Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices

by Will Scott on November 23, 2012

Now let us praise famous church kitchens…

When I was once a "spiritual but not religious" person living in a Midwestern community of artists, musicians, dumpster diving punks, organic farmers, & aspiring permaculturalists, one of the ways I found myself back inside a church building--I am not exactly sure now of its denomination--was by way of a food co-op hosted in the parish basement.

To be a member of the food co-op, one needed to volunteer a certain number of hours per month. My friends were regular whole wheat tortilla makers and I was grateful to be introduced to their ritual. The sanctuary for this sacred practice was an enormous and beautiful church kitchen built in the mid 20th Century. As we mixed the flour and rolled out the dough, the conversation always turned to the spiritual. Perhaps this would have happened anywhere we were “spiritual but not religious” after all, but the fact that we were doing this work in some community’s sacred space was not lost on us. There wasn’t anyone from the church there to tell us about the place--who used it on Sundays, who built it, why they so graciously shared it with the co-op. However, ever since that time I’ve had a deep and abiding affection for church kitchens, of all shapes and sizes. Some church folks, when they visit another church, want to check out the organ and the stained glass windows. I always want to see the kitchen.