Funs

I’d first met Robert at The Convent, several years prior.

Robert wasn’t yet married to Erin; he moved to the neighborhood on his own, but already tethered to community. His friends Tom and Karen, who had ties to Vineyard Central dating to its earliest days, were planning to move from Vancouver to Norwood. Robert arrived before them, announcing his intention to serve as a “parish farmer” (a term I’d never heard) who would plant crops so that Tom, Karen and their young sons would have produce to harvest when they arrived.

I don’t remember who introduced Robert to me, but I remember that we stood near the entrance of the old Convent—part of the set of buildings (together with St. Elizabeth Church and its rectory) bought by Vineyard Central from the Catholic archdiocese. The Convent had been a community house and a place for retreats. Dave, Vineyard Central’s founding pastor, his wife Jody, and their family had all lived there. Dave and Jody provided Robert a place to stay, and also let him start a garden on their property. Likely he was working in that garden when we met. I remember that Robert looked like he had what I’ve heard described as “an honest face.” His smile was friendly and kind.

Years later, after I’d gone through the Parish Farming Internship, I was invited to The Convent for a conversation. A small group of us sat in Ikea chairs in the parlor: Dave and Jody, Robert and Erin, and a few others. Dave and Jody had family business to attend to in Columbus. They had invited us to share our thoughts on what might happen with The Convent next.

Robert and Erin were there with an idea. What if, they said, the Parish Farming Internship could be a school? What if, instead of a long weekend every couple of months, people could live and work and study together from the earliest moments of planting seeds to the end of harvest season, with shared meals, discussions, and time in the restaurant? Could it be that other church communities, particularly in Rust Belt cities like Norwood, could end up with their own parish farmers through this cultivating work?

Dave and Jody agreed to let Robert and Erin give it a try. I was intrigued too. My friends Laura and Grace and I, who had all gone through the internship, chose to move in to the Convent before any other students arrived; the idea was that we’d establish a way of being in the house so that, by the time students came to join us there, they’d be part of an established community, not creating everything from scratch.

Dave was delighted that we three women were creating a common life together in what had once been home to the Sisters of Charity. The Faux Nuns, he called us. “Funs” for short.