To the farmers, ranchers, and ag families across the Dakotas-Minnesota Episcopal Area and all who love them:Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, who knew the language of seed and soil, sheep and shepherd, sowing and harvest.
I miss the harvest rhythm of western Iowa. My faith journey began in Crawford County, and some part of me still keeps time by the seasons there: the hum of the combine at dusk, dust hanging in the late light, trucks lined up at the elevator, supper carried out to the field.
Now, as I travel across the Dakotas and Minnesota, I see that rhythm everywhere. Beet piles rising in the Red River Valley. Wheat and sunflowers across North and South Dakota. Wild rice gathered from northern Minnesota waters and grain coming off northern fields. Cattle coming home from summer pasture across our region. Corn and soybean fields stretching across southern Minnesota, with lights of farm equipment moving through the darkness long after most of us are asleep.
And I also know these are not easy days.
Costs are high. Markets are uncertain. Drought and changing weather have taken their toll. Decisions about land, livestock, debt, succession, and the future carry real weight. For some, this harvest comes with gratitude. For others, disappointment. For many, both.
I want you to know that your United Methodist family is paying attention.
Your church sees you. We give thanks for you. We are praying for you.
I also want to express my deep appreciation for your hard work and loyal labor. Day after day, season after season, you rise to responsibilities that demand patience, courage, skill, and sacrifice. You care for the land and animals entrusted to you, provide for your families and communities, and help sustain life far beyond the places where you live and work. Your labor is often unseen, but it is never unnoticed or unvalued. Thank you for the faithfulness with which you continue this work.
Scripture tells us that God placed humanity in the garden “to till it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). There is something sacred in tending what God has entrusted to us. Every field harvested, every animal tended, every fence mended, every meal carried to someone working late participates in the work of sustaining life.
And when the work becomes heavy, hear again the invitation of Jesus: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Farming and ranching can be lonely and isolating work. Long hours, uncertainty, financial pressures, and the weight of responsibility can take a toll on mental health and well-being. We want you to know that your church is paying attention. You are not alone, and you do not have to carry every burden by yourself.
To our congregations across the Dakotas and Minnesota: pay attention to the farmers and ranchers among you. Pray for them by name. Check in. Take a meal. Sit over coffee. Notice who has become quiet or withdrawn. Learn the signs of farm stress. Be the kind of church where someone can say, “This is hard,” without having to pretend otherwise.
As harvest continues, I am praying for your safety and security, for your families and livelihoods, and for the land and animals entrusted to your care.
May God watch over your fields, your herds, your homes, and your families. May Christ meet you in both abundance and uncertainty. And may the Holy Spirit bind us together so that no one carries the harvest alone.
Let us pray:
God of seedtime and harvest,
bless those who work the land.
Keep safe those who rise before the sun
and return home long after it has set.
Bless the harvest gathered in
and hold tenderly the disappointment of when the expense is higher than the earning.
Where the numbers do not add up, give wisdom.
Where uncertainty presses hard, give courage.
Where bodies are weary, give rest.
Where spirits are burdened, send companions.
Protect those working machinery, hauling grain, tending livestock, and traveling tired roads.
Bless the land, the animals, the families, and the communities that depend upon them.
And remind us that those who feed the world should never feel forgotten by it.
God of every season, make us faithful stewards of what you have entrusted to us, good neighbors to one another, and people who trust your presence in planting, in harvest, and in all that lies between.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
the Sower and the Good Shepherd. Amen.
With gratitude and prayer,
Bishop Lanette Plambeck
Resident Bishop
Dakotas-Minnesota Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church
