Supporting our farming communities

On the first Sunday in August, Bishop Fiona joined the South Quantock Benefice Lammas service.  Held in the open air near the church of St Mary & All Saints, Broomfield. It’s a service that has been organised and led for many, many years by the parish’s Reader, Diana Taylor who is also a local dairy farmer. Around 85 people of all generations were present, from the Benefice and beyond, and Rev’d Jim Cox sent us these wonderful photographs

Diana and others led the service, a local farmer brought some wheat as a symbol of the harvest, and many people brought loaves of bread as a sign of thankfulness to God. Bishop Fiona preached on Jesus as the Bread of Life, from John 6. She says;

“After the service, we very much enjoyed eating the bread, along with Somerset cheese, and partaking of Somerset cider or apple juice for those, like me, who had to drive home! It was particularly poignant to hold the service when we’re in the middle of a prolonged drought which is having such a terrible impact on our land and our farmers.”

Diana, herself a dairy farmer, shared comments being made among the farming community:

”the cows are calving and we haven’t got any good food for them. Every dairy farmer is struggling so it’s almost impossible to buy in any food”

“things are so very stressful at home. I can’t seem to say the right thing”

“I’m now getting worried about water supplies, not just food for the livestock. And also so paranoid about the risk of fire”

“we survived the drought of 1976 but this seems worse.  It’s totally disheartening after all the hard work and trying to farm in a sustainable and good way”

The impact of the current drought was reflected in the offering, which was split between the church and Farming Community Network. And it was touching to see that one teenage boy had made cakes to sell to raise funds for a mental health charity working among young people in farming communities. 

Finally, Bishop Fiona has reminded us of the Prayer for Rain from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which was requested by farmers who were at the service. We’d like to share it with you here and ask you to pray for our farming communities and everyone else being impacted:

O God, heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ hast promised to all them that seek thy kingdom, and the righteousness thereof, all things necessary to their bodily sustenance: Send us, we beseech thee, in this our necessity, such moderate rain and showers, that we may receive the fruits of the earth to our comfort, and to thy honour; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And for anyone who would like to know all about the history of Lammas: 

Lammas or ‘Loaf-mass’ (derived from the Anglo-Saxon Hlafmaesse) is an English feast in origin, held on 1 August as a thanksgiving for the first-fruits of the wheat harvest. Traditionally, a newly baked loaf from the wheat harvest was presented before God within the mass of that day. While the ceremony ceased at the Reformation, reference to Lammas Day continued in the Prayer Book calendar, and the practice has been revived in some places in more recent years. The tradition of giving thanks for the first-fruits need not be limited to 1 August, and churches are at liberty to decide when to hold such a celebration