For such a time as this: Black church gardens are evolving

By Rev. Dr. Heber Brown III

As a preacher, there are moments in my sermons when I ask people to give an enthused “Amen!” I have had my share of Sunday mornings when my parishioners needed a cue to get excited. Sometimes, we must help people recognize what’s a big deal.

Now is one of those moments. 

The Black Church Food Security Network just signed a 10-year memorandum of understanding with Baltimore’s New Creation Christian Church. We are partnering to develop their land and maximize its impact to further food security in our community. Not only is this an exciting development for us, but it is an exciting moment for Black churches everywhere; it signals an important pivot where congregations are increasingly ready to make their assets available for the common good.

New Creation Christian Church acknowledged that they weren’t getting the most out of their land. For more than a decade they’ve had a garden largely run by volunteer members of the church, but it has never reached its full potential. The garden has never been deeply integrated into their ministry or the food ecosystem of their neighborhood. They recognized that while they had a vision, they did not have the resources, staff or systems to bring it to pass. This kind of awareness makes the difference.

Where they have land, we have resources and the structure to work it efficiently. We have hired growers who will lead the cultivation, and soon we will organize door-to-door in the neighborhood as an integral component of this new initiative. We’ll invest tens of thousands of dollars in the church’s agricultural infrastructure (water, electrical, fencing, etc.), expand their growing space and ensure that the harvest from the garden provides fresh produce (not just canned goods) to their food distribution ministry.

Our decade-long partnership is the launching pad for a chapter of clarity, strategy and collaboration among Black churches. This will only grow in scale — New Creation’s willingness to make their assets available to outside expertise with resources should inspire other churches to do the same. That is something to celebrate.

We need more congregations to conduct very honest assessments regarding not only the political, social and economic disruptions that our people are facing, but also where their internal wherewithal to meet this moment falls short. There is nothing wrong with Black churches saying, “We can’t do it all” or “We don’t have what is needed to fulfill this vision alone.” The sooner that more churches can bravely come to that conclusion, the sooner we can work together to address the food apartheid plaguing our communities.

It is important for Black churches to be transparent about their limitations when recognizing food insecurity at a community level. The devastating food insecurity-related outcomes that we’re experiencing is based on a racist food system that we all are currently subjected to. We cannot overcome this well-funded, efficient, staffed, national system with church volunteer food programs. It takes a system to fight a system. We cannot overcome this problem in silos and without infrastructure, expertise or resources.

In this time where the African-American community is under political assault, it’s more critical than ever to collaborate, as more people are experiencing economic hardship and food insecurity. As there is no end in sight to remedy high food and gas prices, we cannot respond with business as usual. We must meet the urgency of this moment and local partnerships can prevent further destabilization.

The Black Church Food Security Network is always conducting real-time assessments and evaluating how we can best unlock more of the potential of African-American congregations. Our latest pilot initiative in partnership with New Creation Christian Church reflects that commitment.  We need more congregations to follow in the footsteps of New Creation Christian Church and consider opportunities for collaboration. The success of these efforts is dependent on the willingness of Black churches to make brave and timely decisions regarding their assets (land, kitchens, classrooms, etc.) while strategically sharing skills and resources. We cannot do it alone; it takes all of us.

We are called to be stewards of the Earth — to be fruitful and multiply its goodness. With our land serving as sites of freedom, we can expand our gardens, scale deep and systematize the ways that we can be blessings to our community. If we are aware and honest with ourselves, Black churches can be the institutional catalyst that helps Black America to flourish.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the AFRO.

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