As a direct result of his attendance at the Skegness Fellowship of Christian Churches Gala Day the Skegness Town Mayor invited our Minister, Reverend Ian Banks, to conduct an open-air Harvest Thanksgiving Service at Church Farm Museum on the afternoon of September 25th. 2011.

As a Church we took the opportunity to use this as our own Harvest Festival. It was just so appropriate to celebrate the Harvest in what was once a working farm and is now preserved as a reminder of an important part of the history of Skegness. Many of the volunteer staff dressed up in costume and so Ian did so too - well cassock and gown in true John Wesley style although Ian's cassock and preaching tabs where slightly more modern and he did arrive by car and not on horseback!

Councillor Steve Kirk, the Skegness Town Mayor, took part in the service and spoke about the work at Church Farm and Witham Lodge Hostel. He said that many of the volunteer workers at the museum were residents of the hostel. He then invited people to make a 'harvest' donation to the hostel.

The service was well attended by members of the church, some of whom took the opportunity to make a day of it and, after our morning meeting in the County, joined us for a light lunch in the farm's restaurant and spent some time in the afternoon exploring the museum. Although the collection at the Church Farm Harvest was for a local hostel, we did raise a separate offering for Vision Africa and this enabled us to make a donation of £105.