I’ve Found Another Sanctuary: The Samaritan Women (Baltimore, MD)

This past Monday was a phenomenal day. I usually have about two of these types of days per week and I’m always blown away as to how God orchestrates them. Monday is usually my day of rest. After preaching, praying, visiting the sick, and generally trying to encourage people during a long Sunday; Mondays are my sabbatical day (as it is with many Christian pastors).

But this past Monday, I was invited to a meeting with my friends from Baltimore Food & Faith. I couldn’t pass it up. The meeting was with a ministry out in West Baltimore called The Samaritan Women. I’d heard so many great things about this group that I had to go.

I drove out to West Baltimore through pretty familiar stomping ground and eventually started traveling through an unfamiliar part of the city off of Edmondson Avenue. Driving through a bustling side neighborhood, eventually the way cleared and I pulled up on the grounds of a voluminous estate.

I was late to the meeting so I was in a bit of a hurry, but I couldn’t miss the beauty of the land around me. I eventually found a place to park and was ushered into the already in progress meeting. I was glad to see another African American pastor in the room. My dear colleague, Pastor Derrick DeWitt from the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church was there as well. Unfortunately, I have become accustomed to being the only person of color in meetings set around issues of the food system, food policy, land, and agriculture as ministry. It was great seeing him and hearing about the wonderful things God continues to do in the midst of him and those whom he serves.

After introducing myself, we all began to hear about this wonderful ministry, The Samaritan Women, from the Board Chair, Jeanne Allert. I must say that she is a warm, hospitable, and extremely generous woman. I was so blessed by her enthusiasm and the apparent joy that she takes in blessing others. (I was the recipient of a major blessing & “hook up” from her after being in her company for all of 15 minutes!)

In a nutshell, this ministry offers rehabilitative housing for women, a retreat center for groups looking for havens of rest, prayer, and planning and six acres of cultivated land for farming.

We left the table and went outside to explore some of the features of their ministry which is supported in part by AmeriCorps volunteers who funnel through the organization very regularly and live right on the grounds.

Walking outside, I was immediately greeted by the site of a cross off in the distance. The Samaritan Women is an organization that proudly (but not arrogantly) embraces their Christian Faith. The cross was raised on Easter Sunday morning and the area around it is a place for reflection, devotion, and sharing.

From there we got a closer look at the farm. “Farmer Roy” as I call him showed us his rows of vegetables with an infectious exuberance. Roy Skeen is the owner of Skeen’s Greens and has a cooperative partnership with The Samaritan Women which allows him to grow his produce on their grounds.

I’ve never personally met someone whose body contorted in uncontrolled excitement as they talked about carrots, cabbage, and peanuts until I met Farmer Roy. With eroding “city boy” sensibilities, I walked along with Farmer Roy as he picked vegetation straight from the soil and offered us a taste. I’m so glad that I ignored the dirt on his hands and on the vegetables because my taste buds were treated to a delightful sampling of God’s choice delicacies. Almost embarrassingly, I must admit that I hadn’t even heard of some of the greens that he had us taste. I ate a handful of mizuna – a green with a slightly peppery taste and was introduced to my new favorite leaf vegetable – sorrel. Sorrel has that tangy, citrus taste that I love.

I so enjoyed walking the farm with Farmer Roy that I left him pledging to try and find one day out of my week to work the farm by his side. (while trying not to get in the way!) Agriculture has become almost therapeutic for me and given the intense nature of my vocation as a pastor, I’ve found that I need to search out not only sanctuaries for respite, but other activities that help exercise other parts of who I am. (I’m quick to tell folks that yes, I’m a pastor, but that does not encapsulate the fullness of my identity.) I think Farming is the way to go for me.

I had to leave the group before the full tour was complete, but I had already seen, heard, and felt enough to know that The Samaritan Women provide a necessary sanctuary and place of healing that will help all who enter to step into a more harmonious understanding of what it means to be alive in this world. Not only do I pray for their faithfulness to their stated mission and pledge support toward its fulfillment; but I also look forward to showing up on the grounds to be ministered to by all that God has allowed to be birthed in their midst.

Tags: AmeriCorps, Baltimore Food and Faith, Mizuna, Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Baltimore, Samaritan Women, Sorrel, Urban Farming