Jesus and Food

In reading one of my favorite local blogs, Sustainable Grub, I came across an article about the amazing Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Fred Bahnson and Anatoth Community Garden, as well as Jeremy Troxler and Duke Divinity School.

Bahson recently wrote on the Civil Eats blog about the Good Food Movement mentioning Norman Wirzba, Wendell Berry and Dr. Ellen Davis of Duke Divinity School.

All of these folks joined together in several Duke Divinity gatherings, one at Cedar Grove UMC and the other at the Divinity School.

I attended the one at Cedar Grove UMC in October 2007 called Land, Bread, Body hosted by Cedar Grove UMC Pastor Grace Hackney. She came into the church after the building had been destroyed by a fire and breathed new life into it. Out of that new energy was a coming together in the community that resulted in the garden and new friendships built around food. The person brought in to run the garden was Fred Bahnson. The example they set attracted the folks at Duke Divinity where the state Agriculture Commissioner’s son, Jeremy Troxler, was heading up a Rural Ministries program. In the Oct. 2007 program, they brought together farmers, preachers and lay people to hear Norman Wirzba and Troxler talk about the Sabbath stewardship requirement we have to take care of God’s earth so that it will provide for us. After the sermons, everyone gathered at the garden to eat and listen to Kate Campbell sing.

Wirzba and Troxler were joined by Wendell Berry and Ellen Davis in an October 2007 weekend at Duke Divinity School entitled “Our Daily Bread: A Theology and Practice of Sustainable Living.” Participants heard Berry say, “Hope to belong to your place, to know it and to care for it.”

You can find that discussion in Duke’s ItunesU. Click on the Divinity School in the top right corner and then scroll down to Convocation and Pastors’ School where you can download “Our Daily Bread 2007.” You can choose from 11 hours of discussions that include Wendell Berry, Norman Wirzba, Ellen Davis and Carol Bechtel.

At the time, my wife and I were leading a teen discussion on Jesus and Food using folks from our church such as a nutritionist, international missions workers, a food service manager, a cook book collector, our preacher and others to discuss Jesus, hospitality, the stewardship we are required to take over our bodies, our food and our land. I was impressed by Wirzba’s book, Living the Sabbath and kids liked Peter Menzel’s Hungry Planet: What the World Eats.

One final tool for these discussions was the video made by Cedar Grove UMC about the rebuilding of the church and the opening of the garden. Check with the folks at the church to see if they have more copies to share. Then you will be able to join me in looking for new opportunities to share Cedar Grove’s wonderful story with others.