麻豆约拍

Good morning and welcome from me, Father Andr茅听 Hart, to Holy Trinity Church Westbury on Trym, in the Bristol suburbs, and to our Harvest Thanksgiving service today.听

In about the year 717 monks from the Abbey in Worcester made their way to the river Trym nor far from the river Avon and built the first little minister church on it banks and so began the mission, ministry and witness of the church in south of the diocese of Worcester, such as it was then. That small beginning so many years ago has seen this community grow through many centuries of change and upheaval, times of famine and times of feasting, time of distress and times of peace. The fruits of those who have faithfully laboured on the land, the community and in the church down these many years, we have all received those fruits with joy and we celebrate their legacy today.

We begin our service by singing our first harvest hymn Come ye thankful people, come.

Hymn Come ye thankful people come (St George鈥檚 Windsor)听 听

Fr Andr茅听 Hart

Harvest is a time when we think of the fruitfulness of the land and our church is filled with produce from pumpkins to loaves of bread to tins of various foods. In earlier times food production was life 鈥� when crops failed, hardship ensued and a winter would be faced with very little and could be a battle for survival. Despite advanced economies bringing a measure of food security, for so many across the world, this visceral dependence on nature is still an absolute.In the book of Proverbs there is a verse which says: The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. Taking stock of the fruitfulness of our world and recognising that much is not right, changing the way we live and making less of an impact on our world is the way of respecting and caring for our world. There is a well know phrase that says: live simply that others may simply live. The truth is that we need to live with less and take less from our world; when we do this, we walk in the ways of what is right and just and the tree of life will be able to flourish for all once again. When we are fruitful as human beings, the Holy Spirit enables us to give generously to each other in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; this all makes for a fruitful and just world.听

READER (Annie): A reading of verses from Joel Chapter 2, beginning at verse 12

Music Thou Visitest the Earth - Greene

Fr Andr茅 Our preacher this morning is the Rev'd Canon Dr Martin Gainsborough. Before ordination Martin was Professor of Development Politics at the University Bristol, specialising in political theology, environmental and development politics. As a member of the Church of England鈥檚 General Synod, last year Martin proposed and carried the ambitious date of 2030 for all parts of the Church to achieve carbon 鈥榥et zero鈥� emissions.听

Address 1 Rev Martin Gainsborough

At the beginning of the service, Father Andr茅听 shared with us a wonderful image of the monks from Worcester abbey making their way down the river Trym, so beginning the witness of God鈥檚 Church in this place, all those years ago.
During the Covid pandemic, one of my favourite things to do has been to take my bicycle down to the river Avon to the towpath that leads from Bristol to the village of Pill.
I pass the place where the river Trym, now mainly buried beneath the city, flows into the Avon.
It鈥檚 a truly beautiful spot.
Sitting on the banks of the river watching the birds swooping and diving above the muddy banks, I have often felt a deep sense of connectedness and peace, catching a glimpse of how humanity is not set apart from the natural world but that our future is intimately bound up with it.
And yet we鈥檙e reminded at this harvest time 鈥� when we give thanks for all God鈥檚 gifts 鈥� how all isn鈥檛 right in the world.
How populations and eco-systems are suffering and how, contrary to God鈥檚 purposes, we are making the planet uninhabitable.
The book of the prophet Joel, which we heard read, paints a terrifying picture of a devastated world in the wake of a plague 鈥� in this case a plague of locusts.
The devastation is total.
There鈥檚 no pasture.
Flames have burned all the trees.
The watercourses have dried up.
Even the ground mourns.
But in the extract we heard read, we suddenly hear the command 鈥楧o not fear鈥� 鈥� addressed to all creation.
Do not fear, o soil, Joel says.
Do not fear, you animals.
Be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God, o children of Zion.
But the call not to be afraid doesn鈥檛 appear to make sense.
Surely there鈥檚 much to be afraid of?
And yet, read on and it does make sense.听 But only in relation to a radical turning again to God.
A call to repentance and prayer.
鈥楻eturn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping and mourning鈥�, God says.
鈥楻end your hearts not your clothing鈥�.
That is, don鈥檛 tear your clothing in your distress.听 Let your heart be broken
Find compassion.听 Mourn what should not be.
So it is all about a transformation of the heart.
And we might say, drawing on the book of Joel, that it鈥檚 the absence of such a transformation, continued indifference or hardness of heart in our world, that stands between us and the restoration of God鈥檚 beautiful planet.
Creation restored, humanity reconciled.
But there鈥檚 more to say.
And in a moment I will explore further what such a transformation of the heart might entail.]

Fr Andr茅 The choir now sing As the light upon the river an anthem with words by Christopher Idle and especially written for this broadcast by our Director of Music David Ogden.听

Music听 As the light upon the river 鈥� Ogden听

READER: A reading from Matthew Chapter 6 beginning at verse 25 - Christine Chubb

Address Rev Martin Gainsborough

In my previous address, we explored with the help of the prophet Joel how in the face of a suffering and devastated world, God calls us to repentance.

To a transformation of the heart.
And the injunction not to be afraid because God will not forget God鈥檚 faithful people.
It鈥檚 striking that Jesus also urges us not to be afraid 鈥� in those beautiful words from Matthew鈥檚 gospel.
鈥楲ook at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.鈥�
鈥楥onsider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.鈥�
And yet, this is not a casual 鈥榟ead in the sand鈥� urging us not to worry, telling us to turn our back on the needs of the world.
Jesus is much more specific than that.
鈥楽trive first,鈥� he says, for the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.鈥�
So it is on this basis, striving for what God wants for all creation, that we鈥檙e encouraged not to be afraid.
But I wonder what this means for us in practice as we give thanks for God鈥檚 harvest in the full knowledge that creation is groaning.
The climate crisis will not be averted simply by the actions of governments and international actors 鈥� important though they are.
The climate crisis will not be averted by new technologies and entrepreneurs 鈥� important though they are
And the climate and ecological crisis will not be averted by the actions of activists and individuals 鈥� eating less meat and choosing green energy, for instance 鈥� important though these things are.
Rather, what I take from our bible readings is that the climate crisis will be averted when our hearts are melted.
When we mourn the loss of natural habitats.
When we feel compassion for our suffering neighbour 鈥� near or far
And when, by God鈥檚 grace, we act in love.
As the celebrated American writer, Wendell Berry, said more than fifty years ago.
鈥淲e have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world鈥�
But we were wrong.
鈥淲e must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world is good for us鈥�
And he goes on:
鈥淲e must learn to cooperate in [creation鈥檚] processes, and to yield to its limits鈥�
鈥淏ut even more important, we must learn to acknowledge that creation is full of mystery鈥�We must abandon arrogance and stand in awe.听 We must recover the sense of the majesty of creation, and the ability to be worshipful in its presence.鈥�
Then we will see the climate and ecological crisis averted, humanity reconciled, creation restored.
As we look to the UN climate change conference 鈥� COP26 鈥� in Glasgow next month, when so much is at stake, join with me in praying for a rich harvest鈥�
For humility
For a sense of urgency
For compassion and love.
In the name of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit.听 Amen.

Hymn Oh the life of the world is a joy and a treasure 鈥� Galloway

Prayers - Ros Saunders

Fr Andr茅听 Hart: Our Father听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 30鈥�

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All:

Our Father who art in heaven

God of justice, we pray:鈥� for world leaders and for all in positions of authority. Give them wisdom to make just decisions that respect the earth and everything that lives in it.鈥� for those who will attend the COP26 conference in November, for intelligent debate, a sense of urgency, and real commitment to seeing agreements through.听听鈥� for communities around the world suffering the worst effects of climate change and natural disaster, and places where hardship is compounded by conflict, inept government and political oppression; especially the people of Afghanistan, those without the option to leave, and those seeking welcome and refuge elsewhere.

Fr Andr茅听 Hart: Our Father听

All:听Our Father who art in heaven,Hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come.Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,and forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us,and lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.For thine is the kingdom,and the power, and the glory,for ever and ever Amen.听

Anthem Guatemalan Blessing 听The peace of the earth be with you, the peace of the heavens too The peace of the rivers be with you, the peace of the oceans too. Deep peace falling over you God鈥檚 peace growing in you.听

Fr Andr茅听 - Blessing

May God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,who is the source of all goodness and growth,pour his blessing upon all things created,and upon you his children,that you may use his gifts to his glory and the welfare of all peoples;and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with all you all now and forever

All: Amen

Hymn Lord of beauty thine the splendour - Regent Square

Voluntary Paean (Philip Moore)

Please note:

This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors.

It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

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