“COME ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home”.

As the introduction to this well-known tune was played on the keyboard in the corner of the lounge and as the residents started singing the familiar words, the annual Harvest Festival service at Hillbrow Residential Care Home in Crediton was off to a great start.

Small teams from each of the churches in Crediton lead weekly services at Hillbrow and on this special occasion it was the privilege of the Methodist Church to do so.

Residents had gathered in the lounge, extra chairs needing to be brought in to accommodate everyone who wished to attend, and there was an air of expectation as a table was placed centrally, to serve as a focal point for the harvest service.

It was covered with an amber coloured cloth, representing the autumn hues of nature, and on it were placed a large bowl of assorted fruits and vegetables (kindly provided by the kitchen staff at Hillbrow), a simple wooden cross and a harvest wheat sheaf loaf.

Readings from both the Old and New Testaments followed the opening hymn, the former reminding people to care for “the poor and the stranger” at harvest time and the latter including the quote that “those who sow bountifully will also reap bountifully”.

Later in the service, singing the traditional harvest hymn “We Plough the Fields and Scatter” evoked in many cases memories of harvests past.

In fact there was a point during the service when the opportunity was offered to share these memories and it was interesting to hear varied stories.

Some, who had come from farming backgrounds, recounted tales of how vast pots of stew or soup simmered in the farmhouse kitchen, creating the basis for a traditional harvest supper in the village.

Others remembered cutting greenery and berry-laden branches, then helping to decorate the local chapel for a forthcoming harvest service.

The hymn “Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices” provided a fitting conclusion to the service and, informally afterwards, people were interested to have a closer look at the wheat sheaf loaf which had apparently been made (of salt dough) about 17 years ago.

It actually sparked an idea, maybe for next harvest, of instigating an activity afternoon (with a nod to “bread week” on the TV programme “The Great British Bake Off?”) to make some harvest loaves.

Hilary Everitt

Crediton Methodist Church