It is a great privilege (for the Parish Church) to be invited to share in this celebration and it is our pleasure and honour to be with you all at this year’s May Fayre.

This traditional event on this truly beautiful site is a resurrection of ancient, dare I say, largely pagan custom.

Called “Beltane” by the Celts, the May festival - indeed, the whole of the month of May - was a time to celebrate renewal of life - a time of “wearing of the green” - a celebration of nature, bursting back into life after the long, dark days of winter. And as Christians in this Easter season, we relate to Christ bursting from the tomb; to his resurrection life, which all believers are promised a share in.

Now is the time to stop and stare at the beauty of creation - to enjoy the wonder of Spring, blossoming in a multitude of colours, and of the wonder of new life bursting - breaking through in countless ways.

We see it here - in Epping - and in the stalls around us - in your contributions to this event, which celebrate not only nature but also community. Celtic May festivals often tied in with the needs of the community, because they coincided with the farming calendar when everyone would be hoping for a fruitful year for their families and fields, which reminds us of the need to support each other.

Not so many years ago, in the City (where I worked at the time), May Day itself brought a tide of protests by workers against unfair trade. These have since subsided but it’s worth pausing to remember the people for whom so many took to the streets in the first place: those who continue to be disadvantaged by the unfair rules of global trade.

It’s worth remembering in our celebration of community here today that we remain inextricably linked through a complex web of connections, some positive, some negative, through the choices we make and the lives we lead.

So while we celebrate our good fortune in this our community, let us not forget those who do not have the freedom of choice that we have.

Let us give thanks for each other - for all the traders, organisations and groups represented here today through the various stallholders.

Let us thank God, the Creator, for all that He has created for us to enjoy: in this May Fayre spring festival, marking the end of the winter and the return of the sun and of new life.

Let us thank God for bringing us all together as a community here in Epping as we pray:

Creator of heaven and earth,
at the start of this fresh season,
we acknowledge your presence
in the mysterious shaping of our lives.
We dedicate to you the activities of this day
as we celebrate the life, love and all
that you give us to share, beyond our
wildest imaginings.

 

Help us to be as generous in our sharing
as you are in your giving.
Almighty God, send your blessing upon
this May Fayre, and in this Easter season
put us in mind of the new life
won for us by the death and resurrection
of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Amen.