Harvest Festival 2026 – Sunday 11th October
Everyone is invited to celebrate the end of the Harvest with St James’ Church, as we bring before God our offerings in thanksgiving and prayer for all the bounty we enjoy, and remember those less fortunate both at home and abroad. In token of this, everyone is encouraged to brings something to give to Runnymede and Weybridge Foodbank, as we share of the harvest of food, the work of human hands, and the intentions of our hearts. These offerings will be placed upon the high altar and blessed during the 10am Festival Eucharist after the offertory hymn.
HARVEST WORSHIP
8am Said Eucharist quiet reflective service
10am Harvest Festival Sung Eucharist – with Choir, bible readings, sermon, blessing of harvest offerings & Communion.
11am refreshments served in the Parish Centre
11:30am Harvest Family Service – Informal service with children’s talk, songs, bible story, craft and blessing of harvest foods.
6pm Compline by candlelight, up in the Chancel.
You can download the Harvest Festival Poster here: Harvest Festival Poster 2026 – Weybridge
HARVETS FESTIVAL LUNCH
Served from 12noon in the Parish Centre. Tickets £10 per person* to include a main meal and pudding. Cash bar available.
*concessions available for children
Harvest Festival – a brief history
Harvest Festival (Thanksgiving) is a more modern addition to the church calendar. Its origins are usually traced to the adaptation in 1843 of Lammas Day by the Revd R. S. Hawker, a parish priest in Cornwall. He chose the first Sunday in October as a Christian response to coincide with the traditional but largely secular ‘harvest home’ celebration, but there is some evidence to suggest that a thanksgiving for the harvest was already a relatively widespread practice. An annual church celebration of the harvest certainly established itself rapidly with great popularity and was first recognized officially in the Church of England in 1862. Since then, many local traditions for the celebration have developed and many liturgical resources are available. At St James’ Church Weybridge, we usually keep Harvest Festival on the second Sunday of October, giving local schools time to prepare for their own services after the start of term.