Archive Article: 2001/03/09
CHURCH-GOERS around the country responded to calls from the Archbishop of Canterbury and said prayers last Sunday for farmers hit by the foot-and-mouth crisis.
"At this time when farming and other communities are feeling deeply isolated and under great stress, it is important that we stand together with them in thought, word and deed," said the Archbishop, Dr George Carey.
"Sadly the problems that confront those in difficulty seem unlikely to be short lived. We hope very much, therefore, that their needs will remain a focus of prayer while the crisis continues."
Special prayers have been posted on the Church of Englands web-site (www.c-of-e.org.uk) and a fund has been set up to raise money for those in most need.
"We have seen there is a need to provide a safety net under the trap door on which many are standing," says Gordon Gatward, director of the Arthur Rank Centre, the Churches rural resource centre which is running the fund.
The ARC, meanwhile, still expect Green Ribbon Day to go ahead on Rogation Sunday, May 20. This will, as last year, be a national day of prayer for the farming community, fostering links between town and country.