By Andy Patton Flourish magazine, Winter 2011 The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, sits just off of a high-speed, four-lane highway lined with fast-food chains, a Wal-Mart Supercenter, and a cluster of modular, low-rent … [Read more...]
The Eden Project: A Work of Ecological Redemption
February 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment
At first glance the Eden Project in Cornwall England looks like it would be more comfortably be at home on Mars rather than the quiet English countryside, but it is entirely earthly. The Eden Project began in 2001 in an old clay pit that looked … [Read more...]
The God of Fertility
January 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Recently I was staying at a friends house in the suburbs and it was a slow morning and it felt great outside so I went out on the porch and spent some time just staring. It is a new suburb, one that is built where the developers think the town will … [Read more...]
Year End Creation Care Ideas from the Flourish Archives
December 30, 2010 by 1 Comment
By Andy Patton [Ed. note: This article is part of our weekly series of church activities, called Cultivating Community, published on Thursdays.] 2010 has come and (almost) gone so we here at Flourish are taking a retrospective look back into … [Read more...]
Mark Your Calendars for the Garden Year
December 2, 2010 by 1 Comment
[Ed. note: This article is part of our weekly series of church activities, called Cultivating Community, published on Thursdays.] This weekend Christians will celebrate the second Sunday of Advent, marking—with excitement and hope—that we … [Read more...]
The Liturgy of a Garden Year
December 1, 2010 by 1 Comment
by Erin Tuttle [Ed. note: This article is part of our series of weekly reflections, called Deep Down Things, published on Wednesdays.] We live by mercy if we live. To that we have no fit reply But working well and giving thanks, Loving … [Read more...]
Clean Up and Green Up Your Church for Winter
October 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment
[Ed. note: This article is part of our weekly series of church activities, called Cultivating Community, published on Thursdays.] If you live in a region of the country where the seasons change, you’re probably switching out your shorts and … [Read more...]
Two Poems
September 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment
By John Leax Flourish magazine, Summer 2010 Here Here is the place of order made by daily labor. Against bright sky, the house, limned by spruce and larch, grown old in weathered caring, stands white. Beyond its shadow, the … [Read more...]
Toolshed: Canning the Summer Garden’s Gems
August 30, 2010 by 1 Comment
By Christiana Peterson Flourish magazine, Summer 2010 Canning is a method of preserving food invented by a confectioner and brewer in 19th century France when the government offered money to anyone who could come up with a way to preserve … [Read more...]
Three Steps to a Hosting a Plant Swap at Church!
May 27, 2010 by 3 Comments
[Ed. note: This article is part of our series of weekly church activities, Cultivating Community, published on Thursdays] For the avid gardener, there are few events more eagerly anticipated than a bustling, bounteous plant swap. After all, … [Read more...]
The Flourishing Church: Transforming a Church Yard, One Blade of Grass at a Time
May 17, 2010 by 2 Comments
by Scot F. Martin Flourish magazine, Spring 2010 “Anti-Christ Turf Monster!” That’s what we’ve dubbed our seven-plus acres of turf grass on the property of Trinity Covenant Church in Livonia, a suburb of Detroit. (Full … [Read more...]
Celebrate Arbor Day by Planting Trees at Church
April 29, 2010 by 1 Comment
[Ed. note: This article is part of our series of weekly church activities, Cultivating Community, published on Thursdays.] Arbor Day, being celebrated nationally tomorrow, tends to get lost in all of the hubbub created by Earth Day, … [Read more...]
Gardening with God
March 26, 2010 by 1 Comment
by Christine Sine Flourish Magazine, Winter 2010 Gardening is an important spiritual practice in my life. As part of our commitment to simplicity and sustainability, my husband and I grow as much of our own fruit and vegetables as … [Read more...]
Toolshed: Organic Gardening 101
March 15, 2010 by 2 Comments
By Christine Sine Flourish Magazine, Winter 2010 A good organic garden doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to transform and build up soil with compost and green manure crops. It might take even longer to work out which crops grow … [Read more...]