Letter to Circuit

Dear Friends,

As we gather to celebrate the Harvest Season, our churches will once again be adorned

with symbols of abundance—baskets of fruit, loaves of bread, and tins of food. We will

sing with gratitude, “Come, ye thankful people, come,” rejoicing in the fruits of creation

and God’s generous provision.

Yet as the Methodist Church in Britain responds to God's call to be a Justice-Seeking

Church, we cannot simply sing our harvest hymns and then move on.. Our thanksgiving

must also lead us to reflection, and—more importantly—to action.

For while some of us gather around tables laden with good things, many across our

world go hungry. Fields lie barren from drought, war disrupts food supplies, and global

systems of inequality continue to widen the gap between the nourished and the

malnourished.

As I write these words, the world is watching on in mounting horror at the plight of the

people of Gaza who are starving as a result of a man-made famine.

Do we allow ourselves to become overwhelmed by feelings of helplessness?

Do we turn off the news because we are consumed by guilt that we have so much to eat

whilst they have so little?

Or do we just turn away because we believe there’s nothing we can do?

To be a Justice-Seeking Church means we must hear the cries of the hungry as part of

our worship. It means we are not only thankful for the harvest but also deeply

committed to ensuring others are able to share it. Justice-seeking is not an optional extra

to our faith: it is at the heart of discipleship. It reflects the ministry of Jesus, who fed the

hungry, challenged the powerful, and called for the flourishing of all people.

So, what does this mean for us during this Harvest Season and beyond?

It means that as we pray for the hungry we should pray for the dismantling of unjust

systems that perpetuate the conditions in which hunger is used as a weapon of war.

It means we must give generously to harvest appeals, to Eco Shops and Food Banks,

not out of guilt, but out of compassion.

It means asking hard questions about trade justice, climate change, and the way food is

grown, distributed and sold, that privilege some and exploit others.

It means changing how we live, what we consume, and being willing to use our voice

and influence —as individuals, as congregations, and as a wider Church.

Let our Harvest this year be not just a thanksgiving, but a declaration: that we will not

rest while our neighbours starve. That we believe in a Gospel where everyone has “daily

bread.” That we seek justice not just in word, but in deed.

May this season of Harvest stir in us a holy dissatisfaction with the world as it is, and a

deeper commitment to work for the world as God intends it to be.

Grace and Peace,

Rev John Howard-Norman