“We must cultivate our own garden.” (Voltaire, Candide)

Voltaire’s philosophical musing on life and gardening is a fit epigram for a new initiative for City Church. This spring and summer we are partnering with Binford Middle School (located at 1701 Floyd Ave in the heart of the Fan) to cultivate their community garden. Last spring volunteers from the Backyard Farmer built and planted eight raised garden beds on the Eastern lawn of the school.

On Saturday, April 23, a group of volunteers from City Church joined Binford staff to prepare and plant the beds for this year. Some of the beds were tangled with weeds; others had tidy plantings of winter wheat which were pulled and composted. The beds were then fertilized and planted with a wide variety of seeds and seedlings: tomatoes, peas, squash, peppers, radishes, carrots, onions, strawberries, and herbs.

Over the next two months while school remains in session, students and staff at Binford will monitor and cultivate the garden: weeding, watering, mulching, and (presumably) harvesting. However, particularly heading into the hottest summer months the garden will require ongoing upkeep and involvement from the community. City Church volunteers will provide assistance throughout the summer; watering regularly, making successive plantings, turning the compost bins, and otherwise tending the garden.

The Binford Garden project affords City Church a great opportunity to partner meaningfully with the Fan community. It will strengthen relationships with staff, students, and the school community as a whole. It has the potential to provide hands-on three-dimensional and five-sense learning opportunities for students. It also has the potential to provide healthy produce to students, community members, and maybe even the gardeners.

Gardening in the community also connects us to our basic human design. God created us to live in a garden and to do the work of cultivation. The work of gardening is not mere physical labor, but is infused with spiritual (even theological) weight. As Vigen Guroian writes in his brief yet powerful reflection The Fragrance of God:

“We garden because we are created in the image of the Master Gardener, in whose likeness we grow in measure as we garden. We are not only the field that God gardens but his fellow gardeners in the Paradise that he is restoring (1 Cor. 3:9).”

If you are interested in learning more about the garden stop by and take a look (Vine Street just south of Floyd). Or contact Erik (erik@citychurchrva.com) to learn about our next scheduled work day.

(See more images on City Church’s Flickr.)

Cry of the Orphan Simulcast, 11/8, 6:45 to 9pm
All are invited to take part in the Cry of the Orphan Simulcast this Sunday at West End Presbyterian Church (9008 Quioccasin Road). The simulcast will take place in WEPC Chapel (back right corner main floor) and children are welcome. For more details on the simulcast, visit http://www.orphansunday.org/concert.

Loaves & Fishes, 11/15, 11am to 2pm
Our monthly opportunity to serve at Loaves & Fishes is Sunday, November 15th. We will be meeting at the Conrad Center (1400 Oliver Hill Way) to prepare and serve a meal to those who need it. Please plan on staying from 11am until around 2pm. If you’re interested in helping, please RSVP to Kira Disse at kmdisse [at] gmail.com.

Microloans & Microbrews, 11/23, 6pm to 7:30pm
Join us for drinks and appetizers and learn how communities around the world are being transformed through microfinance and the work of HOPE International. The event will take place at Capital Ale House (623 E. Main Street) and includes a $20 cover charge. Cover charge includes 2 drink tickets and appetizers. See the flyer (Microbrews_for_Microloans) for details. Please RSVP by November 19th to Adrianne Thompson at athompson [at] hopeinternational.org.

Richmond Missions Trip, 12/11-12/13
City Church of Richmond is taking a weekend missions trip in Highland Park on December 11-13th! As we cross geographic, economic and social lines in our city, our hope is to serve the community in the name of Jesus, learn from others who bear God’s image, and partner with local ministries in the neighborhood. Join us as we work alongside the Northside outreach center, Boaz and Ruth, and Grace Community Outreach Church! The trip will cost $25 and will have limited spots. Contact Matt Fisher (mattmoment [at] gmail.com) to sign up.

City Church Flickr account!
It’s a work in progress, but a few photos have already been uploaded. Feel free to take a look at them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/citychurchrva/

We invite all of you to share your photos featuring City Church and church-related events with the City Church Flickr group (found here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1272833@N21/). Not only will this tool help to develop a continually updating gallery of photos from City Church life, but hopefully it will also generate photos to be used for the City Church website redesign (with your permission of course.)

If you have questions about this or how to use Flickr, contact Val (val [at] citychurchrva.com).

Have a great week!

–
Valerie Catrow
Administrator
City Church of Richmond

Please consider buying some of the coffee and encouraging others (friends, neighbors, coworkers) to do the same. Coffee will be available for sale at worship services throughout June. We will also sell the coffee at the James River Market on Saturday mornings in June. If you can help out by selling coffee either June 6th or June 27th please let Erik know (erik [at] citychurchrva.com). Or, if you can stop by the market and say hello to those of us who are manning the coffee table that would be great to.

A postcard describing the fundraiser (and designed by Haley Hollenbach) is here.

And we encourage you to check out the following websites:
www.lightinafrica.org
www.jakelyell.com/blog
www.blanchardscoffee.com

Valerie Catrow
Administrator
City Church of Richmond
val [at] citychurchrva.com

If you weren’t at church on Sunday February 8 to take the handwritten survey, we’ve put a version up online. It’s very short and should only take you a couple minutes.

Click here to take the survey.