Community Building

Have been considering the revival of community/church recently, and also thinking about my passion for urban renewal (city farms etc), growing stuff, feeding the needy with fresh-picked home-grown organic foods and using all available land as edible landscaping/food production.

So, I'm just wondering if any of our church planters have considered using city farms and urban agriculture as a way to connect others with God? It's connecting communities in other ways, defeating crime and unemployment, so why not this added extra of a relationship built with God?

I know many have moved into neighbourhoods to reach folk, or are working on house church ideas, but I haven't yet heard of any who have started a community garden, converted empty lots into things of beauty and value or similar.

I'm not involved in church planting (though it's foremost in my mind a lot of the time), but have been using my little garden to produce food for myself, shared with neighbours, and am expanding it across unused grassy areas to feed a few hungry students in the new year. I'm hoping the idea will spread to other staff and students who have existing veggie gardens, fruit trees on their property, or land sitting idle. Perhaps this could be a very good way to reach out and touch people, across the garden hose or a clump of earth.

Just thinking out loud....

Articles about what's happening: something going on in Detroit, City Farmer online info, and one family's experience in using every bit of their yard.