The golden October sunshine flooded into St Luke's Church, Stanmore, for a service of Harvest Community Praise.

Representatives of the 3rd and 12th Winchester Brownies, the 8th Winchester Cub Scouts, the 5th Winchester Guides and St Luke's Playgroup formed the colour party.

The congregation included city councillors, Brian Collin and Ernie Nunn.

The bible readings were given by James and Jenny Gale and two members of the newly reformed Guide company.

The choir sang the anthem, For the Beauty of the Earth, by John Rutter. The many young families present made it a lively and joyous occasion.

It was an unforgettable day for St Luke's regular worshippers as it started with a Family Communion Service at 11am and was followed by the Harvest Lunch in St Luke's Centre, where 80 people enjoyed a hot meal before joining the special afternoon service.

The harvest gifts from St Luke's and St Mark's, Oliver's Battery, have been given as usual to the Trinity Centre and the Night Shelter and all the collections will go to the Christian Aid special harvest appeal.

Posies have been taken to the housebound. The vicar, the Revd Mike Gardner, gave a simple but profound message: as well as thanking God for all the good things we enjoy, we need to be practical and imaginative in our caring and sharing with the desperately poor across the world.