Vision
Rooted in Faith
We strive to follow the example of Jesus by loving, serving, and feeding each other. The vision for The Garden Church embraces the idea that the church is itself an organism that is gathered together to be useful to the broader community, not merely existing to serve itself, and that it is a place where people can come and be useful to each other and to the community around them. Embodying the Swedenborgian teaching that “all religion is of life, and the life of religion is to do good,” we will blur the lines between worship and service, community development and church as an embodied Spiritual community. Drawing from the teaching of the deep connection between the natural world and a Spiritual reality, we will engage nature and food through embodied theology as we garden and eat together.
Engaging the teachings of interconnected community and the multiple levels of loving the neighbor, we envision this church to serve as an organic emanation of God’s redemptive and transformative work. We see the work we do together bringing transformation to individuals, between people, in the local community, for the broader denomination, and to society as a whole.
Individual
Challenges
Spiritual longing and desire to make meaning of life
Nutrition, health, and food issues
People experiencing isolation and disconnection from nature, people, and God
Response
Holistic and transformational theology
Engagement and education in holistic sustenance through gardening, cooking, and eating together
Using the acts of gardening and eating together to engage the natural world, a place of belonging, and the Divine.
Interpersonal
Challenges
Need for belonging, place to be useful
Economic equality and justice
Separation and segregation of people, communities, and families
Response
Communal eating, feeding, and serving
Addressing local instances of inequity and injustice through education, advocacy, and accompaniment.
Worshiping together in a liturgical and spiritual space where we come together and remember to see and encourage God’s love in all people
Local Community
Challenges
Poor nutrition, health, and environmental awareness
Isolated agencies and disconnection between social strata’s
Fragmented and fractured communities, and a world of division and oppression
Response
Programs that address issues of food, nutrition, and the value of local gardening
Be a hub for communal connection and restoration, collaboration and creativity
Create a sanctuary for divergent individuals and communities to connect
Denominational
Challenges
The world and church as we know it is changing
Churches have turned inwards, social service has become secular
The call on the Swedenborgian tradition to be translated forward and engage in the needs and culture of the world today
Re-imagine church by exploring what it means to be church in this generation
Create an organization that engages both spiritual and social restoration and transformation
Be a laboratory for Swedenborgian expressions of spiritual entrepreneurship
Society
Challenges
Reputation that religion and church is primarily bigoted, consumerist, and judgmental
A growing crisis in food production, quality, and distribution
A world that experiences pain, brokenness, and hellish ways of living
Response
Challenge that assumption through action, and by being a religious voice for justice and compassion
Work locally to change the way food is produced, distributed, and consumed
Embody ways of heavenly life here on earth