“A Match Made in Heaven”
“I credit God for planting the seed of this project,” says the Rev. Fred Marshall, priest-in-charge at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Goulds, a rural neighbourhood in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
St. Paul’s received a $5,000 grant from the Anglican Foundation of Canada (AFC) for its “Sowing Seeds, Growing Community” project which has transformed twelve acres of previously unused land into a community garden that now educates the community about farming and sustainability, while also providing healthy food to meet the “skyrocketing” demand at local foodbanks.
In 2022, Marshall attended a Food First NL conference in St. John’s where he learned more about the local food crisis that includes, sadly, an increasing number of children. “I thought to myself, ‘What can we do?’ And then it came to me that even though the church doesn’t have a lot of money, it does have a lot of land.”
Marshall also foresaw the potential for the “match made in heaven” that might come from connecting the region’s rich farming history to the many community champions who shared the church’s desire to respond creatively and compassionately to food insecurity. The project has grown to include the Kilbride – Ferryland Family Resource Centre, Goulds Lions Club, Goulds Recreation Association, St. Kevin’s Parish, and the Goulds Community Food Bank.
The garden was blessed by the Rt. Rev. Sam Rose this past summer, and the first lettuce was harvested in early August. A bumper crop of potatoes and turnips is now ready to be harvested, and the parish is constantly recruiting volunteers, young and old, to roll up their sleeves and pitch in with this community-building initiative.
The project at St. Paul’s was one of 12 sustainability-centred programs funded by AFC in 2023 for a total of $120,000. “2023 was our greenest year ever,” says Dr. Scott Brubacher, Executive Director. “Community garden projects are increasingly common as churches begin to look at empty lawns and other green spaces with a fresh set of eyes.”
“More and more we see Canadian Anglicans finding unique and creative ways to respond to the fifth Mark of Mission: to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth,” says Brubacher. “It is truly inspiring.”
For more information about how you can apply to AFC to help fund a food or environmental sustainability or other project, please visit www.anglicanfoundation.org/apply. The next grant application deadline is January 1.
