by Kelsey Aebi
On Sunday afternoon, November 19, 50 people gathered for Farm Church, a day of worship and volunteering at Crabtree Farms of Chattanooga, a 22-acre community farm in Clifton Hills outside Chattanooga’s busy urban district. Members of churches from all across Chattanooga and East Tennessee, in addition to the Chattanooga Area Episcopal Youth (ChattEY), participated in the fall gathering.
People gather under the canopy of trees for worship before volunteering around the farm. Photo: Kelsey Aebi
The events of Farm Church included a worship service under the canopy of open forest and an opportunity to help out on the farm afterward. Some participants put walls on a high tunnel (greenhouse) housing crops like lettuce and Swiss chard. Others stitched together the foundation for a composting bio-reactor from burlap coffee bean bags donated by a local roaster. Not only was Farm Church an opportunity for local congregations to access outreach opportunities in the broader community, but it also became a space for evangelism. One Crabtree regular enthusiastically said, “I came to volunteer, but I got church too!” UTC students were also in attendance, excited for the opportunity to fulfill service hours in a unique manner.
At the 2023 Forma Convention, Brian Sellers-Petersen led a workshop on Agrarian Ministry in the Episcopal Church. As it turns out, The Episcopal Church owns more land per active member than any other Christian denomination in the United States. Given this reality, many Episcopal Churches have sought ways to steward their land in joyful and creation-honoring ways. Examples in the Diocese of East Tennessee include the Becoming Beloved Community Garden at Church of the Ascension in Knoxville and the Community Garden and Grounds at Grace Church in Chattanooga, a certified Level II Arboretum.
A youth volunteer helps tie down film on the tunnel.
Farm Church developed as an extension of a personal interest in outdoor worship and agrarian ministry and a desire to support a local non-profit organic farm. Crabtree Farms of Chattanooga is a market farm, growing various seasonal produce using organic and sustainable methods. Crabtree also offers education to the community about food access, farming, and sustainability. I have been a weekly volunteer at Crabtree Farms for the last year, and I have long suspected that faith and farming go hand in hand.
The liturgical seasons of the church year ground us in the story of our faith and this story is reflected too in the changing seasons of the earth. The cold and dark of Advent is found in the frost covering the ground where the kale and collards are planted. The hearty greens are there to remind us that this same cold and dark is never the whole story. We can be nourished even in darkness.
Field at Crabtree Farm. Photo: Kelsey Aebi
Another spiritual gift offered to us in farming is the reminder that we worship with our whole selves. Our bodies are just as much a part of our worship as our minds. Kneeling before the carrots to pluck weeds and protect the feathery green fronds is an act of love and service to oneself and the community that will share in the harvest. Finally, farming reminds us that we are part of a system. So often, we inhabit a worldview that says that we are separate from those we serve and we must be worthy in order to receive. On a farm, we work and eat. We serve and we are served. To be part of the cycle of our food is a physical manifestation of God’s love for us. We love because God first loved us. And it is a joy to share God’s love and the fruits of our labors with others. Crabtree has the sweetest carrots I have ever tasted, and that is a gift of grace. Keep an eye out this Spring for future Farm Church events!
Kelsey Aebi is the Director of Youth Ministry and Lay Associate Minister at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Chattanooga as well as the author of Grail Religion, an uplifting and inspirational blog for dyed in the wool Episcopalians and spiritual wanderers alike. Kelsey Aebi, originally from Cleveland, Tennessee, spent several years living in Western North Carolina, graduating from the University of North Carolina Greensboro with a degree in Philosophy. She also has a Masters degree in Learning and Technology. Kelsey enjoys reading, writing, and hanging out with her two cats, Jupiter and Neptune.