During the winter of 2025, we conducted oral history interviews at Liberty Grace Church of God located in the Asburton neighborhood of Baltimore City. The interviews explore the perspectives of the people who established the garden at the church and who play a leading role in maintaining it.
Through these interviews we learned that the garden at Liberty Grace Church is an important part of the health and education initiatives the church offers to the wider Baltimore community. The garden also demonstrates the church’s commitment to food sovereignty, securing the food supply. In 2015, the uprisings that followed the death of Freddie Gray caused food shortages in the community. This experience led Liberty Grace Church to join the Black Church Food Security Network and to intensify their focus on food production in the church garden.
The garden represents a significant commitment to sharing knowledge between generations. Viris Neufville, who led the effort to establish the garden, grew up in a farming community in Jamaica and has always had a passion for gardening. Her knowledge was instrumental in making the church garden successful. The church uses the garden in youth programs designed to teach children the importance of growing their own food and learning how to cook. This knowledge is essential to disrupting what Dr. May Nicholas-Holmes described as a “fast food society” in which people do not know how to cook and suffer from the health effects of processed food.
The interviews revealed some obstacles to promoting gardening in the community. Viris Neufville observed that historical connections to slavery can contribute to reluctance to pursue farming. However, the volunteers who cultivate the church garden have found it to be therapeutic in many ways: physical, mental, and spiritual. We learned about many friendships and connections to other Baltimore neighborhoods that have been built through this work.
Overview Video
This video provides some highlights of our project at Liberty Grace Church of God.
Video Clips
Viris Neufville describes her inspiration to establish the church garden and explains its importance.
Transcript
Dr. May Nicholas-Holmes explains her role in the garden and describes how the garden supports church initiatives.
Transcript
Garden volunteers Roman Leter and Linda Whelihan join Viris Neufville and Dr. May Nicholas-Holmes to discuss the benefits of gardening. Transcript
More Information
Read more about the history of Liberty Grace Church of God and the Ashburton neighborhood of Baltimore City in this StoryMap.
“Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Cor. 3:17)