Food is God’s love made nutritious and delicious, given for the good of each other.
Norman Wirzba
About
Food:
Increasing adequate and equitable access to healthy, nutritious food is one of the most fundamental ways we can serve our neighbors. In Kitsap County, 11.6% of all people and 17.4% of kids in 2017 experienced food insecurity. Also, 32.8% of people in Kitsap county have low access to grocery stores, making it that much harder to access fresh fruits and vegetables. By growing produce to give to others, we are breaking these barriers and changing these statistics.
Environment:
We believe God calls us to take care of His creation, so we are dedicated to organic practices that conserve and restore the natural resources around us. We believe that growing food locally and organically is not only beneficial to those eating the food, but also to the greater community of rocks, trees, soil, and non-human animals that surround us.
Faith:
Our faith is the inspiration for this entire ministry. Yes, of course you don’t have to be Christian to grow and give produce, but God’s love is the example and motivation for our mission to love our community (both human and non-human). By providing food for those who need it, we are given the opportunity to share our knowledge and love of the ultimate sustainer, our Lord and Savior.
Getting food from field to table is the most important religious act we perform. Every day, taking our sustenance from the earth and from the bodies of other animals, we enter deeply into the mystery of creation. Eating is practical theology, or it should be; daily it gives us the opportunity to honor God with our bodies. Our never-failing hunger is a steady reminder to acknowledge God as the Giver of every good gift.
–Ellen Davis
The question that must be addressed is not how to care for the planet, but how to care for each of the planet’s millions of human and natural neighborhoods, each of its millions of small pieces and parcels of land, each one of which is in some precious way different from all the others.
–Wendell Berry
At it’s best, eating is a sharing and welcoming movement that makes room for others… We don’t really understand food until we perceive, receive, and taste it in terms of its origin and end in God as the one who provides for, communes with, and ultimately reconciles creation. Food is God’s love made nutritious and delicious, given for the good of each other. The mundane act of eating is thus a daily invitation to move responsibly and gratefully within this given life. It is a summons to commune with the divine Life that is presupposed and made manifest in every bite.
–Norman Wirzba
We are thrilled to be able to work alongside Kitsap Community Resources (KCR) and their Home Visiting program to provide fresh produce to families within our community. KCR has been doing amazing work in our community for many years, and we look forward to helping them provide some locally grown sustenance to our neighbors in Kitsap.
We are also very grateful to the Kitsap Conservation District for passing along some gardening knowledge, some fresh compost, and for accepting our application to have rain gardens and cisterns installed at the church. These rain gardens and cisterns will help our church reduce the amount of pollutants entering our watershed, which is especially important for our church as the Barker Creek passes along the east side of our property. The cisterns will also help us water our garden as we collect and use rainwater from our roof.
We are also thankful for Olympic Organics, the Silverdale Lowe’s, Drip Depot, and several other Kitsap community members who have donated to this garden ministry. It is so fun to see our community rally together to care for each other.
Get Involved
Every little bit helps!
In order to donate money that will cover costs of gardening supplies, you can go here, enter the dollar amount you would like to give, and select “Community Garden #3271” in the drop down menu.
If you’d wish to donate specific items, contact David and Stephanie Sweeney (garden@ckpc.org) to find a time for us to come get the item or for you to drop it off at the church.
Thank you! See you in the garden.
See the calendar below for our garden work days and produce drop off days. For the work days, simply show up to help out. If you would like to volunteer to drop off produce, go to this sign up:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4cafa72baaf9c70-produce
If you have not already signed up to be a part of our garden volunteer email group, please contact David and Stephanie Sweeney by emailing garden@ckpc.org.
You can also join our Facebook group, CKGarden, for updates and information about the garden:
If you are not able to volunteer with us or donate to our ministry, you can still be one of our ministry members by keeping us in your daily prayers. This garden will take a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to be successful, and we are always in need of prayer.
Prayer requests:
- Pray that the labor of our hands be done for the glory of God and the good of our community
- Pray that as we make big decisions in the early stages of this ministry that they would lead to the flourishing of this garden
- Pray for those who are hungry and/or struggling to get food on their tables
