Tonight I attended the innaugural Multifaith Harvest Festival at Monroe Street United Methodist Church, a program of Multifaith Grows and the Multifaith Council of Northwest Ohio.
The group would like to see a garden planted at every "faith space" in Toledo, and is willing to teach anyone who wants to get something started by pairing them with an experienced church or grower.
The evening included food, fellowship, singing, speakers and display booths with more information about various gardens and environmental programs around the city. My site, the Toledo Northwestern Ohio Foodbank, had a display.
The posterboard pictured above was one of the most interesting. It had verses or writings from a dozen different religions relating to environmentalism and stewardship of the earth.
While we ate the delicious potluck meal, a nun spoke about hunger not being denominational, racial, etc.
Hunger is hunger.
A young man got lots of applause as he spoke of working with Toledo Grows for the past year, and how working with the plants and chickens has helped mature him and keep him off the streets.
Another man spoke of how, in this high-tech world, we have gotten away from getting our hands dirty -- and the church is no exception.
He shared about his organization turning vacant lots into strawberry fields and orchards for people to come and take what they want with the hope that nothing will ever fall to the ground and rot uneaten.
The closing speaker remarked -- seriously, but to laughter -- that it really shouldn't be such a revelation to till the soil.
As an Islamic saying goes, if someone is not your brother in faith, they are your equal in creation. Everyone there was supportive of and excited about collaborative progress and possibilities.
An inspiring group of people doing cool things in the community.
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