Sunday Service at Open Farm Sunday

Before Open Farm Sunday at Uncle Henry’s on Sunday 11th of June Rev Canon Alan Robson conducted an outside service in the courtyard, assisted by Rev Catherine Wylie. Below is the order of service including the hymns and prayers. During the service Rev Alan showed the congregation the book Lost Words by Robert MacFarlane & Jackie Morris and told them all how it came about. Rev Alan then read the poem about the Bluebell from the book. The book is also beautifully illustrated.

“The book began as a response to the removal of everyday nature words – among them “acorn”, “bluebell”, “kingfisher” and “wren” – from a widely used children’s dictionary, because those words were not being used enough by children to merit inclusion. But The Lost Words then grew to become a much broader protest at the loss of the natural world around us, as well as a celebration of the creatures and plants with which we share our lives, in all their wonderful, characterful glory.” Extract taken from The Lost Words website   

Supporting the work of Lincolnshire Rural and Agricultural Chaplaincy (LRAC)

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

There is a time to sow and a time to reap.

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

The Lord gives seed for planting and food to eat.

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

HYMN

God, whose farm is all creation,

take the gratitude we give;

take the finest of our harvest,

crops we grow that all may live.

Take our ploughing, seeding, reaping,

hopes and fears of sun and rain,

all our thinking, planning, waiting,

ripening into fruit and grain.

All our labour, all our watching,

all our calendar of care,

in these crops of your creation,

take, O God: they are our prayer.

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERVICE background to this agricultural celebration OPEN FARM SUNDAY Lighting a candle to its founder!

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING:

The whole earth reveals the glory of God.

Creator God, we bring you thanks and praise. For Wolds and Fen, Heathland and Marshland and the hills and  living arteries of rivers and estuaries.

Creator God, we bring you thanks and praise. For gentle meadow and wild hedgerow,

Creator God, we bring you thanks and praise. For dense woodland and vast open fields,

Creator God, we bring you thanks and praise. For grazing livestock and growing crops,

Creator God, we bring you thanks and praise. For rain and frost, sun and warmth,

Creator God, we bring you thanks and praise. For those who tend the earth and work the land, Creator God, we bring you thanks and praise

 Readings

Isaiah 28. 23 – 26, 29 “Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. When a farmer ploughs for planting, does he plough continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil? When he has levelled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way… All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom.”

&

Mark 4. 26 – 29 Jesus also said: “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

A Thought    “Chaplains’ on the edge”      Rev Canon Alan Robson Lincolnshire’s Lead  Agricultural Chaplain 

Hymn

For the fruit(s) of all creation,

thanks be to God;

for the gifts of every nation,

thanks be to God;

for the ploughing, sowing, reaping,

silent growth while we are sleeping,

future needs in earth’s safe-keeping,

thanks be to God.

In the just reward of labour,

God’s will is done;

in the help we give our neighbour,

God’s will is done;

in our world-wide task of caring

for the hungry and despairing,

in the harvests we are sharing,

God’s will is done.

For the harvests of the Spirit,

thanks be to God;

for the good we all inherit,

thanks be to God;

for the wonders that astound us,

for the truths that still confound us,

most of all that love has found us,

thanks be to God.

 Poem & Intercessions led by Rev Catherine Wylie Priest In the Caistor Group of Parishes and Associate Agricultural Chaplain   

Poem

We Who Were Born
We who were born
In country places
Far from cities
And shifting faces,
We have a birthright
No man can sell,
And a secret joy
No man can tell.

For we are kindred
To lordly things:
The wild duck’s flight
And the white owl’s wings,
The pike and the salmon,
The bull and the horse,
The curlew’s cry
And the smell of gorse.

Pride of trees,
Swiftness of streams,
Magic of frost
Have shaped our dreams.
No baser vision
Their spirit fills
Who walk by right
On the naked hills.

(Eiluned Lewis 1900-1979 was a Welsh poet, novelist, and longtime correspondent to Country Life magazine, where she contributed the “Countrywoman’s Notes” column)

For people who love the land and care for it well, making farming sustainable for future generations: Lord, hear our prayer.

For crop growers and livestock breeders, taking risks to grow food for a hungry world. Lord, hear our prayer.

For rural and regional networks, sharing information to overcome loneliness and isolation for those on the land. Lord, hear our prayer.

For strategists, planners, policy makers and advisors, offering new ways to grow food and care for the land in changing times. Lord, hear our prayer.

For seasonable weather, good growth and good yields, so that there may be abundant harvests to feed hungry people, Lord, hear our prayer.

For safe work practices and healthy habits for all farmers, so that people and communities may flourish and be strong, Lord, hear our prayer.

For health and happiness in the home life of all farmers, and for families to work together with love, respect and harmony, Lord, hear our prayer.

For wise financial planning, land care and asset management, so that farmers may be confident about the future of their farms, Lord, hear our prayer.

For good communication between country and city, so that we may understand each other’s worlds and encourage one another, Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who despair in hard times, that they may be helped and supported by caring chaplains supportive friends, Lord, hear our prayer.

For Christians in Country parishes who gather for worship, study and prayer, that their faith may create and sustain community, Lord, hear our prayer. (© The Anglican Church of Australia)

We plough the fields and scatter
the good seed on the land,
but it is fed and watered
by God’s almighty hand;
he sends the snow in winter,
the warmth to swell the grain,
the breezes and the sunshine
and soft refreshing rain.
All good gifts around us
are sent from heaven above,
then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
for all his love.

He only is the maker
of all things near and far;
he paints the wayside flower,
he lights the evening star;
the wind and waves obey him,
by him the birds are fed;
much more to us his children,
he gives our daily bread.
All good gifts…

We thank you, then, O Father,
for all things bright and good,
the seed-time and the harvest,
our life, our health, our food:
accept the gifts we offer
for all your love imparts;
and that which you most welcome,
our humble, thankful hearts.
All good gifts…

BLESSING —-HAVE A GREAT DAY EVERYONE AND THANKYOU TO THE ‘WARD TRIBE’ FOR THIS WONDERFUL  PLACE TO EXPLORE!