I’m connected to many congregations and spiritual communities, but Farm Church is the one I most consider to be my church.
Farm Church is a spiritual community in Durham, North Carolina. We grow food on a plot of land inside the city and give it away to address food insecurity. We put our hands in soil. We tend and harvest. We practice care in embodied ways. Though I live in Michigan, I lead Farm Church’s weekly newsletter, which keeps me tethered to its rhythms and questions, even from afar.
Last Sunday, the community gathered and explored a simple but searching question: What do we believe?
That question can take on many postures depending on who is asking it and why. It can feel defensive. It can feel academic. It can feel charged. But it can also invite something deeper. What do we hold most dear? What sits at the center of our lives? What shapes our actions without us always realizing it?
At Farm Church, we believe that loving the earth and growing food is sacred. We believe that tending soil is prayerful. We believe that caring for one another is sacramental.
As we enter the season of Lent, another question emerges: Are there any beliefs we need to give up?
Beliefs about ourselves that are too small?
Beliefs that are cynical?
Beliefs that flatten complexity?
Beliefs that limit joy?
Beliefs that distort what is actually true?
Last Sunday, members of the community wrote down beliefs they want to release and placed them in a fire. Those ashes were then used for an Ash Wednesday gathering. The things we release can still mark us and change us. Surrender becomes part of our transformation.
I find myself wondering: What beliefs are we carrying that quietly shape us more than we realize? Is there a belief we are ready to release? What might happen if we named it — and let it go?
Lent has begun. Perhaps this is a good time.
—Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 