With the onset of autumn comes the fruits of harvest time, celebrated by most North Americans through the Thanksgiving holiday.

While the holiday will be celebrated this week in Canada, and not until the end of November in the United States, the congregation at St. Anne's Church in Southampton are inviting the public to a Harvest Thanksgiving Celebration Service on Sunday, October 21.

"Good things come in threes, and there are three things about the harvest," Rev. Carl Williams, rector at St. Anne's church, said.

"Harvest festival is first a celebration of thanksgiving for God's goodness, …it is an expression of our willingness to share the bounty we receive through God's goodnes with others, … and it points forward to the great harvest of the end times when Christ will gather all things to Himself."

During the service, a selection of Harvest hymns will be sung, and church members and visitors will be invited to bring the fruits of the earth to the altar. Many of the church's children will be involved, bringing fruit, vegetables, oil, the Bible, bread and wine, and handcrafted items. Food items collected during the service will then be donated to needy groups afterwards.

Local farmers are also asked to come and bring their favourite tool, which will be blessed during the service.

Guest speaker for the service will be Minister of the Environment, Neletha Butterfield.

The service will begin at 10 a.m.. For more information, contact the church at 238-1864 or 535-5817.