work on the land.

“The celebration of the harvest in churches dates back to the early 1800s in England, when villagers and surrounding farmers were invited to bring fresh produce into the local church to give thanks for a successful harvest,” she said.

“And so began the long-practiced custom of decorating churches with home or farm-grown produce.”

The word harvest is from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘haerfest’, which meant autumn, the season for reaping and gathering grain and other produce.

The celebration is also known as Thanksgiving in some countries, such as the United States.

Traditionally, celebrations included singing, praying and decorating churches with baskets of produce and food brought in by people from their own gardens or farms, and are usually placed around the altar.

In Britain, thanks has been given for successful harvests since pagan times.

“[Back then] the produce brought in to the church would be distributed to the local community,” Ms Bone said.

“However, with the advent of commercial agriculture, the close link between the church and the farm community has changed.”

Ms Bone said the service was also a chance to remember not everyone equally benefitted from the success and produc\e that could be grown from the land.

“Those attending are encouraged to bring along non-perishable items of food which will be given to Anglicare for distribution to those in need,” she said.​

The service will be held April 2 at 11.00am. The church is located corner of Argyle and Church Streets, Moss Vale.