November is the time we remember and give thanks for the countless ways we are blessed.
As many of you know, I spent a week in September in Wisconsin at a Creation at the Crossroads Conference. It was all about bridging the distance between faith and science to better care for God’s creation. I came away with so much inspiration from the Lord about how I, we, the church, can be better stewards of our section of the world. From simple things, like reducing waste at church, becoming more ecologically friendly in our purchase and (reduced use) of disposables to doing more planting and beautifying of the property with native plants.
I was most keenly aware of how much we need to celebrate and deepen our relationship with the Hub of Prosperity. The Hub of Prosperity is 5 years old this year!! And, we need to celebrate with our Hub family!! For those of you still unsure what this is, the Hub of Prosperity is the farm on the church’s back five acres. It is our collaborative project with UTRGV’s Agroecology department that allows them to utilize our back five acres as an outdoor classroom and template to teach sustainable urban farming. They are doing research on soil, crops, crop blights, and so much more. They are teaching how to market and how to make farming a viable career. They are learning how to care for and protect the earth and ensure that the earth continues to take care of us.
Well beyond helping connect EFUMC with UTRGV, the Hub has become an important connection between our property and the community. They host monthly workshops about gardening and farming. They bring out busloads of students from various school districts to get hands on experience with farming and gardening.
The Hub installed community garden beds by allowing one of our Boy Scouts to do his Eagle Scout project on the farm. They participate in our Market Days, donate fresh produce to our food pantry, work in the pumpkin patch, participate in our potlucks, maintain the field mowing, and so much more. They bring a life and youthful vitality to our property and community. We are so very blessed and receive so much more than we have put into this relationship. Throughout the month of November, we will be preaching a sermon series on God’s creation, caring for God’s creation, celebrating God’s holy wisdom in creation, and celebrating God’s abundance for us through creation. We’ll get to hear from some of the Hub students about their experience of the holy and sacred through their work at the farm. We’ll take steps to becoming better stewards of our little corner of the world. We’ll plant physical and spiritual seeds, nurture them, and watch them flourish.
This month, November 17th at 4pm, we’ll be celebrating Friendsgiving with our Hub Family.
It will be an “old school” potluck. Everyone brings something. We will need a rough head count to make sure we purchase enough turkeys, but other than that, bring what whatever you want to bring. After we have feasted together, we’ll take a walk along the trail and get some more info on the Hub from our Hub students and Stephanie Kasper-Brush the Hub Manager. Put it on your calendars now. Plan to be there. Plan to celebrate and have fun!
Plan to dig deeper in the soil of relationship, caring for our planet, caring for each other. Plan to have fun getting your hands dirty! Plan to give thanks!
Answering the Call,
Pastor Michelle
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