Come to the Table’s School for Food Justice, Faith, and Storytelling (SFJFS) held its eighth and final session on April 27 at Union Grove United Methodist Church in Hillsborough, NC. This session featured three types of storytelling exercises and a recap of our time together. The final activity was to write one takeaway from SFJFS in six words, and we have shared five of them below.
The next SFJFS cohort is slated for Fall of 2023 and more information will be released soon. Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date on the latest information from the Come to the Table team.
Five Insights from Session 8
“Think outside the box of food.”
Throughout SFJFS, a central tenet of each session was examining the root causes of food insecurity, food apartheid, and other injustices in the food system. This six-word story reflects the need to move our work from charity to justice by beginning to consider what system change work is needed and how faith communities can play a crucial part in being part of the solution.
“Community, storytelling, and reflection change us.”
Each session of SFJFS began with small group storytelling and reflection. Participants reported being eager to use story-sharing in their communities, as we discovered how the vulnerability of sharing one’s story and the act of deep listening is meaningful and leads to deeper understanding.
“The kingdom looks like a table”
One participant shared that they think of the kingdom of God being a table where all are welcome and fed from God’s abundance. As we continue to live in the now-and-not-yet, how can the image of the kingdom as a full table be reflected in our ministries?
“This group has been my church.”
After eight sessions of insightful presentations, powerful conversations, and vulnerable story-sharing, one participant shared that this group felt more like church than work. We considered how the openness of our group could be brought back to faith communities where members will feel comfortable opening up to friends and strangers alike.
“I have much more to learn.”
Even though SFJFS ran the gamut of topics across the food system, we barely scratched the surface at examining the problems of our food system and faithfully imagining how our communities can respond. Working at the intersection of food justice and faith means that there is always more to learn and new ways to respond.