The annual celebrations of Plough Sunday, Rogation and Harvest are hugely important for churches serving rural communities and are a key way for those churches to engage in mission, usually seeing congregations swell at such times. Ploughshares and First Fruits draws on the inspired work being done by one rural church to celebrate rural living throughout the year and thereby grow its congregation. As well as providing many fresh ideas for keeping the established festivals, it provides ready-to-use, participative liturgies that engage all the senses, appeal to all ages and give small churches a round-the-year resource. Included are creative liturgies for: • A pet service for the Feast of St Francis • Walking and pilgrimage • Lambing season • Riders’ Sunday • Lammas • A Summer Festival (an instant jam-jar flower festival)

Chris Thorpe is a parish priest in Shropshire and the author of three seasonal collections of creative liturgies, as well as numerous resources for the Royal School of Church Music.