Monthly Church Pot Lucks - Good for Body and Soul

An e-mail I received after the feast on Autumn Leaf Harvest Sunday this past week said it all. "The celebration was absolutely fabulous. I'm thinking it's time to reconsider a monthly potluck after worship." - Stephanie.

It truly was fabulous - both the worship and the harvest meal! My mouth waters as I remember the taste of the communion bread, baked using the whole wheat flour grown in the church's JCGarden wheat patch. Others thought so too. "...that was the sweetest wheat bread that I have ever tasted. Amazing how the flavor lingered – a beautiful gift…." - Susan. Then there was the harvest meal. It featured locally raised organic beef patties, church baked hamburger rolls, bean soup made from plants grown from seeds passed out during the Blessing of Seeds and Gardens Sunday, and many other local dishes lovingly prepared by members of the congregation. All were tasty and made more so because we knew whose hands had prepared them.

As the e-mailer noted, it is time to reconsider monthly church potlucks! I agree, for two things happened on Sunday. Firstly, Christ Jesus was made known in the breaking of bread during holy communion. And secondly, Christ Jesus was made known in the "breaking of bread" during the harvest meal as we experienced him in table fellowship with each other. And that was good!

It IS time to get back to regular church potlucks. These should be held on communion Sundays, so that monthly, bread is broken in sacrament and, after worship, table fellowship too. For Jesus longs to make us one with him (communion) and one with each other (table fellowship) that we might live in relationship with God and neighbor as the starting place for Christian living.

Each monthly potluck could be flavored in some way with one of the four different herbs that grow in the four little crosses. The devotion and worship herbs, processed into herbal vinegar or herbal oil as salad dressing, would remind us how these two works of piety draw us ever deeper into relationship with God. And the compassion and justice herbs could remind us how these two works of mercy connect us not only to friends but to all who stand in need of love and care. A brief story could introduce the herb of the day and share how the act it represents (devotion, worship, compassion or justice) was practiced and found meaningful.

In this fashion, springing directly from the centrality of the cross, the potluck might allow us to sacramentally ingest the very truth of God, that we might be one with Him in purpose and prayer, "Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven." Amen!

From JCGarden "Wheat Field" to Communion Loaf

Today, a sunny Sunday in the fall of 2009, a full year after sowing tiny wheat seeds in the Fall of 2008, a "miracle" loaf of communion bread, home-grown, -ground, -baked and promise-filled, lay upon the altar.

Leavenworth - the village - celebrated Autumn Leaf Festival this weekend. Leavenworth United Methodist - the church - joined in and celebrated Autumn Leaf Harvest Sunday. And the Sunday celebration made the weekend festivities complete.

During the worship hour, thanks was given for the fullness of the earth - apple and pear trees laden with fruit in our valley - evident in our own Jerusalem Cross Garden with its' red tomatoes and mini wheat field. Then the special home grown loaf of bread was broken, the wine poured, and on our knees the heavenly feast partaken of. This is my body broken for you. This is my blood of the new covenant poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you eat this bread and drink this wine in remembrance of me. And we were reminded that fullness came and comes, not in harvesting more and more of worldly pleasures and things, but in the constant planting, through self-emptying love and sacrifice, of acts of compassion and justice.

More than the harvest of pears and apples and grapes and veggies was celebrated this Autumn Leaf Festival as the surrounding hills change color. For this weekend our lives were colored with the divine as we took our place at both the banquet table of creation (in the harvest meal of local food following worship) and the heavenly banquet of holy communion, while in my own mind sounded the words and refrain of the Taize Alleluia:
Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word,
that proceeds from the mouth of God
Allelu alleluia.
Truly, we were fed in both body and soul.

Salmon Watch

Gilfillan, an energetic Brittany Spaniel pup, still learning how to follow his bird dog instincts, takes me for an early walk most mornings. Our destination of choice lately has been the Wenatchee River, for we are on salmon watch. Salmon Sunday which included a salmon bake on the lawn beside the Jerusalem Cross Garden this past Sunday, along with Leavenworth's Wenatchee River Salmon Festival, have come and gone. Still we wait with a lenten-type expectation for the annual re-enactment of a life-giving sacrifice in our waters.

Soon the beautifully sad, and sadly beautiful procession will begin. The summer run of salmon, arriving in the fall, will rise and turn in our shallow waters, each sleek fish having swum hundreds of miles from the Pacific Ocean, to spawn in the gravel bottoms of our crystal clear rivers. Then they will die, their flesh torn, their bodies scarred. And hundreds of emaciated carcasses will litter our river banks, mere shadows of the magnificent creatures they once were, to be picked over by crows and ravens, raccoons and other critters.

It's difficult to accept death in such large numbers. The grandson of one member, his little soul unable and unwilling to process death in such mutilated fashion, is troubled by the sadness it engenders in his still sensitive heart. I picture Mary, Jesus' mother feeling much the same as she saw her son hanging on the cross with nails through his hands and feet, his possessions being picked over by the soldiers on Golgothan duty.

Yet beyond the death of the salmon will come the miracle of new life, as hundreds of thousands of little salmon hatch to cavort and grow in Pacific Northwest waters. Similarly, beyond the cross came the resurrection, life beyond the grave. And the good news is that the Lenten and Easter event of long ago still brings resurrection life today. It comes to people who learn to die their own deaths, so that rising with Christ as new creations, their Godly living can help redeem the world. The salmon remind us so graphically of this truth each year.

The Jerusalem Cross, laid out so beautifully in garden form at the church and planted and tended by the Harvest Team to bring forth life - red tomatoes, orange carrots, green squash - as "bread of the earth," reminds us of these deeper things. That through the cross we learn to die to self, and, nourished by the "bread of heaven," we are empowered to live resurrection lives by joyously engaging the four acts of devotion, worship, compassion and justice.

It feels good to be "devoting" weekly with a small group where, watching over each other in love, we extend support in the gardening of both our souls and the soil of God's creation. This is Jerusalem Cross gardening, filled with promise.

From Winter Wheat to Loaf of Bread to Bread of Heaven

Growing wheat and baking bread is not something many folk these days know much about. We are no exception. In fact things around our "wheat field" have been rather comical. But we have grown our first batch and now are learning how to thresh, winnow, grind and bake. Based on the article below, processing next years winter wheat will be a whole lot better informed, visual (think "shocks") and fun. Read below how easy it is to grow and harvest your own wheat even as you expand your vocabulary. We're learning it's healthier and we're anticipating a loaf of bread sitting on top of the altar table soon in affirmation that "one cannot live by bread alone."

Freshly ground wheat flour has a high vitamin content; vitamins that degrade all too quickly when exposed to the air. The whole grain flour that we buy from stores is often quite stale and may have significantly reduced vitamin content when compared to freshly ground.

Grow Your Own Wheat (taken from breadinfo.com)

"Planting a plot approximately 10 feet by 10 feet will, when all is said and done, yield between 10 and 25 loaves of bread. To begin, choose the type of wheat you wish to plant. In the United States two varieties are grown, white and red. Red wheat is more common. Red wheat also produces bread with a much more intense flavor. Consider the advantages of growing winter wheat as opposed to spring variety.

Winter wheat can be planted from late-September to mid-October. It is the preferred variety because it tends to be more nutritious than spring wheat, protects the soil in the winter, and has less competition from the weeds in spring. Try to plant early enough to get a good root system growing before winter dormancy sets in, but not so early that flies and pests become a problem. Spring wheat is planted in early spring and is most commonly found in the northern reaches of the country where the intensely cold winters create problems for winter wheat.

Finding a source for seeds can be a problem...You can find wheat seed at your local natural food stores. The grain in the bins may be planted as well as eaten, just be sure you know whether you are getting winter or spring wheat so that you plant in the proper season.

Try to plant the seed on good rich soil. The ground should be relatively even. There are three methods of planting, one is the time honored broadcast method in which 3 ounces or so of seed is "sprinkled" over the garden bed for every 100 square feet. This is about 1 seed for every square inch. Planting density is largely dependent on the richness and moistness of the soil. More wheat per square feet will absorb more nutrients and moisture. Be sure to rake the patch to cover the seed and protect it from hungry birds. Another method, called drilling, creates a hole about every six inches and plants several seeds per hole. The plants come up in a bunch but spread out over the bare area. This method allows for weeding when the plants are young, but is more labor intensive. Similarly, tight packed rows (about 6 inches apart) can be made in the soil and the wheat seed spread up and down the rows in the manner of beets and or carrots.

Harvest, Thresh and Winnow Your Wheat

Wheat harvest usually occurs in June when the wheat begins to turn a golden color but still has a few streaks of green. Using a scythe or some other sharp blade, mow down the stalks then tie them into bundles, standing them upright in the garden patch. Then allow the grain to fully ripen into a golden color.

Twine could be used to tie the bundles, but the traditional method is to take about an inch thick bunch of stems. Tie the lower end, binding the stalks together. Then wrap them around the bundle tying the head and foot of the stalks at about the middle of the bundle, creating a shock.

Keep the heads dry, then thresh and winnow at your leisure. The simplest form of threshing involves grasping a quantity of ripe wheat in one hand and beating it around the inside of a barrel. the grain falls off the stalks and the stalks are discarded or composted.

Winnowing is the process of separating the wheat from the chaff and small bits of straw. Since time immemorial this has been done by pouring the wheat from one container to another in a stiff breeze. The breeze blows away the chaff and the resulting wheat is as pure a product as you may easily produce. Absent a stiff breeze, a fan may be used.

Your wheat is now ready for storage. Wheat may be stored in barrels, bags, or what-have-you. The basic requirements are that the space be cool, dry and pest-free ( think rodent and bug).

Grind it
Throw some in a [10-speed] blender or food processor and grind to flour consistency.

Start with a half cup of whole grain. Turn the blender up to its highest speed. If the blender seems to bog down, stop and reduce the amount of grain. Add a larger amount for the next batch if the blender handled the original half cup sufficiently. Continue to grind the grains until they reach the consistency desired. Grind the grain in batches until the desired amount is achieved.

Pick you favorite pasta, pancake, bread, cookie or muffin recipe and start baking!

First the blade then the ear then the full grain in the ear.

Body: They began as little green shoots before the first snows of winter '08 fell. As spring '09 debuted, these same infant sprouts reached for the sun, each growing with the seasons and the steady circling of the earth round the sun - fall, winter, spring. And then came summer, and the green ears, full and promising, matured into "amber waves of grain." Now fall cycles back, one year of holy history later, and each head of grain, harvested, lies in a box ready to be threshed in preparation for Lana, our church baker's, skillful hand.

Maturing, it strikes me, takes time. Fall planting is three seasons from late summer's harvest; a loaf of bread is almost a year from the sowing of seed. But with patience and tending and an element of faith, comes the bread to nourish body and give flesh-and-blood life. Perhaps we'll have enough flour for our two fall festivals this year which celebrate the gift of God's good earth - Salmon Sunday during the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival and Autumn Leaf Harvest Sunday during the Autumn Leaf Festival. Bread goes well with both the salmon from our rivers and the fruit and veggies from our valleys.

Soul: "Spirit" has intersected with "body" in a marvelous way lately at Community United Methodist Church. The wheat in the garden has been maturing and harvested, moving us towards that communion loaf representing the body of Christ, even as our lectionary groups have considered John 6:35, where Jesus says "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." How important these weekly small groups have become for us that we might regularly feast of Christ Jesus through encounter with the Word, so to become more like him.

Fertile Promise becomes a Watered Hope

The JCGarden at Leavenworth United Methodist Church - slowly, during a cold Spring and early Summer, brown has become green, fertile promise a watered hope. The garden has grown, green in abundance! So has faith! And Kingdomtide's green "go" beckons our hearts beyond metaphor into the fertile love of God, that we too, in the fertile soil of small groups, might grow, grow, grow...and God's kingdom come.




The photos document the "green" progress of the garden and point, as acts of devotion, worship, compassion and justice are engaged, to the growth of Gods' "green" kingdom in our hearts.


The heavenly feast has been set. How good it is to pull our chairs up to the banquet table of God and be fed in both body and soul.

The best of all is that all are invited!

The Coloring of Green

The greening of the JCGarden soil as the plants grow, is leading progressively towards the color of the coming harvest.

Green wheat becomes the "amber waves of grain" (click on photo to enlarge). Bright yellow marigolds bloom their sunny presence. Tomatoes brighten into juicy red orbs of flavor, unique to the home garden, unavailable at Safeway. The feast from this garden is about to begin!

It has been fun each Sunday to gather with other members of the congregation before worship to examine and discuss the progress in the garden. It still is. But perhaps more so now as our taste buds begin to be tickled. From the green of new growth comes the color of maturity...and it promises to be richer, deeper and good.

So much for soil in this gardening project. What about soul? For the garden, as sign and metaphor, orients us toward God in Christ Jesus, and offers to feed us body AND soul.

And this is happening! Quietly, in exciting ways in our little congregation, people's souls are being fed. I see it most obviously in the two lectionary groups. Meeting weekly, participants are committed to the practice of acts of devotion through the reading of Scripture and through prayer. From the "new growth" of venturing into an intentional Christian practice, is coming the color of a new maturity as we learn to live with God each day and allow him to lovingly shape our lives far better than we can do ourselves. Life therefore, like the Jerusalem Cross Gardens' ripening produce, becomes richer, deeper and good as a consequence.

And kingdomtide green is enriched by the color of hearts renewed daily. Renewed, folk engage in other Christian acts - worship, compassion and justice - and God's kingdom emerges just that little bit more in our midst.