'Doing church' in a garden

[September 11, 2010]  For the third consecutive year, the First Presbyterian Church of Lincoln is producing thousands of pounds of produce and donating it all to a local food pantry.

Working on a former truck garden about a mile east of Lincoln on Route 10, Julie Kasa and a dozen members and friends of First Presbyterian planted tomatoes, cabbage, green beans and tomatoes last spring, and since June they have been harvesting the vegetables they grew. The food is delivered regularly to the Logan County Food Pantry.

First Presbyterian members Julius and Marilyn Kasa have donated the land on which the food is grown.

"This is just our way of 'doing church,'" one elderly gardener said as he and a teenager from the church worked their way down a row of beans. On any given workday in the garden, it is not unusual to find doctors and social workers and teachers all working together in what Pastor Phillip Blackburn has called an "authentic expression of Christian love."

As Logan County continues to battle the effects of the Great Recession, First Presbyterian donations to the food pantry are especially appreciated.

The project began when the western Illinois Great Rivers Presbytery challenged the church to come up with a mission project. It sent a check for $100 to the church board or "session," along with the New Testament parable of the talents. The parable or story warns of the danger of playing it safe and encourages Christians to take reasonable risks for the sake of the kingdom of God. The church board then made the decision to pursue the garden project and asked session member Julie Kasa to organize it. She has done so for each of the three years it has been in operation.

"One of the reasons we thought it was such a good idea is because the hardest thing, we think, for people to get is fresh fruits and vegetables," Pastor Blackburn said. "They're the most expensive but also the most healthy. We thought it was a natural way for us to be able to help. We hope to keep this project going and so we are doing everything we can to sustain the productivity of the land that we're working."

This year the garden is marked by a colorful blue sign along Route 10, and when volunteers gather to work on the garden, a row of cars can be seen parked by the blue sign.

[Text from file received from Gary Davis]