An outdoor service at All Saints Church in Oving celebrated the start of the agricultural year.
Over 50 people from the small village of Oving, rural Buckinghamshire, gathered on Sunday 8 January in the evening with the congregation at All Saints and Holy Cross and St Mary’s churches in the neighbouring village of Quainton.
The local Morris dancing group also joined the outdoor service, and a local farmer brought along their tractor and plough. Hymns were sung, and prayers of thanks were given for God’s creation, provision of food, and a prayer for blessing on the farming year ahead.
Jane Vowles, Licensed Lay Minister at All Saints, led the service with a time of prayer and liturgy:
“Plough Sunday is a wonderful opportunity to bring everyone in the community together and our local farmers, and to thank them for their work and pray for God’s blessing over this year’s growing and harvests.”
Plough Sunday is an ancient tradition marking when agricultural communities go back to work after the Christmas period. It is typically celebrated on the Sunday after Epiphany. Oving, where farming is a prominent part of the rural community, marks Plough Sunday each year in an outdoor service.