Bringing in the corn

[Auvergne]

When I was a youngster I eagerly looked forward to the Harvest Festival where we would take in a couple of tins of beans or a bag of sugar to our little Church School. Our collective items would be the focus of our Church celebrations before being sorted and packed in goody bags to be given to the needy local people. Each bag went with a little note from us children which we spent ages writing in our best handwriting and adorning with colourful pictures. More often than not we would receive a little note back from the recipients to say how much they appreciated our gifts and thanking us for our kindness.

For some years now we have had a note home with the children from their school requesting money in lieu of the usual harvest offerings. Maybe I am old fashioned but I find the whole idea distasteful?

 

[Parksy]

Deepest apologies

I saw that the post was duplicated so in the interests of forum tidyness I deleted one - oops wrong one and it's taken Lord Braykewynde's reply with it

Lord Braykewynde had replied;

' Put it down to it being a Christian festival and the politically correct supporters of diversification not wishing to offend muslims. I too have fond memories of school Harvest Festivals, even the hymns we sang like "We plough the fields and scatter". I can still recall all the produce filling the school stage. I believe it was given out to the elderly afterwards. It's sad really that kids of today are missing out on the simple things of an innocent childhood.'

Good job that I'd copied it

 

[LMH]

Well, I was in a church on Sunday and they had the most fabulous display of fresh fruit, vegetables, etc etc, some nicely arranged in baskets. Our local primary schools still ask for food and donate it to less well off members of the community.

Load of old cr*p about not wishing to offend muslims.

Lisa

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Valerie mentioned about the school requesting money instead of having a Harvest Festival Lisa. Again, I expect that comes down to the Head Teacher and the area.

I wouldn't expect you to have any problems having the festival in a Christian church, well not just yet anyway. Just hope this lot don't get in for another five years else things could be different ;O)

 

[CreatureComforts]

LB wrote:

Put it down to it being a Christian festival and the politically correct supporters of diversification not wishing to offend muslims⇦br/>

I suspect that I'm like the majority of English people, I worry myself to sleep at night in case I've inadvertently offended a cultural/religious/ethic/gender minority group during the day.

I also carry a deep sense of guilt and shame about Britain's participation in the slave trade - as far as I know, none of my forebears profited from this iniquitous 'trade, or owned even one slave, but I don't allow that to stop me making a daily penance for our national wickedness.

I was particularly pleased by Gordon Brown's promise to bring in another new and exciting law, which will make it illegal *not* to give 7% of this country's income away in foreign aid.

My only reservation is the paltry percentage - far better if Our Leader had pledged 70% of GDP to needy nations like India - who can barely afford their own space programme.

As I say, I'm just like every other average Briton - happy to see schools without books, and hospitals without medicines, as long as African rulers get the palaces they deserve.

It's almost uncanny how Labour have got their finger on the pulse of the national mood.

If I had my way, we'd abolish elections altogether and allow Labour to govern us for, at least, the next five thousand years - who needs 'heaven' when you can live in an earthly paradise of such multicultural richness?

 

[jmg12]

anything thats worth having is worth fighting for, lets go back to the start

 

[jmg12]

sorry posted that in the wrong post

 

[Mel]

How wonderfully cryptic caravanner! Anyway back to the original thread. I doubt this is anything like the plot old B thinks it is. If you get the children to bring in produce and food you then have the problem of what to do with it. Having been involved in the past in distributing stuff from our church, I have to say that it is an organisational nightmare. You have to identify the local "needy" some of whom will have died since the list was made last year. Then you have to sift through the donated stuff chucking out the out of date food that folks have dragged out of the back of the cupboard and the quietly rotting veg and the rock hard apples and pears that break dentures. Then you have to take it around to folks that either don't want it, won't answer the door or have employed a rottie to keep the cold callers at bay. Sorry Lord B it's nothing like as simple as PC gone mad. It is an operation that eats up time and effort more than you can imagine.

Like Lisa though I think it is a shame that schools have gone for the money option as harvest is a good time to help children think about our link with the natural world and God's creation.

We eventually solved the distribution problem by asking for canned goods only and giving the whole lot to a local charity that supports homeless people. Seemed like a good compromise.

mel

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

How wonderfully cryptic caravanner! Anyway back to the original thread. I doubt this is anything like the plot old B thinks it is. If you get the children to bring in produce and food you then have the problem of what to do with it. Having been involved in the past in distributing stuff from our church, I have to say that it is an organisational nightmare. You have to identify the local "needy" some of whom will have died since the list was made last year. Then you have to sift through the donated stuff chucking out the out of date food that folks have dragged out of the back of the cupboard and the quietly rotting veg and the rock hard apples and pears that break dentures. Then you have to take it around to folks that either don't want it, won't answer the door or have employed a rottie to keep the cold callers at bay. Sorry Lord B it's nothing like as simple as PC gone mad. It is an operation that eats up time and effort more than you can imagine.

Like Lisa though I think it is a shame that schools have gone for the money option as harvest is a good time to help children think about our link with the natural world and God's creation.

We eventually solved the distribution problem by asking for canned goods only and giving the whole lot to a local charity that supports homeless people. Seemed like a good compromise.

mel

Hmmmm, I do hate repeating myself.

I quote myself ... "I too have fond memories of school Harvest Festivals".

As I said to Lisa, I wasn't talking churches, I was talking schools, a point that Valerie made. Not being a regular church goer I cannot speak about church Harvest Festivals.