We are thrilled to welcome home former staff member and great friend of All Saints Brian Sellers-Petersen to speak on the imperative of church agriculture, the stewardship of God’s creation and just food systems, and the importance of growing nutritious/local food as a positive impact on the environment. He will be joined by Sarah Nolan, Director of Programs & Community Partnerships at the Abundant Table Farm in Ventura, a progressive ministry of the Episcopal Church and an important example of what can be done to further this movement. Copies of Brian’s book, Harvesting Abundance, will be available for purchase.
Here’s what former Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said about his work: “Sellers-Petersen whets our appetite for food, beauty, and justice, and presents a cornucopia of incarnate examples. He offers a great opportunity to pray that ancient collect “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest …” in a new context: the fertile scripture of creation: read and grow, read and eat, read and share, and know that the earth in which we all have our origins is the stuff of divine creativity and abundant life.”
Join us for what promises to be both an informative and inspirational Rector’s Forum. 10:15 a.m. in the Forum.(And if you can’t be with us in person, join us via live stream here.)
========
Brian Sellers-Petersen, co-founder of the Episcopal Food, Farming, and Faith Network, is an avid gardener at home and office (St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle) and a consultant to Seattle Tilth Food and Faith Initiative. He has worked with Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) for the past 15 years in a variety of capacities, including as the creator/developer of Episcopal Relief & Development’s Abundant Life Garden Project curriculum, a leader of pilgrimages to sustainable agriculture programs in Ghana and Central America, senior advisor to the president of ERD, former Director of Church Engagement, and former Western Regional Director. He is on the advisory council of the Beecken Center at Sewanee, and previously worked for World Vision and with Bread for World. In addition, he has worked with All Saints Pasadena; the Anglican Diocese of Port Elizabeth, South Africa; and the Student Christian Movement of South Africa. He currently lives in Covington, Washington.
Sarah Nolan has worked in both the sustainable agriculture and non-profit sectors for almost 10 years and is a founding member of two different small to mid-size farms in Southern California; one a worker-owner cooperative and the other, The Abundant Table’s not-for-profit educational farm. In her capacity as Director of Programs and Community Partnerships at the Abundant Table, Sarah provides overall vision, leadership and management of the young adult internship program, the Campus Ministry at California State University, Channel Islands and our small-scale diversified farm operations, including growing, packing, direct marketing, distribution, permits, and finances. In addition to her faith-rooted and farm-based activities, she actively participates in multiple regional and statewide networks, including the California Regional Food Hub Network, the Los Angeles Food Policy Council “food systems” working group, and the Ventura County Farm to School Collaborative. She serves on the steering committee for the California State Farm to School Network and in July 2014 was awarded a prestigious 2-year Environmental Stewardship Fellowship through the National Episcopal Church for her sustainable agriculture and farm to faith work. Sarah earned a double bachelors of arts in philosophy and theology from Azusa Pacific University and recently completed a graduate degree in ministry, leadership and service at Claremont School of Theology.
