What is FaithLands?
FaithLands is a network and movement to support mutually beneficial partnerships between faith communities with land and farmers to produce food. In late 2017, faith community food justice advocates joined with secular beginning and underserved farmer advocates wanting to increase access to land for food production. This led to national outreach and the first FaithLands gathering at a ranch in California. Since then, Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative has organized three conferences with participation from representatives of 26 states representing diverse religious and secular organizations. Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative is the current lead organization for FaithLands with staff aiding the current committee in national coordination.
While FaithLands began organizing national networking and resource sharing, local success stories span generations. Examples include:
- An Episcopal retreat center in California that has leased significant acreage to a dairy family since before 1950.
- A Buddhist community that trains apprentices in Buddhist practice and food production since 1972.
- A Jewish farm and teaching center in Connecticut.
- A seminary in Ohio where Methodist seminarians grow food for their community as part of their integrated education.
- An order of Catholic nuns that established an agricultural conservation easement to ensure the continued production of food on Long Island, New York.
- A permaculture garden at an Islamic college in California.
Specific denominations have passed internal resolutions/legislation promoting FaithLands. These include:
Episcopalian Resolution 2018-D053: “Stewardship of Creation with Church-Owned Land”
The General Convention – the governing body of the Episcopal Church – approved a strategic plan in response to their resolution from 2018 titled D053: Stewardship of Creation with Church-Owned Lands. This resolution encouraged use of undeveloped church-owned land for “agriculture, biodiversity conservation, green burials, habitat conservation, and natural carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change.” It also directed the Executive Council – who serves as the governing body of the Episcopal Church between the sessions of the General Convention and also executes the programs and policies adopted by the General Convention – in creating an inventory of all church-owned properties to develop model processes to assist in this work. (Empsall)
2024 North Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church: Resolution #7 Church Land Use
At the North Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, a resolution was passed concerning Church Land Use. From Rev. Philip Dieke, of NTC Church and Society Board Chair, and Rev. Mel Caraway, a Retired Elder, Resolution #7 states “as United Methodists and persons of faith who wish to promote and sustain life and follow God’s intended order for Creation, be it resolved that all local churches and other holders of church lands … implement actions in their settings that bring their land back in harmony with God’s intentions and systems.” Resolution #7 outlines the current state of a biodiversity and wildlife crisis that is so extreme it is being referred to as the Sixth Extinction. As human actions are the cause of these issues, they are also then the solution. “And, because God created the earth to incorporate life-promoting and life-sustaining systems, we humans can follow God’s intended order and renew life-giving abilities of these systems that we have been harming.” Furthermore the Resolution provides 12 examples of steps to take to bring back harmony within the land. Click here to read the full Resolution.
In the News
The first organized FaithLands Gathering took place in March of 2018 at the Paicines Ranch in California. The event was covered by Leilani Clark for Civil Eats.