Baylor researchers including Truett Seminary's Jenny Howell, PhD, director of the Theology, Ecology, and Food Justice Program, and Stephanie Boddie, PhD, associate professor of Church and Community Ministries, work collaboratively to solve complex problems facing our world.
The TEFJ Program at Truett Seminary regularly holds classes at the World Hunger Relief Farm where seminary students physically and practically learn about creation care. Modeling creation care through a course taught at The Farm, the TEFJ Program is helping students reimagine the interaction God's people have with God's land.
Growing up in a generation where discussions of science and faith were often at odds with one another, I often felt tension as a public high school biology teacher. However, the longer I taught high school biology and the intricacies of the cellular processes, DNA, genetics, and ecology, the more I was filled with awe and wonder. I could not compartmentalize my love of teaching biology from my belief in God the Creator who paid attention to the marvelous detail of the DNA molecule to the vibrant coloring of a butterfly. As I transitioned from a teacher to student once again, the Theology, Ecology, and Food Justice (TEFJ) program at George W. Truett Theological Seminary has offered me a framework and language for theology and science to no longer be at odds with one another.
In a recent conversation with Theology, Ecology, and Food Justice student, Laura Joseph, we had an opportunity to learn about how her background led her to the program, how courses have impacted her future plans and work, and what advice she would give to someone interested in creation care.
Truett Seminary’s Theology, Ecology, and Food Justice (TEFJ) Program annually offers a theology course in Italy that provides students with the opportunity to meet with leaders who are at the forefront of global challenges such as hunger, poverty, and the climate crisis. Upon returning, TEFJ student Cori Hunt reflected on her experiences and the connections she made between Christian history and her unique personal calling.
What are the connections between food, creation and faith? Jenny Howell serves as director of Baylor’s Theology, Ecology and Food Justice Program, which offers a holistic approach to educate students, ministers, leaders and more on the Church’s role in addressing hunger. In this Baylor Connections, she takes listeners inside Waco’s World Hunger Relief Farm, where her work takes place and models approaches to address hunger globally, analyzes complex issues impacting hunger and considers the role of hope as the Holidays approach.
At the beginning of the summer, the TEFJ program hosted a trip to Italy, which included students, faculty, and staff from Truett, the Baylor School of Social Work, the World Hunger Relief, Inc. (WHRI), and the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty (the Baylor Collaborative).
Christianity Today highlights how a robust theology of food and justice can help Christians address global hunger.