Day 85 - Be open-handed

It would appear that Witney Congregational Church is going bonkers! At a church meeting earlier in the year, it was decided that we would celebrate our HARVEST FESTIVAL in June!

For many years we have supported the local foodbank at our usual autumn harvest festival service but all foodbanks need food for the long school summer holidays – when children who are normally in receipt of free school lunches, and sometimes even breakfast, are at home needing three meals per day and, of course, snacks.

Witney is generally considered an affluent market town. The national average house price in spring 2026 is £290,000; Witney’s average is £366,000. Fortunately I was sitting down when I interrogated the Internet about child poverty in Witney. Specific small areas in Witney Central are in the 10% most deprived in England for education, skills, and training. A 2019 estimate revealed that over 20% of children in Witney live in poverty, although the broader West Oxfordshire district is among the least deprived in the country. That last bit does not surprise me. Jeremy Clarkson, David and Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, Amanda Holden and David Cameron all have property in West Oxfordshire.

There are over 2,000 verses in the Bible about God’s concern for the poor, yet I have heard Christians interpreting Matthew 26:11... you always have the poor with you ... as an excuse not to look after the poor in either this country or overseas! In Leviticus 9:9-10 we can read: When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.

In Deuteronomy 15:7-8 we read: If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards them. Rather, be open-handed and freely lend them whatever they need. Later in that chapter: There will always be poor people in the land. This is probably the verse Jesus had in mind; he was contrasting the permanence of poor people with the transient nature of his time on earth.

Alongside our service at the beginning of June, we are suggesting those who worship with us and those who use our building give something to the foodbank every week in set categories: breakfast items (inc pet food), main meal items, snack foods and things for personal care.

On the Saturday before the service, we are having a day of awareness and fun; while it is our duty as Christians to care for the poor, there is no ban on asking others to help. Oh, and twice a year we hold a quiz evening, with all the proceeds going to the Foodbank.

The poor will always be with us; let’s roll up our sleeves and follow God’s commands not to ignore them.

Elaine Kinchin