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BY HELEN ARMINGER
SPECIAL TO THE UMCONNECTION

Churches on the Discipleship Adventure are encouraged to 'produce fruit.' Parke Memorial UMC in Parkton is doing just that - and meeting the needs of the hungry along the way.

The church I serve had a piece of land next to the parsonage, and it seemed like a good idea to use it to grow vegetables to feed the hungry.

No sooner had that inspiration come to me, than Elizabeth D?Alessio, a member of the Parkton community, contacted me and proposed that we do just that. She asked if our church would be willing to be the first to break ground.

And so began The Garden Project, a seminal model for other churches and organizations to use whatever land they have to grow food for the hungry.

Parke Memorial began by contacting local food banks and Sarah?s Hope, a new and growing day shelter in East Baltimore, to see if they would like fresh vegetables and flowers delivered from our projected harvest.

The idea was well received by all concerned as well as local businesses, which gave the church seed money (literally and figuratively) to begin planting.

The Holy Spirit put this together for us, so that we could begin to spread the idea and raise the consciousness of people to the needs of the hungry.

The meeting to plan the garden was exciting. I thought only three or four people would appear, but volunteers from our small church kept pouring in through the parsonage door - people of all ages, including young children who were excited about planning the garden.

The objective of the garden is not only to raise food to feed the hungry, but to teach children where food comes from, especially children from the city. We also saw it as an excellent way to welcome everyone from our broader community to get involved with the garden - by praying, donating, tilling, fertilizing, weeding, planting, watering, harvesting and delivering.

It?s also an opportunity to instill a reverence for God?s creation, a sacred project on many levels.

In August, after the harvest is given away, we will save some food for a celebratory feast where we thank God for the harvest and come together as a community.

Many churches have some piece of land, no matter how small, that they can offer to God for the hungry. If you want more information, contact us at or (410) 343-1164.