TEXARKANA — Volunteers from St. Edward Church and the five other large downtown churches are working together on a project that just keeps growing. The churches are sponsoring the Texarkana Community Garden.
Peppers, tomatoes, green beans, pinto beans, squash, zucchini, cucumbers — all the luscious produce goes to feed needy people. Potatoes and onions have already been harvested.
St. Edward pastor, Father Paul Worm, said of the garden, “I’m glad the community garden is bearing fruit and growing us together. I hope it’s the first fruits of our ministerial cooperation.”
The Rev. Susan Arnold of First Presbyterian, a pastor with a green thumb, came up with the idea of a garden. She, Father Worm and the other downtown pastors meet regularly for lunch, and about a year ago she shared her idea with them at lunch. They liked the idea.
“We started planting seeds,” she said. “The pastors talked it up to their members.” Other churches involved include Beech Street Baptist, First United Methodist, Central Christian and St. James Episcopal.
Interested people from the various churches started meeting in order to plan the garden. Twenty volunteers attended the first meeting, which Arnold began with a prayer.
St. Edward volunteer Mike Naples tells people today, “It all started with a prayer.”
The group still meets together regularly at Central Christian Church for ongoing discussions. At an early meeting, Naples pleaded for no chemicals to be used on the garden. Everyone agreed.
Arnold said almost all the churches own vacant lots, so at the beginning, soil samples were taken from each lot and tested to determine which church’s lot had the richest soil. First United Methodist’s plot of ground won. Today, the garden in all its glory lies across the street from the Miller County Courthouse and a block from St. Edward Outreach Center. It is producing chemical-free vegetables in profusion, a testimony to the whole city of what can happen when churches work together.
As volunteers dig in the dirt together, they discover a fertile ground for friendship. Naples said, “Father Paul has encouraged us to work together with other churches and learn about each other’s religious beliefs. This has been good for me.”
Chris Thomas of St. Edward added, “It has been a wonderful experience to meet people from other churches. As we work together in weeding or harvesting, we have shared stories of our children, the abundance of God and the miracle of a seed. As I have had the opportunity to work toward common good with our brothers and sisters, I have been touched by their generosity, hardworking attitude and gentle spirituality.”
Arnold said with enthusiasm, “One day Mike Naples, Chris Thomas, a couple from Central Christian and I were all on our hands and knees. We started on this incredible theological discussion. It was beautiful. Mike and I talk about it now and just beam. It’s the coolest thing in the world. It was fun. We work really well together.”
And Presbyterian Betty Anthony observed, “The best thing about the garden is the different churches working together.”
During the summer peak months, volunteers — including Chris and David Thomas — harvest produce every day. Chris Thomas said most of the produce is taken to Harvest Texarkana, a nonprofit community service that acts as a food bank and sees that donated food goes daily to people who need it.
Arnold noted, “Harvest Texarkana weighs the vegetables and keeps the records. We have a grant from Christus St. Michael Health System and are accountable for the produce we donate.”
Many other businesses and individuals have helped to make the garden a success. For example, the garden has an efficient irrigation system because of the expertise of local businessmen.
In addition to Harvest Texarkana, Thomas also gives some of the fresh produce to parishioners who take Communion to shut-ins.
“It seems right to bring God’s abundance to nourish their bodies along with the nourishment for their souls,” she said.
Each volunteer is anxious to give credit to the other workers. For example, Thomas said that without Betty Anthony and her husband Keith, the garden “would never have gotten off the ground.” The couple are experts in gardening.
“They have worked on the budget, buying supplies, organizing workdays, stringing up tomatoes, tilling the soil,” Thomas said. “I am sure very much more that I don’t even know about. And Mike Naples has worked very hard in cleaning the plots of land. They look great because of all he has done.”
Both Thomas and Betty Anthony noted that sometimes people from other churches besides the downtown churches will come without fanfare and quietly go to work.
Naples likes to tell of an incident that happened to Chris Thomas: Early one morning before the Outreach Center had opened, a hungry man walked into the garden and approached Chris. He asked, “May I have a tomato?” Chris considered it a Holy Spirit moment. She quickly gave him a tomato. She told Naples later, “I wish I’d had a salt shaker.” Smiling, Naples said, “That is what this garden is all about.”