Episode 148 • 8th May 2025 • The Living Church
Today is a conversation between a pastor and a farmer. What might working the land, protecting local economies, and nurturing Christian communities have in common?
We’ll be speaking with Mary Berry, executive director of the Berry Center, and daughter of poet, farmer, and essayist Wendell Berry. My fellow interviewer today is the Rev. Clint Wilson, rector of St. Francis in the Fields, Harrods Creek, KY.
We talk about joy of hard work, and hard work that is good work. Growing up with Wendell Berry as a dad. Faith and farming. Decisions to live with or against a given landscape. What is home? How do you make a home and dedicate yourself to it? The thick fabric of a place, and how work might be interwoven with neighbors, family, and seasons.
What does it mean to actually “Love your neighbor as yourself”? We’ll also touch on special challenges the suburbs pose to meaningful life together.
Mary Berry, Executive Director of The Berry Center, grew up at Lanes Landing Farm in Henry County, KY. She has farmed for a living in Henry County, and started The Berry Center in 2011 to continue the agricultural work of John Berry, Sr. and his sons, author Wendell Berry and former Kentucky state senator, the late John M. Berry, Jr. The Berry Center focuses on issues confronting small farming families in Kentucky and around the country.
Hear Mary speak at the Living Church conference
Learn more about the Berry Center or Home Place Meat
Learn more about the Transforming Leaders Program at Yale
Amber D. Noel, M.Div., directs the public-facing programs of The Living Church, including the podcast, events, and the Partner program. Outside of work, she is a writer and enjoys life in Atlanta.
