All is safely gathered in On the fourteenth of this month Overton Methodists celebrate Harvest, the time when we remember the fruitfulness of the land and God’s provision for our daily welfare. The word harvest comes from an old English word meaning autumn and is associated with the gathering in of the crops to provide for the hardships of winter. If the ‘harvests’ were poor then survival through the winter was in jeopardy. The Bible also reminds us of the harvest of souls. Jesus connected the bringing in of the Kingdom with the harvest and the sending of labourers into the field as the work of mission. This year’s Methodist Conference debated the Statistics for Mission report. The debate made clear that there is indeed much life and health across the Connexion, but also that the trend of British Methodism is clearly downward overall. It is right to celebrate the considerable and varied growth found in some churches, but that does not excuse us from facing head on the challenges i