By Jane Silk
Flowing from the example of Jesus’s withdrawal to natural places to pray and his invitation to ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest’ (St Mark’s Gospel 6.31), we have been working to create a space at Hope Baptist Church to share the values of hospitality, contemplative prayer, and a connection with nature.
Graham has worked tirelessly throughout the last couple of years, and I have played my small part in helping him, to rebuild Hope Garden and create a space for growing vegetables for the Foodbank while offering a quiet space for contemplation and reflection. The garden is also a place where people can volunteer to help grow food and at the same time improve their health and wellbeing.
We have planted a combination of shrubs and fruit trees donated to the project by different individuals and perennial flowers and vegetables grown from seed including sweetcorn, tomatoes, parsnip, cabbage, sprouts, courgettes, leeks, garlic, onion, carrots, lettuce, strawberries, and raspberries.
The majority of plants to date have been kindly donated by individuals linked to the Church family.
As part of this year’s development, we want to renovate a shed for garden storage and install seating in different areas of the garden to provide a quiet place for prayer and reflection for who need space and time in their busy lives.
Hope Baptist Church are committed to this project and have completely funded the first year’s development costs, including the purchase of materials for the raised beds.
The project also has a small team of dedicated volunteers who are committed to supporting the community garden project going forward, but we would welcome more help in many different ways to support this ongoing project.
If you can donate your time, or have any other resources that will help us rebuild the garden please do let us know. You will find us at the garden every Thursday when we donate all we have grown to the Foodbank.
"One of the treasures at Hope is its garden. The garden has always been appreciated by the church and local community. We are grateful for all of the work put in by Jane, Graham and those who have donated time, money and plants in the past year as we’ve transformed it into a space for growing and giving, alongside a space to be enjoyed. Do feel free pop down and visit on Thursday and see the work that’s been done so far.", says Jade, Minister at Hope in Highbridge.
