A Vintage Harvest for Aghaderg
Over the weekend of 18-20 October, Aghaderg Parish Church in Loughbrickland hosted a very successful Vintage Harvest Festival for the whole community and raised money for a local charity.
Revd Rodney Magennis who is Minister-in-charge for the Grouped Parishes of Aghaderg, Donaghmore and Scarva, takes up the story...
“St Mellan’s is a beautiful church, set in lovely grounds above Scarva Street in Loughbrickland. We realised however, that whilst many people pass by, few of them had ever been inside the church building so we set to thinking of ways to get them across the threshold.
“The Select Vestry suggested a Harvest Festival and we chose the popular hymn, “We plough the fields and scatter” as our theme. This was the first time that we had held such an event. It required a lot of planning and preparation, but it was worth it!
“Not only did a lot of people come into our church, but we also raised money for a local charity - “The Right Key” – located just outside Loughbrickland. It is a Christian based recovery and rehabilitation centre for those who are clean after addiction to alcohol or drugs, and we were delighted to partner with them on this occasion.
“Each of the displays in the windows and the fourteen special floral displays around the church were based on lines from the hymn. In keeping with the vintage theme, members of the congregation brought items from home, and they were incorporated into each display. These included pitch forks, scythes, a plough, horse grubber, turnip planter and many others.
“We also had displays of scarecrows and a scarecrow colouring competition in which nurseries, schools and youth groups took part. This created a great buzz around the church.
“In addition to everything on view inside, a couple of parishioners brought along eight vintage tractors which were dotted around the graveyard on the approach to the church. These proved to be a wonderful talking point and were of great interest to the children.
“It was lovely having the church open for the whole community with many people coming from further afield after hearing about the festival from others. A particular highlight for me was the number of children who brought their parents into church to see either their picture or the scarecrow that they had helped to make. Everyone left the church uplifted and marvelling at all that they had seen.
“During the weekend, we held three very different services. On Friday evening a packed church heard “The Right Key” bringing God’s word in song and I gave the address. Bishop David joined us on Sunday morning and in the evening the guest preacher was the Revd Alexander Chisnall, curate in Drumragh Parish, Omagh.
“The weekend was such a blessing to all those involved. I wish to pay particular tribute to the members of the congregation (and a few friends) for all their hard work and dedication over the past few months, without whom this festival would not have been such a great success.”
