Local Church Addresses Climate Change Through Community Gardening Projects

Finding ways for inmates to feel connected to the community outside prison walls isn't always easy. But a project between the Madison Christian Community and Oakhill Correctional Institution near Oregon is doing just that.

Since 2005, inmates have been raising seedlings in a greenhouse at the prison for the church's garden; they also help prepare the garden for planting.

"The flower and vegetable seedlings that the inmates grow are an excellent way to create a living connection," said Jason Garlynd, who teaches a horticulture program at the correctional institution.

This month, the Christian Community, a partnership of the Advent Lutheran Church ELCA and the Community of Hope UCC, received an "eco-justice" award from the National Council of Churches in its Great Green Congregations contest.

Cassandra Carmichael, environmental director of the National Council of Churches, will visit the Christian Community on Friday to recognize the congregation and to share a recent report about the impact of climate change on church ministries. "For the Madison Christian Community, what was striking to me is that they were doing work in the community - not just planting vegetables, but really trying to connect with the community and people," Carmichael said.

"They have a really strong ministry going. They are teaching a skill but also providing a spiritual grounding. Gardening is about hope and the future and responsibility and sacred things and God's creation."

The Rev. Jeff Wild, pastor of Advent Lutheran Church, is pleased with the national honor but said what is really important is the garden ministry's focus on removing the racial, economic and social barriers that separate people today.

"I see this as a way of carrying out the mission of our congregation of building bridges with different socioeconomic groups in the community," he said. "It also develops a sense of appreciation of the environment by people involved in gardening. We enjoy eating the food, and harvesting and sharing it."

Though the church received its award for its work with inmates, it has longer ties to a summer gardening program with children at the nearby Wexford Ridge Neighborhood Center.

"We all work together," said Wild. "We planted in the spring, and we water it and weed it, and put mulch down and harvest it. The kids are welcome to take home produce, and share it with their families and friends. We often prepare a snack here using produce from the garden, and the kids are involved in cooking and preparing the food. So they are learning what to do with the food after they pick it." Leftover food is given to the Wexford Ridge Center or Middleton Outreach Ministry.

More recently, the Christian Community started gardening with children from its own congregation after Sunday morning worship. "It is a whole different set of children and adult volunteers. We undergird the work with song and prayer and Bible lessons," Wild said. "It's amazing to see the gardening skills they acquire."

The restorative justice program for Oakhill inmates is conducted in conjunction with Garlynd's horticulture program.

Inmates plant seeds in early spring and provide the seedlings for planting by nonprofit groups, including the Christian Community, at no charge. "The residents at Oakhill are seeing that the things they raise are put to use," Wild said.

Screened inmates of the minimum-security prison also come to Christian Community in the spring, under Garlynd's supervision, to help prepare the 6,000-square-foot garden. As many as 12 inmates a year help put down fencing and mulch pads that subdivide the garden into separate areas.

"They are happy to be here and feel like they are doing something worthwhile," Wild said. "They are; it helps us a lot." Garlynd concurred: "The men that participate in establishing the fencing and pathways for the youth summer garden program at Madison Christian Community love the feeling of making a positive contribution."

Thank-you notes and cards sent to the inmates by gardeners, as well as photos and anecdotes shared by Wild during visits to the classroom, help the men recognize their potential for being a valuable resource to the community, he added.
Half of the $500 received by the Christian Community for the national award will be given to the Oakhill horticultural program to be used to purchase seed, Wild said.

The Madison Christian Community also previously received an Energy Star award from the U.S. Department of Energy for the congregation's success in reducing energy use by about 40 percent between 2001 and 2004. To do so, the church used more energy-efficient lighting, turned out lights when rooms were not in use and used a solar panel on the roof as a source of renewable energy. The Christian Community irrigates the garden with rainwater that flows from the roof of the sanctuary into holding tanks that store 1,000 gallons

by: Anita Weier, The Capital Times
reprinted with permission