Showing posts with label Entrepreneurial. Show all posts

A Blessing of the Catfish and Catfish Poop


This spring and summer, I have been working with my friend Mills Polatty, (many others have helped as well), to build an aquaponics pilot project just behind the Episcopal Bookstore at St. Mary’s Cathedral, in Memphis, Tennessee.  The project is an attempt to answer the question, “What role can faith communities play in local food systems?”  The pilot project is the creation of a relatively small system designed to hold about 900 plants and grow up to 200 lbs. of fish.  The fish waste reacts to bacteria in the plant roots to create nitrates which in turn fertilize the plants.  The plants in return clean the water for the fish to live in. This type of system can grow food with about 4% of the water used in traditional farming and with a fraction of the space. 


One beautiful illustration from our experiment is the value of waste. Early in June, 100 lbs. of catfish arrived as a donation from Pride of the Pond catfish farm in Tunica, Mississippi. Children for the Vacation Bible School at St. Mary’s were invited to gather around the fish for a “Blessing of the Catfish and Catfish Poop.” As children gathered to give thanks for the fish and their waste, they learned a valuable lesson: everything that God has created is sacred. The fish waste is a necessary ingredient for the plants to grow. This celebration raises the question if we as Christians have a theology of waste. And how could we participate in life if we found value in everything we used or generated as opposed to our practice of consumption, which draws what is useful and discards the rest?

I have no idea if this type of farming is the answer to food sustainability issues in our world. I do know that we need to think about how to make food more local, and to move away from industrial farming practices. And maybe, more importantly, we need to think about what is waste in light of our understanding of creation. We need to take seriously the sacred nature of all things, and if we are serious, maybe this will change the way we relate and interact with the world. Maybe this would call into question our relationships with human beings, our understanding of justice, and the way we advocate for our resources.

While this project is just a pilot, the hope is it might lead to the ability to provide both food and jobs in under-resourced communities and create a more just economy. I hope this summer, it will lead to a farmer’s market on a Sunday morning that has employed a person or two from the St. Mary’s neighborhood, connected people to local food, and been a visible and tangible sign of resurrection and justice in the community. And I hope for those children and the larger community, we see waste for what it really is, a sacred gift from God.  

Empowering Creativity on the Go: Dignity as Creativity


Both Christianity and Judaism assert that humanity is made in the image of God, a bold and provocative claim that projects both intentionality and potential for all people.  Maybe this partially suggests that to be made in the image of God means that every person has the life-giving capacity to be a creative and unique individual, and to find inimitable ways of self-expression and growth.  Part of being spiritual is to be a creative. And developing self-expression is part of fostering a healthy spiritual being. 

Beginning with this claim has implications for what it means to “respect the dignity of every human being,” a core value of most all religions and the words of the Baptismal Covenant of my own Episcopal tradition.  For Episcopalians, this is the imperative for how we should live our lives.  If we are to respect people, we have to find ways of creating the space where people can be authentic, where self-expression freely flows.  What would happen if we began to see outreach or church ministry, not as a way of just fulfilling other people’s basic needs, but empowering others to be authentic, creative, and to claim who they are as spiritual human beings. 

Katie Whitfield, a volunteer with H*Art Gallery, has been spending the past few months doing just this.  Every Wednesday morning, Katie spends a few hours with individuals at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, most who are homeless, and all with different levels of artistic ability but a willingness and desire to be creative.  When they leave the Cathedral’s space, each person has the opportunity to take a H*Art pack, a pocket-sized container which holds a box of crayons, a few sharpies, a pencil, and some 3 x 5-inch index cards.  People are encouraged to be creative throughout the week.  H*Art Gallery’s mission is to empower homeless and nontraditional artists. 


H*Art Gallery started in Chattanooga by Ellen and Jay Heavilon as a way of developing and empowering homeless and nontraditional artists.  In 2015, they purchased a building on Marshall Avenue in Memphis in an effort to expand their concept.  The mission is to empower creativity.  It’s about dignity.  Occasionally they find those who would like to share their art with others which is then showcased in the gallery.  A requirement of the gallery is the expectation that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of artist’s work is to be given away to a charity of the artist’s choosing. An opportunity is created to invite a person who society has deemed as having limited resources to be empowered to transform others’ lives. 

The impact of the work of the participants who engage with H*Art is tremendous.  When asked about how art transformed his life, Ron, a recently housed Navy veteran shared “In a world where I hear ‘No!’ all of the time, this is the one place I can hear ‘Yes, you can do it!’” Jasen, who was homeless when he first got involved in 2010, earned a partial scholarship to Virginia Culinary Institute and now works for The Chattanoogan.  Isela, a victim of domestic violence and mother of a six-year-old, blossomed in jewelry making. She became an art and jewelry instructor.  Her daughter’s image of her mother as a teacher and artist is life transforming. Isela’s jewelry line is named after her daughter.

Maybe the lesson we can learn is the notion that to respect the dignity of every human being might require a much deeper commitment than just the fulfillment of others’ basic needs.  It is to unlock the creative and life-changing potential of the other.  Maybe it is as easy as offering a small box of crayons, sharpies, and index cards.

Index Cards made by homeless participants using H*Art packs
To learn more about H*Art Gallery, go to www.hartgallerytn.com
To learn more about St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, go to www.stmarysmemphis.org

The Transformational T-Shirt: An Entrepreneurial Faith


My family consumes.  We consume much more than I want to admit.  I have two growing children that need new clothes nearly every month. Our grocery bill has skyrocketed.  We drive more to meet their needs than before, and we are becoming more involved with activities that require accessories and spending. Granted all this consumer action has developed a new skill of using social media to find recycled products for our house and children, almost daily I still purchase something. This is at the core of our economic system. We spend money and as Americans, we spend more than most others. 

My family functions best in routine. We go to work, take the kids to school, and go to church on Sunday. Nearly every other action outside of our home involves a more tangible relationship with money. Sometimes we will go shopping for groceries or clothes, make a trip to the zoo or the local children’s museum, or run the typical errands to enter the consumer circle. It’s hard to imagine just how our life would function if another currency other than money was used as the medium for exchange.


My friend Jason works for a company, Agape North, which has an unusual strategy for impacting the Memphis area and other areas around the country and globe. Agape North is a screen-printing and embroidery business.  They even have their own line of clothing. The difference with this company is with each purchase or shirt printed, a school uniform is donated in the greater Memphis area, or to an area of the buyers choice.  Currently, they are focusing their efforts on 5 major Frayser schools, as well as a handful of other Memphis charter schools. Companies who use Agape North even have the option of hand delivering the school uniforms to students, to hear the stories of these students, and begin to foster a relationship. Instead of just using money to purchase consumer goods, relationships are being built and people are helping to improve the lives of others through a consumer choice.  

Many churches are enormous consumers purchasing t-shirts for youth retreats, food for parish events, office supplies, goods and services from outside agencies, books, furniture, even utilities. Is there a growing market for making our consumer choices a faith commitment as well? And is there a way our faith communities can participate in creating consumer choices, advocating for a healthier economy that has a more just system of distribution of resources?

When I think of church ministry, I often think about people gathering to do work for someone else. What Agape North has been successful in creating is a vehicle for others to participate in outreach, through ordinary consumer transactions.  Are there ways that faith communities could work towards transformation by providing a product that would also benefit others as well? This image of Agape North helps merge the idea of not only going to church to consume, but by becoming church in a way that means consuming leads to community transformation. I am not exactly sure what this looks like, but am encouraged to explore the possibilities.    
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