Plough Monday

Does your church celebrate Plough Monday? Or is everyone working from home?

Plough Monday was the day when everyone went back to work after Christmas, celebrated in the north and east of England from the fifteenth century onwards. You can read about the regional variations, the fun and games that in some places still persist, with others revived or reinvented in recent decades. Money and booze were clearly involved, and in some contexts there was a pause for prayer to mark the start of the agricultural year. “God speed the plough” ….

Is there an equivalent moment in churches today? How and when shall we pray for women and men as they go back to work after Christmas? What would it look like to pray for the work that they do, as well as the power of their witness and the development of their character under pressure?

Would you replace the plough in today’s world and in today’s economy?

It would be worth talking to women working at home, men seeking work, those who are now retired, as well as individuals serving in different contexts, at different stages in their working lives, some who work nights, others working shifts, some having to work from home, some working outside, some working with their hands, others having to travel, or spend too much time on screens, some comfortable with their work, others queasy about what their work involves, some overwhelmed, others bored, some part of a great team, others struggling with painful people and broken relationships. They would tell you what to use instead of a plough, or they may prefer to keep it. You could choose a name with them, for one Sunday a year when the church family prays for the working lives of every church member.

Think with them, and learn from them how best the church can pray for them. What does the Bible suggest on this topic? What does the BCP offer? You could spend an evening or a morning together and write some prayers, or at least a list of topics for prayer? You could create a set of prayers for people to use as they pray for their work. You could set up a mealtime meeting like that once a year.

Plough ???? Sunday: How about at least one Sunday a year, or a week in the prayer diary, when the intercessions focus on the opportunities and challenges for Christians at work? How about praying for the meaning and the results of the actual work, for Christians within the church family, and across the local economy, as well as praying for Christians in other contexts around the world, where there are quite different pressures?

You could choose the first Sunday after Epiphany, as a deliberate echo of that earlier northern celebration on Plough Monday. It’s a good time of year, especially when there is so much else going on in September.

Another time we can think about A simple calendar for Sunday Intercessions

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