Anathoth’s work began in 2004 when Cedar Grove community member and farmer, Scnobia Taylor, generously leased five acres of her land as a hope-filled response to the murder of a local and beloved store owner named Bill King. Envisioning that the land could become a permanent community gathering place, just as Bill King had been creating at his store, Scnobia offered to lease those five acres long-term, at no cost, to Cedar Grove United Methodist Church. In response to her gift, church members organized a listening group and decided to use the Taylor’s land as a community garden. Over the years, Anathoth has become its own nonprofit.
We take our name, Anathoth, from a Biblical passage where the prophet Jeremiah summons the Israelites to “plant gardens” and “seek the peace of the city” in response to violence (Jeremiah 29).
We believe in creating a culture of knowing, understanding and loving our neighbors.
At Anathoth Community Garden we are redefining, reinstating, and reclaiming what it means to be “southern” in a rural community by connecting with our neighbors across differences of perspective, class, age, race & ethnicity in Cedar Grove, North Carolina.
We aim to do this by:
- Gardening, growing and eating food together.
- Fostering community by facilitating workdays, workshops, potlucks, worship services, and celebrations.
- Being a safe and inclusive space that acknowledges and addresses systems of harm and oppression that are relevant and present in our community.
- Restoring and maintaining justice where it is needed.
- By being the change we wish to see in the rural south.
Our top priority is the wellbeing of our neighbors and at the heart of our work is the mission to share food and space with our community.
