Bread Baking and Hospitality

Pastoral Letter from Carrie
Wiles Hill Witness (September-October edition)

Father Dominic Garramone, a Benedictine monk, loves bread. I do too. But Fr. Dominic writes about it, has a television program about it, teaches it…a little more than I can do at the moment. In his book, Baked and Be Blessed, Fr. Dominic explores the way bread baking speaks as a powerful metaphor for spiritual growth. He says “I have neither the education nor the wisdom to describe every aspect of the spiritual life…. But I have baked a lot of bread in my life, and done a lot of thinking and praying in the process, trying to develop my own sacramental awareness of God’s presence and action. I have been surprised by the divine lessons found in what for me are ordinary activities: measuring ingredients, mixing, kneading, shaping dough, baking and breaking bread.”

How can we incorporate this powerful practice—this powerful symbol—into our worship life and witness? Perhaps by baking and breaking bread for others. With the support of the Witness Commission, I would like to endeavor a “bread ministry.” This is not just a random idea by one of the pastors, something that I’d like other people to do. This is where my passion lies and my spirit sings…and I invite all those who would be interested in joining me.

What would a bread ministry look like? Ideally, we would have at least four individuals or families, guaranteeing that each person/household bakes bread only once a month. On the designated week, the person would bake bread to bring to worship on Sunday: a quick bread would be fine, baked in small loaf pans. That bread then would go home with any visitor that came to worship that Sunday--a “sweet” reminder of the loving body of Christians at Morgantown Church of the Brethren. The cost of the ingredients and time to make the bread would be the offering of the baker.

And what if there are no visitors? Well, there are many ways to break and share the bread: you may take it home with you if you like, contribute it to the CROP table (someone would surely love it), take it to the Picnic in the Park, or freeze it for the Nurture Commission to use at the next coffee fellowship or potluck. Either way, the gift will be shared!

Consider it, also, a prayer practice. As you break the eggs, stir the dough, fill the pan, and bake the bread you are in prayer for all those who seek a church family. You are in prayer that our community will be an open and welcoming place for visitors to come. You are in prayer that God will touch each of us with the gift of a radical hospitality.

Will you join me? Please contact me if you are interested in participating in this “rising” ministry.
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“There are thousands of [breads] you could be. You could be garlic bread or raspberry muffins or corn bread or shortcake or biscuits or Irish soda bread. You might be challah or povitica or kolache or injera. Each of these breads has its own unique qualities, just like the unique character of each person seeking to follow Christ authentically, from the core of his or her being. Each of us is searching for balance and proportion in our lives, each of us is kneaded and punched down and shaped by the people around us, each of us is transformed in the fires of suffering, each of us is unfulfilled until we’re blessed, broken, and shared. And at the end of our lives, when all that is left is crusts and crumbs, we hope to be gathered up by loving Hands, and to discover that we are more than when we started” -Fr. Dominic Garramone

peace,
Carrie

~Garramone, Fr Dominic. Bake and Be Blessed (Menomonee Falls, WI: Inland Press, 2002).