The fun, sun and friendship of Spring Harvest

Maureen Underhill from High Street Methodist Church attended Spring Harvest in Minehead in April for the first time, along with around 60 other people from Harpenden. She writes about the experience

'Without doubt, one of the highlights was to be away for a few days fellowship with so many church friends. It was wonderful. I can't think why I put off going for so long!

'One of my granddaughters, Sophia, went with me and it was a great learning experience for her. She especially enjoyed the meetings with those in her age group.

'The worship meetings in the Big Top, shared with 3,000 other Christians were an enriching and often overwhelming experince. Also, the Bible teaching sessions, led by Jeff Lucas, opened many new avenues of thinking about our faith as we looked at excerpts from Genesis, Exodus and Samuel, also 1 John from the New Testament. The worship band, led by Vicky Beeching, gave a great lead to the singing and we learned many new songs.

'There were so many other activities to keep us both entertained and challenged.

'An excellent theatre group gave a daily presentation on the Old Testament story of Esther. I discovered that the young people also studied Esther in their groups, mainly in the form of news bulletins.

'There were lectures, various presentations, recitals and so much else to fill each day, I didn't have the energy to spend time going round them all, but it was clear that everyone enjoyed those they attended.

'There's no doubt that Spring Harvest is unique. Huge crowds are attracted each year and Minehead is a very attractive venue. The accommodation was very comfortable and the facilities were first class.

'Sophia and I will be signing up for next year. If you happen to be wavering, as I did for so long, I suggest you think seriously about it. I can certainly recommend it.

'Oh yes, I almost forgot to say that the sun shone every day - such a joy!'

This article was published in High Street News June/July 2010.