A CHURCH in North Yorkshire is breaking the mould of the traditional harvest festival this year by inviting parishioners to bring examples of their hobbies with them to services.
St Mark's, in Harrogate, is expecting to be festooned with windsurfing boards, bee-keeping accoutrements, model railways and boats, cameras and paintings - and even a horse and carriage.
It is hoped the Harvest of Talents will include as many as 50 displays, filling the church rooms and spilling out into the car park on Saturday and Sunday.
The idea was born as local clergy realised much of the harvest brought for the traditional festival had more to do with supermarkets than local farmers' fields.
St Mark's curate, the Reverend John Beckett, said this weekend's service was designed to demonstrate that, although an urban congregation does not produce food, every creative skill and talent is given by God.
"Instead of thanking God for our crops and food, we will be thanking God for the gifts and talents he has given us,'' he said.
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