THE CHURCH
Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, Tennessee
THE CHALLENGE
Area residents lacked fresh produce.
ONE BIG IDEA
Turn empty acres into farmland.
For years, 13 acres of land at Brentwood Baptist Church mostly lay fallow.
Then the church, located in Brentwood, Tennessee, accepted a proposal that not only transformed the land it owned, but also the lives of community members. Cul2vate, a nonprofit that develops land to provide food and jobs for people in need, approached the church two years ago about growing crops on its empty acres to counter food insecurity.
“We feel like the Lord was calling us to utilize the space, not just let it sit back there,” says Brian Coates, executive pastor of Brentwood Baptist, which has an average weekend attendance of 7,000 worshipers across nine campuses. “We’ve got it set up now to where we’re one of their largest producing farms.”
By spring 2024, Cul2vate harvested over 100,000 pounds of food—including potatoes, pumpkins and watermelons—on the Brentwood acres it converted to farmland. Cul2vate has three main sites, among them eight acres owned by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. The nonprofit donates half of the food it grows and sells the rest to cover wages for workers.
“We employ people out of incarceration or in recovery,” notes Jennifer Diehl, communications director for Cul2vate. “We have some people come through who are out of college and trying to figure out their next steps, or we get people who have a big heart for missions and want to do more and use this as a springboard for their next step.”
Brentwood Baptist has seen the impact that Cul2vate has made and is grateful to be part of it, Coates says. Nearby churches have enlisted volunteers to help with the effort, as has a local high school football team. Brentwood hosts service days during the summer that allow walk-on volunteers to help work the land. During a recent service day, 100 people showed up.
“The rows were all set up, and the volunteers were told what to do,” adds Coates. “You don’t have to have any experience.”
Brentwood appreciates the enthusiastic response to the Cul2vate partnership. Coates had no idea how people would respond to the effort initially.
“Being able to use that land for something so productive and something so meaningful is great for the church, for our organization and for the community at large,” Diehl says.
