A Classroom Where Food Insecurity and Faith Connect

Madeline Harrell wasn’t planning to go to grad school. She expected to do something more active than intellectual, where she could apply her passion for environmentalism and service in a food justice setting. When she discovered the Masters in Theology and Ecology program at Princeton Theological Seminary, Madeline’s was amazed. She couldn’t believe that there was a degree that married her interests in faith and environmental justice, set in a physical environment of tangible food production.

In undergrad, Madeline majored in environmental studies and communications, and found herself struck by the immense environmental challenges of our day. She became increasingly conscious of the gaps between the church and the environmental movement, despite our call as Christians to serve the least of these. She recognized that attempts to control or dominate the earth go against God’s desires for creation. “We are designed to have a relationship with the land, with each other, and with other creatures,” Madeline shared. “We are a part of this ecosystem, and in terms of creation, we are a part of the garden.” With this insight in mind, Madeline began to focus in on issues of food insecurity, the cause that ultimately brought her to the Farminary.

We are designed to have a relationship with the land, with each other, and with other creatures.

When she began the Master of Arts in Theology & Ecology in May 2023, Madeline worried her lack of background in theology and religious studies would hold her back. Despite her fears, Madeline quickly connected with the other students in the program and felt immediately welcomed by the Seminary community. Talking to her fellow cohort members, who came from a wide array of backgrounds, Madeline remembers feeling increasingly sure that she came here for a reason. Some of her favorite classes in the program have been at the farm, where she can learn and work in community with her fellow MTE students. Madeline shared that she particularly enjoys her “Soil and Sabbath” class, because of the opportunity to learn, work, and eat with classmates at the farm. While the lectures are valuable, she also appreciates the more unstructured time with the class, saying: “I love that we don’t really have an agenda for the shared meals, and we can just be in fellowship together.”

Fellowship with friends and professors, cultivating community, and integrating theology with practical experience on the farm have been the major touchpoints of Madeline’s experience in the MTE program. She hopes to take all she has learned this year into agriculture-specific ministry, possibly in the nonprofit sector. Above all, Madeline has felt validated in her desire to work at the intersection of farming and faith, and increasingly grounded in her specific vocational call.

Madeline’s “mini syllabus” for someone interested in delving into this work includes Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Laudato Si, A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold, and anything by Wendell Berry, This list is as wide ranging as the stories that bring people to their year in the Master’s in Theology and Ecology community.

The 13-month MTE program forms leaders for service by immersing participants in a community of embodied theological reflection, rooted in Princeton Theological Seminary’s Farminary, and by attending to the intimate connections among land, space, justice, soil, place, and neighbor.