Growing Mission and Gardens
““The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.””
Back in the fall, the Engaging in Justice and Service ministry surveyed the congregation and learned that two of the areas the congregation feels called to include “creation care” and “poverty.” For the last few months and inspired by the Sharipen Bequest, they have developed partnerships and opportunities for us learn more about these issues. Reflecting on these, Molly Peterson shares:
The more I have come to understand the Earth, the more connected I feel to everything on it. Every seed planted in the soil is intimate with everything from cows to global poverty…. I want nothing more than to understand, as to do my part to help the world thrive.
Community Partners
Essential to this work is the work of building connections and assessing need. So many in Hopewell and the surrounding region are tackling issues of food insecurity. That being said a growing edge for many of these intiatives is fresh food. Outreach partners like the Chubby’s Project are eager to get fresh fruits and vegetables to share with those they feed on a regular basis. Learning more about this need, EJS got connected with the work of the Saint Michaels Community Garden. If you are looking for a way to care for God’s creation in celebration of Earth Day, here’s how we can show up for our community partners at Saint Michaels this week:
Seedling Planting at Saint Mike’s: Weather permitting, Saturday, April 24 at 8:30AM, Corrine Egner will be leading a group of volunteers as they plant onion bulbs, kale, broccoli, and spinach. To join, email corrine7@me.com.
Other partnerships they have developed in this process include but are not limited to Princeton Theological Seminary’s Farminary and ISLES, specifically their work with Jones Farm which is located in the Ewing Department of Corrections.
HPC Gardens
To continue this conversation and create opportunities for service, EJS in conjunction with the Finance & Faclities has created three small raised garden beds. The produce grown in these beds will be used to create community with our neighbors, to stock the little pantry, and will be donated to the Chubby’s Project. While the actual produce is an important component to these beds, these gardens will also “produce an opportunity” for further learning about creation care and hunger. Reflecting on creation care, Joanne Tonkin shared
We have been given a beautiful home and have been entrusted to be its stewards. Sadly, we often abuse our home in careless and selfish acts. To achieve creation justice, we must first acknowledge that we share this home with all creatures great and small. We must then accept our responsibility to help re-establish a healthy climate and ensure that there is equitable access to clean air, clean water, and nutrient-rich food for ALL. As it says in Psalm 104: “Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.” (Psalm 104:30)
To plant the gardens and to celebrate the beginning of this work together EJS and F&F are hosting a Spring Garden Day on May 8. Mark your calendars to come for a morning devotion, to plant some seedlings, and to help pull weeds and mulch the church grounds.
As you consider how God is calling you to care for creation, here’s a prayer that Becky Ludeke shares with you. It is one she learned as a child:
God, we thank you for your world
For rest and home and all things good,
For wind and rain and sun above
But most of all for those we love.
Reflecting on this Becky explains, “Even at my young age, I somehow realized it was important for us to be good stewards of our environment and certainly to take care of those we love (and those we don't love or know).”
The leadership looks forward to the ways that this work with community partners, the gardens, and one another will help us love like Jesus!
