About Edible Theology Project
Chances are, you’re exhausted.
We get it. Over the past two years, we’ve all watched as the waves of COVID-19 illuminated fears and fissures within our churches, families, and neighborhoods. We've been confronted with the deep isolation, racism, sexism, and church abuse that plague our world. A lot of the time, it feels like too much to begin to address on our own.
We’re all feeling the same emotions—including the sense that we’re the only ones feeling them.
At the Edible Theology Project, we believe the rest and connection you are looking for will take place at the table. Maybe you’re an individual who wants to host a few friends for a simple dinner, a small group leader looking for a curriculum, or a pastor desperate for a tool to encourage your weary congregants.
Enter: the Worship at the Table curriculum (for everyone from four roommates to thousands of church members) and the Kitchen Meditations podcast.
Worship at the Table and Kitchen Meditations are built on a fundamental tenet of Christian practice: the table set with bread and wine — a simple setting that tells the most profound story of all time. The story of Christ’s broken body and our fragmented humanity, of God’s presence, provision, and promise to heal.
Our goal at Edible Theology is to bring people together around the table to talk about food stories both global and personal, theological and practical. We create resources that help you and yours to connect the meal shared at the Communion table to Tuesday night’s leftovers.
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Baker and writer Kendall Vanderslice founded the Edible Theology Project in 2021. Our materials are born out of her research in the fields of food studies and theology at Duke and Boston University — including the research behind her books, We Will Feast (Eerdmans 2019) and By Bread Alone (forthcoming with Tyndale 2023).
For the past year and a half, thousands of people around the world have tested several Edible Theology programs. The overwhelmingly positive response has proven that the Edible Theology approach works as it empowers people to identify and address their spiritual hunger through physical meals around the table.
By supporting our IndieGoGo, you can join a global community that enjoys the comfort and mutual encouragement of meaningful conversations on food, God, and community around the table.
Your contribution will provide you with the resources to do just that—and to provide Edible Theology with the support it needs to publish Worship at the Table and produce the next season of Kitchen Meditations.
What's Next
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This August, Edible Theology will release a new curriculum for small groups, Sunday Schools, and groups of friends that focuses on storytelling around the table: it will cover the stories that Scripture tells about meals, the stories that bread tells about God, the stories our food tells about us, and the story Communion tells about what's to come.
Can't wait till August to see it? You can download a sample lesson here.
The framework behind this curriculum will serve as the foundation of all our programming moving forward.
The next season of Kitchen Meditations will include interviews with pastors, food scholars, writers, and chefs, using the same discussion questions and conversation prompts found in the curriculum.
We will also offer two free digital communities within the Edible Theology Mighty Network:
- A group for podcast discussion, Advent and Lent programming, and recipe/photo sharing
- A cohort for leaders using the curriculum to ask questions and discuss what they've learned
Our goal is to place this program in 7500 churches and homes in 2023.
But we need your help to get there.
Our Needs
We are raising $50,000 to finish building this new curriculum. Your contribution will help cover:
- web development to support our sales growth
- videography
- curriculum design
- podcast production
- social media support
- Kendall's salary for three months
If we raise beyond $50,000, we will be able to hire a full-time assistant for our founder and executive director—a much needed addition to our team!
The Impact
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Edible Theology Project programming is exactly what is needed in the wake of Covid-19.
Whether you are a:
- person hungry for some kind of spiritual connection
- lifelong Christian suddenly unsure how Church fits into your life
- pastor worried about re-building community in your congregation
Our curriculum and podcast offer hope, addressing the deeply human need for community and connection as you cook and as you eat. These offerings provide a way to both grapple with the loss of the past two years, and to rebuild what has been broken apart by grief and isolation.
Risks & Challenges
Until March of this year, Edible Theology relied entirely on revenue from program sales to stay afloat. Our founder managed all of the web design, program development, and social media herself, with the help of a part time assistant.
After incorporating as a nonprofit, we were able to begin partnering with individual donors to support the growth of our organization. Since March, we've raised $15,000 in private gifts which has allowed us to bring in additional contractors to assist with social media and curriculum development.
We have additional pledges from private donors set to begin in September 2022, after we receive our 501c3 status and tax ID number. This Indiegogo campaign will cover our expenses in the interim.
If we don't raise the needed amount during this campaign, we will put our web development, videography, and podcast production on pause for the summer while Kendall focuses her energy on further fundraising—delaying the release of our timely new program.
We are a small and creative team, able to make a huge impact with minimal resources. But we cannot roll out our latest curriculum without the professional support this Indiegogo fundraising campaign will allow!
Other Ways You Can Help
We understand that now might not be the best time for you to give financially. That's okay! We are grateful for your support in any capacity. Here are a few other ways you can come alongside us in this season:
- Share about our campaign with your friends, family, and social media networks
- Tell your pastor or small group leaders about our programs
- Subscribe to our email newsletter and podcast
- Follow us on Instagram
