Celebrating ‘Harvest’ at the Edgewater Kirk
World Communion Day at Edgewater Presbyterian Church. Photo: Gerald Farinas.
Edgewater Presbyterian Church has had, and continues to have, a vibrant African membership with worshippers from Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia.
Because of this long African presence, many of our non-African congregants not only have embraced African cultural traditions but have also adopted them for themselves.
Roots of Harvest
One of these traditions is the celebration of Harvest each year around the time in which crops have come to full fruition and are brought in to be shared by the community. In smaller hamlets and villages, these resources are divided up so all can be sustained together.
Our Edgewater Kirk celebrates Harvest on the Sunday before the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.
In Africa, the Harvest celebration is a time to give thanks to God for the abundance of the harvest and to ask for His blessing on the coming year. It is also a time to celebrate the community and the bonds that are formed through working together to bring in the harvest.
This commemoration is expressed in other ways, in other cultures—like Hawaii’s Makahiki, Thai water buffalo races, India’s Tamil Nadu tradition of Pongal, and China’s mid-autumn festival,
Taking our cue from our African families, we celebrate a Harvest liturgy to give thanks to God for the many blessings we have received through the past year, pray that a part of our gifts can be used by God to do good for our community, and celebrate our diverse bonds as individual people to each other.
Spiritual significance
The spiritual significance of this celebration is rooted in the belief that God is the provider of all good things. When we give thanks for the harvest, we acknowledge that everything we have comes from Him. We are also expressing our trust in His provision for the future.
Harvest is also a time to reflect on the importance of community. We are reminded that we are all interconnected and that we depend on each other for our survival. We are also reminded that we are all—Christians, non-Christians, and people who don’t believe—are part of God's family and that He loves us all.
We believe that Harvest is a beautiful and meaningful way to give thanks to God for His provision and to celebrate the community. By incorporating the spiritual significance of this celebration into our liturgy each year, we aim to deepen our relationship with God and to appreciate the gifts that He has given us.
Harvest 2023
This year, we will celebrate Harvest with liturgy and a special community meal on Sunday, November 19 at 11 a.m.
As part of the tradition, we are encouraged to wear the clothing of our own cultural heritages—as a way of showing the diversity of the Edgewater Kirk and honor each others’ roots.
During the offering, we dance our gifts to the Communion table—be it our pledge cards, are tithes and money offerings, food to be donated to Care for Real food pantry, or baskets to be auctioned off to help pay for the event and operation costs of the congregation.
We also bring, as we are able, foods to share at our community meal—something of our own cultural traditions or something we know others will enjoy. There is always rice available at our table—a grain of which many cultures find daily nourishment.
