Spring Harvest is an inter-denominational evangelical conference and gathering in the United Kingdom that started in 1979. The festival arose in the late 1970s during a time when the evangelicalism was growing in the UK and there was uncertainty as to how that movement would relate with Church of England and evangelicals within it; the event, among few others at the time, welcomed all evangelical Christians, including people within and outside the charismatic movement. Hylson-Smith comments that non-denominational activities such as Spring Harvest did much to encourage pan-evangelicalism which tended to minimise historical differences between denominations
Its stated aims are to 'equip the Church for action' through a range of events, conferences, books and resources. The tone is generally evangelical with modern worship music, workshops and Bible study groups.
History
The event was first held in 1979 for one week at Prestatyn, North Wales. In 1986 the event moved to Butlins Minehead and then in 1987 it moved to Skegness. Attendance passed the 50,000 mark in 1988 and the following year it was also held at Butlin's Ayr, Scotland. By 2010 the event had been reduced by a week from the previous year, and the 2011 attendance was approximately 28,000 people From 2012, there were three Minehead weeks and one Skegness week. From 2014 to 2017 the events continued to reduce in length. In 2018 Harrogate Convention Centre was first used as a venue.
Social campaigns
Spring Harvest is also involved in charitable work. These have included:
1982: At the outbreak of the Falklands War, Spring Harvest sent a telegram to the Prime Minister expressing 'the love and concern felt by Christians for both governments and peoples involved.' £7,800 was collected and sent to the Church in Argentina.
1988: A worship album was launched, with profitsgoing to Christian projects involved in supporting those with HIV/AIDS. It went on to raise over £20,000.
1999: Spring Harvest raises thousands of pounds to help the victims of brutality in the Kosovo War.
2000: Spring Harvest launches Generation 2000+ at Minehead, the family week, in conjunction with Care for the Family and raises over £1 million for children worldwide through the 'remember me' project.
Media production and coverage
Recordings of parts of the event sometimes appears on British TV such as the BBC programme Songs of Praise. Most years CDs of associated songs are also published.
