The Just Desserts resource is designed to help you hold a special service for Harvest or to celebrate the Season of Creation (1 September – 4 October). You can also use it in a small group setting.
Below, you will shortly find prayers, video clips, discussion questions and additional information. Please let us know if you use the resources, and how your event went.
Creation and Food: a conversation with Ali Birkett and Sarah Hulme
Take a look at a conversation between Sarah Hulme, Rural Officer for the Methodist Church in Britain, and Ali Birkett, a tenant arable farmer in North Northumberland and a member of the team at Rural Ministries, a Christian charity empowering rural projects around the UK.
In their conversation, Ali and Sarah explore the relationship between food, farming and faith, and pose some challenging questions about how we can live out our faith today.
You can watch the whole video, or find five shorter clips. Each video includes questions for discussion, which can be used for a small group study session, for individual reflection or for a church service.
Downloads
Download the discussion questions [PDF]
Download all videos [172.2MB, ZIP]
Family Actions
Looking to engage in this conversation as a family, or with a group of children and young people? Here are some resources you might find helpful.
Changing the Climate: Applying the Bible in a climate emergency – Written by the Hawkin’s family, this book explores what it looks like to respond to the climate emergency. You might find the chapter entitled ‘What Should We Eat?’ particularly useful in exploring these issues.
You can also watch an interview with Jamie, part of the family who wrote the book, about why these issues matter to him.
Click here to watch the interview.
God’s World Our Home: Chapter 2, Responsibility – Created by the Methodist Youth President, God’s World Our Home explores what it means to faithfully respond to the climate crisis. Chapter 2, exploring what it means to live responsibly as stewards of creation.
Click here to explore the resources.
Prayers
A prayer for a ‘Just Desserts’ all-age service.
Each stanza could have an associated action:
- Thanksgiving – lifted hands to heaven
- Prayer – palms together, finger tips raised
- Planet – hands moving apart then coming together in the shape of a circle outline
- Help – cupped hands reaching out
God of all good gifts,
Thank you for all those
who try to make sure
we have food to eat
and that it is tasty.We pray for farmers,
factory workers and scientists
who care about our food
and our wellbeing.Grow in us today
a hunger for food
that is better for our bodies
and is kinder for our planet.And help us remember
and remind us to help
all who are hungry
for food to live today.Amen
Come Soon: Politics in the Pulpit – Season of Creation special episode
Keep an eye out for our one-off episode of Politics in the Pulpit, coming soon.
Another bite
For extra nourishment, check out these websites:
- Ruth Valerio has a selection of seasonal recipes.
- Ethical Consumer offers facts and figures about some of the issues around food.
- https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/
- https://leaf.eco/
- The Sustainable Food Trust website has a lot of useful information, including a report entitled “Feeding Britain from the Ground Up”.
- https://www.cpre.org.uk/what-we-care-about/farming/farming/
- https://greenchristian.org.uk/gc-campaigns/loaf-2/
and look out for this great book:
- “Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating” by Norman Wirzba
Want to take a listen to a deeper dive? Here’s Ruth Valerio exploring Food and Faith at Greenbelt Festival 2014 – https://www.greenbelt.org.uk/talks/food-and-faith/.
