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In 2001 CEL and Settle Methodist Circuit held a joint hymn competition - theme - Environment and Christianity. With the authors permissions, some of the hymns are now available on CEL's website hymns page and have been used at several CEL events.
This year- 2009 - Settle Methodist Circuit is holding a hymn writing competition with the theme
Write words to a well known tune of your choice. See details of competition I would like to publicise their event - to give you an opportunity of winning the £150 first prize and £100 second prize.
Also if your hymn has an environment care theme I invite you to send it to me (after you have sent it to the competition of course..) to put on CEL's website.
CEL's web site has many visitors at this time of year looking for ideas for harvest- so more hymns would be welcome.
<<<>>> I feel it is great to thank God -
- to be thankful and to celebrate harvest - and to feel we belong in nature, in the harvest cycle
- but there is a need for hymns for our relationship to God in how we approach harvest
- and there is a need for hymns for different types of harvest:
Different types of harvest:
Harvest of new plant species from the rainforest that may be of use a medicines.
Harvest of fish - the people off the coast of West Africa and elsewhere are finding that their fish catches which they sell to feed (mostly poor) people inland - are vastly reduced because of big foreign trawlers are taking all the fish stock
Harvest of chickens - are they factory farmed having lived a life in cramped spaces, hardly able to stand, or have they had a happy life?
Harvest of food from gardens, allotments, shared land? the Transitions Town movement is leading to an increase in home grown food.
Harvest of sheep? - buy local, grass fed meat.
Harvest of Nature Reserves - Satisfaction that we have left habitats standing so that the wild animals will have food over winter and space to grow next year.
Harvest of Fungi - I like to put a bowl of colourful fungi out amongst the harvest decorations.- waxcaps, or blewits or even wild mushrooms. Ninety percent of our wild plants actually depend on fungal associations to grow well, (These are often fungi with very tiny fruiting bodies.).
Harvest of Money - That's what people get who do paid jobs, and save. Last year many of us saw our money harvest decrease...
Harvest of wheat, maize and rice - Two thirds of humankinds calories come from just three species of grass! - thanks to plant breeding and fertilizers we now have high yields of these crops -(at least whilst oil supplies last to make the fertilizers).
Harvest of "bargains" and cheap "sell by date" goods at supermarkets and grocery stores makes me feel good- but do I make sure the goods are "Fair trade", have a low carbon footprint, are grown locally where possible, are made with oil other than palm oil.. and that I haven't bought more than I need?
Should we tithe our harvest?
Harvest of Hymns
Find out about the rules of the Hymn Competition -theme Harvest |
