Seasons and Festivals
Picture, People at Worship
The church exists first to offer worship (honour) to God and to thank him for the gifts he gives us, and secondly to honour and support each other, because we're all fellow creatures of God and so by honouring each other we honour him too.

As well as the Seasons and Major Festivals which help us worship God, the church celebrates several 'Special Days' throughout the year to remember, honour and support each other and our work in God's world. Celebration of the "Special Days" is usually optional, Christians chose which they want to remember, not all churches celebrate all these days....
'Special Days'
Plough Sunday
Picture, Ploughing a Field
Plough Sunday (or Plow if your American) was traditionally celebrated in January on the next Sunday after Epiphany (between 7-13th January). Before farmers had their own ploughs, the village plough decked with ribbons would be brought in to the village church, where God's blessing would be asked for the work that it was about to do. After the service, the plough would be paraded around the village, usually with dancing and stopping at every pub for refreshment! The farmers who were going to use it would give contributions towards the cost of its upkeep, and often to the upkeep of the church where it had been blessed.

The work officially began on the following Monday, but the teams would usually drag the plough around the village, seeking contributions for an 'Ale' or night of revelling at the tavern. Tuesday was then spent in recovering from the hangover, so the work wouldn't actually begin until the Wednesday!

Times have changed. No longer do we, in England at least, still use village ploughs, and winter-sown cereals mean that few farmers, if any, start their ploughing in January but do it in the autumn instead. The festival had fallen into disuse, especially with the more recent emphasis on celebrating several weeks of Epiphany.

In many places it has been revived as an optional 'minor festival' on a later Sunday in January. In blessing the plough we remember that God is interested not just in our worship on Sunday but in all we do, including our work during the week, too, and it gives us the opportunity to pray for the farms and farmers of our parish, for our country and for our nation. And, of course, for those who farm in the hungry lands of our world, and those who harvest the seas for fish. (Return to top)
Education Sunday
For much of its history, the churches have been leaders in education. The monasteries in particular kept education alive in the so called 'Dark Ages' when the average person received little or no schooling. The monasteries kept libraries and taught the monks to read and write, about healthcare, and life in general, and of course about the Christian faith. They often took in children, initially to educate them in the hope that they would join the monastery as monks, but later to give an education to the children of their patrons.

Education Sunday, as the name implies, is a national day of prayer on the ninth Sunday before Easter to focus on the world of education and has been celebrated as a 'Special Day' for well over a hundred years.

Picture, Round Plaque
Church and School Links: Some churches use the designated Sunday to focus on a particular aspect of education, or to think about and pray for the local school or college or, if they have one, a world-wide school link, and to invite the local school into their church to share in the Festival. For several years Dymock Church and Ann Cam School supported an international link with Dego-Thim School in Kenya. This plaque (displayed in the church) was given to Dymock church by the headmaster when he came to the UK for a short visit

Other churches put off the celebration in order that they can hold a special service at another time, such as the beginning or end of the local school's term, its Speech Day, or the beginning or end of the academic year. (Return to top)
Mothering Sunday
Picture, Daffodils
The English name for this day is '˜Mothering Sunday', the alternative name '˜Mother's Day' is an American idea that started after the America Civil War and happens in the USA on the second Sunday of May, but the English version '˜Mothering Sunday' goes back at least to the Middle Ages and happens on the third Sunday of Lent, just before Easter.
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By the 17th and 18th centuries, it had become common for young serving maids and boy apprentices to be given a holiday to visit their 'Mother Church' - they had probably left home as young as 10 years old and that was often their only holiday all year and the church expected you to go back and visit your 'Mother Church' on that day - that is, the church where you were baptised. As your parents probably still lived near that church, you'd go and see them too, so children were reunited for one day with their mother, so the day popularly became known as 'Mothering Sunday'.
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Picture, Simnal Cake
Traditional Gift - An 'Apprentice Piece': Boys and girls would take gifts with them to show their mother what they'd learnt in their new job. Girls would often take a cake they'd made to show the skills they'd learnt in the kitchen, whilst boys might take something from the stables where they worked to show what they'd learnt too and, as it was spring, both boys and girls picked flowers like daffodils or primroses from the hedgerows on their way home as part of their gift.  The girl's special cakes were spicy and made from a flour with the Latin name simila (which is where we get the name 'Semolina' from). When the flour was used in the cakes they were known as 'Simnel' Cake. They usually have marzipan in the middle and a layer of marzipan on top with 11 marzipan balls for the twelve Apostles - less the one who betrayed Jesus (Judas Iscariot).
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As young girls and boys no longer go into domestic service away from home at such a young age, when this day is celebrated in church today, we in England seem to have adopted the American name 'Mother's Day'.... and buy a bunch of flowers to give our mother as a gift instead of making them, but we still celebrate the church itself and God, the mother and father of us all, as well as praying for and thanking our mothers for all they do for us.
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