Our Mission
Learn more about the program:
Renewing theological education for the 21st century, we equip religious leaders with the knowledge, skills, and pastoral habits necessary to guide congregations and other faith-based organizations into creating more redemptive food systems, where God’s shalom becomes visible for a hungry world.
While national in scope, our program will focus on two main geographic areas: Winston-Salem and western North Carolina. The geographic, agricultural, and religious richness of central/western North Carolina creates a living laboratory for engaging the crucial issues of food insecurity, food deserts, and the attendant health disparities that confront our region.
“The food that most of us eat creates distance from our tables, distance from our farmers, and distance from our fields. This is as much a crisis of the spirit as it is a crisis of practical insight and public resolve. This is why future faith leaders have a vital role to play. This distance cannot just be bridged it must be transfigured. And this ‘transfiguration of distance,’ according to John O’Donohue, sits at the very center of the spiritual life.”
CALEB PUSEY (MDIV ’13)
“Gifts and challenges associated with food systems are related to religious beliefs and communities of faith. Religious leaders today need knowledge and skills for participating in and leading conversations about food, food systems, and justice. Students who are conversant about food and faith can work with congregations to raise awareness and find solutions for broken and unjust food systems. The call to this work is at the center of the Gospel.”
JILL CRAINSHAW, BLACKBURN PROFESSOR OF WORSHIP AND LITURGICAL THEOLOGY
“My journey as believer, minister, and scholar has led me to the conviction that the paramount challenge for the Church and for the human species is stewardship of Creation. Issues related to food touch on almost every other issue related to that stewardship. My theological education did not adequately prepare me to lead in this area. Now that I’m one of those charged with educating religious leaders, I want to equip them with what they need.”
MARK JENSEN, TEACHING PROFESSOR OF PASTORAL CARE AND PASTORAL THEOLOGY
“In the Spirituality of Food course, I found myself in the midst of countless systemic injustices, corrupted markets, and human and animal rights abuses. It was a reminder that this world is indeed a broken and messy place; though wracked with death and pain, this Earth and its inhabitants are invited daily to participate in new life with one another and with their Creator. Transitioning from classroom discussions this Spring to working in a church community garden all Summer, I’ve been able to experience the beauty, struggles, and interconnectedness of life found in a successful harvest.”
BAYLEE SMITH (MDIV ’13)
“In the Spirituality of Food course, I saw that I could help restore God’s kingdom on Earth simply in the kinds of food I ate. However, I found positive, God-honoring food choices expensive, complicated, and sometimes deceptive. In response, my brother and I are developing a web-company called ourcluster.com that makes buying organic, grass-fed beef more affordable, simple, and transparent. The connections I made in my Spirituality of Food Faith proved absolutely invaluable. Although I’m preparing for a life of church ministry, I have found a concrete, self-sustaining way of making a difference for God’s kingdom by giving fuel, in my own small way, to a world that is more just, sustainable, and relational.”
SKYLER DANIEL (MDIV ’13)
- On the Road with Thomas Merton, Emergence Magazine, February 7, 2019.
- How an Earthier Christianity Might Save Us, Spirituality & Health, June 28, 2018.
- Web Exclusive: Fred Bahnson and Climate Change (Audio), Orion Magazine, February 2018.
- Farminaries, Christianity Today, January 25, 2018.
- Bread, Water, Gratitude, Wake Forest Magazine Web Exclusives, June 20, 2017.
- Food and Faith, Johns Hopkins Health Review, Spring/Summer 2017 (Volume 4, Issue 1).
- Black churches should create food networks to improve their members’ health, Winston-Salem Journal, March 28, 2017.
- Broken food systems and health disparities get attention, Winston-Salem Chronicle, March 23, 2017.
- Soil and Sacrament: book review and interview with author Fred Bahnson, WholeTerrain, June 27, 2016.
- Interfaith On the Menu: The Shared Value of Food, Common Knowledge: Podcast About Interfaith Literacy, Interfaith Youth Core. April 2016.
- Breaking Bread in the Face of Climate Change: Leaders at the UA Food Justice, Faith and Climate Change Forum talk future and food, Edible Baja Arizona, February 2016.
- Jesus: Links Between Divinity and Food, from Episode 9 of the radio show The Secret Ingredient in Austin, Texas, December 25, 2015.
- Holy Harvest: 6 Faith-Based Farms Worth Knowing, Modern Farmer, December 17, 2014.
- Watershed Discipleship – Radical and Urgent Change, North Carolina Council of Churches, August 19, 2014.
- Cross Training: Christians Embrace Daniel Plan’s Mind-Body-Spirit, LA Times, June 16, 2014.
- “Soil and Sacrament” explores farming’s spiritual side, National Catholic Reporter, December 2013.
- Food and Faith: A Prayer for North Carolina, Our State Magazine, December 2013.
- Ministries blending food and faith, ABP News, October 16, 2013.
- Encounter: Food and Faith, Australian Broadcasting Network, September 16, 2013
- “Food and faith” leader: Environmentalists shouldn’t fear religion, Salon, August 7, 2013.
- Students Cross Country to Share What’s Possible Through Seminary Education, Huffington Post, June 7, 2013.
- Food and Faith, The Jewish Daily Forward, May 21, 2013.
- Churches Urged to Link the Poor with Healthy Food, Winston-Salem Chronicle, March 1, 2013.
- Editorial: Wake divinity school responds to local issue of food faith, Winston-Salem Journal, December 11, 2012.
- WFU divinity school connects food and faith, Winston-Salem Journal, November 28, 2012.
- Connecting food and faith, WFU News Center, October 24, 2012
- Faith and Fork Aligned: The Faithful Work to Feed Both Body and Soul, takepart.com, September 20, 2012.
- Francis Szemple, Daniel (MDiv ’17), The Eucharistic Cheeseburger, EcoTheo Review, February 7, 2017.
- Causby, Corrine Harvey (MDiv ’17), Collapsing Stars, EcoTheo Review, December 2, 2015.
- Francis, Daniel (MDiv ’17), The Silent Land: Spiritual Wells Run Deep in an Urban Desert, Plough, December 2015.
“Over the past seven years, I’ve witnessed the rise of a new faith-based food movement. From congregation-supported community gardens to farmworker justice, there’s a deep desire among people of faith to reconnect with the sources of their daily bread and to those who produce it. Far from a passing trend, I believe this renewed interest in food, justice, and sustainability is driven by an even deeper hunger: the desire to see embodied what the biblical writers call shalom, that graced state of being that results from a right relationship between God, people, and the land. Our work with the Food, Health, and Ecological Well-Being Program is to support, nurture, and encourage that shalom.”
Fred Bahnson, Program Director