No Farm, No Food. This popular statement is most certainly true. In northwestern Ohio, farming is a way of life for many who sit in the pews of area Lutheran Churches. We want to honor and celebrate this important work. Without local farms and farmers our lives would be held hostage by huge corporate conglomerates that look out for their own bottom line, not the well-being of consumers.

How can the church assist farmers during the planting season? Rogation Days is an ancient church blessing of farms, farm animals, and farm equipment, around the time of Ascension Day, which is 40 days after Easter. Starting in Europe during the time of the Reformation, church leaders would bless the ground, and animals that would provide the food at the fall harvest. Many of our congregations celebrate Harvest days in the fall; we should also do the same at the beginning of the cycle of planting, growing, and feeding what will produce that harvest in the fall.

We have heard from one church member, "my grandfather never planted a seed until after Ascension Day." This idea certainly comes from the European tradition of Rogation Days. While times have changed and planting is dictated by different metrics, receiving the gift of God's blessing, for the creation of food for God's people, is a metric that is timeless.

Teams of pastors and lay leaders will travel around our conference to different farms which desire to receive a blessing of fields, livestock, and equipment.