MISSION STATEMENT
Bethlehem Farm is a Catholic community in Appalachia that transforms lives through service with the local community and the teaching of sustainable practices.
We invite volunteers to join in living the Gospel cornerstones of community, prayer, service and simplicity. |
Bethlehem Farm at a Glance
FOUNDED
December 8, 2004
LOCATION
Summers County, West Virginia, is located in central Appalachia. The Farm is located in the community
of Clayton in the southeastern part of the state, above Pence Springs and between Hinton and Alderson
(2 ½ hours southeast of Charleston).
FARM COMMUNITY
The caretakers live in intentional Christian community, basing their lives on the Gospels and striving to
live out the four cornerstones of service, simplicity, prayer and community.
VOLUNTEERS
Each year, over 300 volunteers join the caretakers to live together as a community. During their week at
the Farm, volunteers serve the surrounding community, pray together, learn about and from the people
of Appalachia, and experience ways of practicing and living a sustainable life.
MISSION AND MORE
Bethlehem Farm is a Catholic community in Appalachia that transforms lives through service with the
local community and the teaching of sustainable practices. We enable volunteers to join in living the
Gospel cornerstones of prayer, simplicity, service, and community.
While Bethlehem Farm serves our sisters and brothers primarily by working with local community
organizations, our work involves much more than just the physical labor. We go beyond hammering
nails and painting walls and dig deep into the basic need for people to feel loved and appreciated.
With
a focus on social justice and the cornerstones of community, simplicity, prayer and service, we
emphasize working with people rather than for them, and we strive to always learn from one another.
Bethlehem Farm's mission does not involve imposing other values and standards of living on those we
serve. Although volunteers might find the ways of those we work with different, it does not mean that one
is necessarily better than another. We focus on building relationships and finding common ground,
rather than on the differences that might divide us. Volunteers often leave here feeling they are taking
home more than they have given, because the people of Summers County and surrounding areas are
rich in spirit, family, pride, and faith—gifts that are freely given to stranger and friend alike.
THE WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Groups are generally asked to arrive between 6:30pm and 7:30pm in the evening (after dinner). The first
evening includes a tour of the grounds, orientation, and evening prayer. The next day is usually spent on
the Farm with tool & safety, farm chores between breakfast and lunch, an introduction to the history and
mission of Bethlehem Farm, a hike around the property with a conversation about Catholic Social
Teachings, some free time, dinner, dishes, and Eucharist.
All of the volunteers, leaders included, are divided into different work crews for the remainder of the
week. The crews visit a different work site each day. Most crews will also spend one day at the Farm on
Home Crew doing meal preparation, housekeeping, and other aspects in the ministry of hospitality. Each
group is given a chance to plan evening prayer with the help of a caretaker. Some crews may also spend
a day on Farm Crew, working in the garden or around the farm.
On the morning of departure, we have our closing prayer together, pack our vans, eat breakfast, clean
the house and depart around 10am.
A WORK DAY AT BETHLEHEM FARM
We rise early and begin each day by centering our hearts and thoughts on the day at hand through
prayer. After prayer, we do chores around the Farm grounds for about 30-45 minutes to work up an
appetite for a good breakfast prepared by the caretakers and volunteers. The rest of the day is spent at
work sites, with local community organizations. Volunteers may find themselves doing anything from
visits to the Hospitality House, to working alongside a family in repairing their home (No prior
experience necessary! The caretakers teach you everything you need to know). Lunches are packed in
the morning and eaten at the site. At the work site, we also encourage volunteers to visit with the people
we're working with. We strongly believe that this relationship is essential in keeping with our mission to
know and love the people of our community. Work crews return to the Farm for dinner, dishes, and
evening prayer. Some evenings have special programming (community night, River of Life church
service), while other evenings are passed in conversation and recreation. At 11pm, the lights go out, so
everyone can rest up for a new day.
A NEW WAY OF LIVING
A week at Bethlehem Farm is an opportunity to experience another way of living. Our decisions and
actions are based on the Gospel cornerstones of prayer, community, simplicity and service, which lead
us to depart from “life as usual” in several ways. As part of simplicity, we give up TVs, radios, cell
phones, i-pods, and email to focus more on our relationships with God, each other, and ourselves. We
dress modestly and give up makeup and hair dryers for the week to remind ourselves that we are
beautiful the way we are, since we are made in the image and likeness of God. We also give up wearing
watches for the week, so we can be in the moment and live on “God’s time”.
Our commitment to teach sustainability and care for God’s good creation also impacts how we live. We
conserve water: we limit ourselves to two showers for the week (one indoor and one outdoor bucket
shower), we limit our toilet flushing (if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down), and we turn
the water off while brushing our teeth. We conserve electricity by turning off the lights when we leave a
room. In order to conserve other resources and provide fresh and healthy food, we eat as locally and organically as practical, which means the food may be a little different than some folks are used to, since
it is prepared from scratch and uses very little meat. We also recycle anything we can and compost our
food scraps, so that nothing God has given us is wasted.
Volunteers coming for a week at Bethlehem Farm should look at the week as a time to learn and grow, to
be challenged by new ideas, to be open to new ways of living, and to share their own experiences of the
Gospel cornerstones of prayer, community, simplicity, and service.
THE OVERVIEW
At Bethlehem Farm, we are more than a “work camp” for volunteers. We invite volunteers to be a part of
our mission and our home. We build community with each other by working, praying, laughing, and
loving together. We live simply to appreciate the gifts that God has given us. We pray together to grow
closer to God and to one another. We serve the local people, we serve each other, and we also open
ourselves to be served by others. By living out the Gospel cornerstones each day of our lives, we offer
volunteers not just the opportunity for service, but the opportunity to experience another way of life. |
