Harvest Collect.

Holy God, Creator, Sustainer and Renewer of Life,
grant that, secure in your goodness in the past,
and rejoicing that you meet our needs in the present,
we may work and pray for the coming of your future kingdom,
that kingdom which is peace and prosperity, justice and joy;
through Jesus Christ, who lived and died and was raised to Life that all may share. AMEN

Prayer of Confession and Petition, Harvest, 2001

( The need for greater understanding between town and country has become apparent this year. The ready giving of urban as well as rural people to the ARC-Addington Fund has been most heartening. This prayer seeks to express our relatedness and mutual dependence. It acknowledges a measure of personal and corporate responsibility for the farming crisis and the damage to the rural economy.)

"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease" (Genesis 8 v 22)

Lord God,
This year our thanksgiving is less than wholehearted. For many it has been a year of desperation.
Still we utter the anguished cry "Why, Lord?"
And, with the Psalmist "How long, O Lord, how long?
Foot and Mouth Disease has affected large and small farms -
Devastated our countryside.
It has been no respecter of persons.
We still understand little of the way that it spread
Of the rationale of burning or burying, slaughtering or sparing,
Contiguous cull and continuous clean-up
Forgive us for our part in the farming crisis
In which everyone is implicated as producer, wholesaler, retailer or consumer

We confess that we have wanted to produce and buy food at little cost
Have mercy, Lord
We have cut corners to keep down costs, compromising animal welfare.
Have mercy, Lord
We have overused pesticides and fertilizers to secure higher yields and destroyed bio-diversity in the process.
Have mercy, Lord
We have not respected the long-term needs of the land and its creatures.
Have mercy, Lord
We have transported live animals over long distances.
Have mercy, Lord
We have clocked up ever more food miles.
Have mercy, Lord
We have built on the flood plains and ripped out the hedges.
Have mercy, Lord
We have lost track of the seasons; like spoilt children we demand everything "Now!"
Have mercy and forgive us, Lord

Bring us to our senses.
Help us, as a nation, to re-connect with the land,
valuing it as the source of food, raw materials and recreation.
Give us respect for other species and for each other.
May we ensure that all good work is fairly rewarded
and that no one part of the food chain makes excessive profit at another's expense
in the strength of the Holy Spirit
May we follow in the steps of Christ
Honouring all that you, Father, have made. AMEN.