First Baptist Church (555 W Rock Road) in Radford will celebrate Harvest Day Sunday beginning at 11 a.m.
The guest speaker will be Sister Cassandra Tembo. She is the Chief Administrative Officer at Cedar Lake Lodge, Inc. In Louisville, Kentucky.
Cassandra supports her husband in pastoring Corner of Hope Church, an extension church of Evangel World Prayer Center.
Following morning service, the Harvest meal will be served beginning at 12:30 p.m.
The Harvest Day Celebration has been a part of FBC for many years. The congregation dresses in old fashioned clothes, comfortable casual, or jean attire and serves up recipes that have been passed down through families.
Traditionally, no musical instruments are used on this Sunday. We will have special moments within the service to bring back memories of old times in the worship.
The tradition of celebrating Harvest Festival in churches as we know it today began in 1843, when the Reverend Robert Hawker invited parishioners to a special thanksgiving service for the harvest at his church at Morwenstow in Cornwall.
Victorian hymns such as “We plough the fields and scatter,” “Come ye thankful people, come” and “All things bright and beautiful” helped popularize his idea of harvest festival and spread the annual custom of decorating churches with homegrown produce for the Harvest Festival service.
The public is invited to join FBC in their harvest celebration. Rev. C. Coles Casey is the Pastor at First Baptist Church.