Wendell — When Scott Merritt approached Wendell United Methodist Church pastor Doug Lain with his idea, Lain thought he was, well, daft.

Merritt asked Lain for permission to set up a table in the church where he could put out food he had grown in his garden.

At first Lain thought Merritt wanted to sell his food, but he soon learned that wasn’t the plan at all.

Merritt grows more than enough food in the garden at his Lizard Lick home to supply his family’s needs.

And the neighbors.

“The neighbors kind of get tired of seeing you coming after awhile because they can only take so much zuchinni,” Merritt said.

What Merritt had in mind, was setting up a table to let church members take home what they wanted, for free. Lain accepted the idea and church members soon suggested that Merritt’s food could be put to an even better use. And so Divine Tilth was born.

The outreach ministry is actually a simple string of projects that have grown into a church-wide effort.

About a dozen church members donate the food they grow in their gardens to the church.

The church has also opened a food pantry that serves 200 mouths each month.

And the church has thrown its doors open to the community for monthly meals.

The monthly meals are held on a Monday night. They are followed by a worship service and, though dinner guests aren’t required to sit through the worship, many of them do.

Now, they’ve asked for more frequent Monday night worship services.

Lain says he is happy to have his church members take the lead on projects like Divine Tilth.

“I’m not going to put out a fire that’s burning within the members of our church,” Lain said.

Merritt said he first came up with the idea as a way to do something good for a church that had taken him into its membership.

“I’d been a member for a few months and I just came to the services. I wasn’t really that involved. But the thought never occurred to me that I might be sitting in a pew right next to someone who really needed a little help,” Merritt said.

Cathy Griner, who chairs the church’s Missions and Outreach Committee, said the Divine Tilth program has sparked an interest within the church.

“We see people are really willing to serve. They want to be a part of that,” Griner said.

A couple Saturdays, several church members joined other volunteers to plant a Divine Tilth garden at the parsonage.

Among the volunteers was Mary L. Williams, who became involved in the program after she was invited to a service at the church after members came to her house to make some repairs.

“I enjoy meeting people and helping out and also I enjoy going to that church. I feel comfortable,” Williams said.

Williams became a regular at the monthly dinner meals and soon started looking for ways to give back.

Now she volunteers to help cook the monthly meals and clean up afterward.

She works in the garden, too, and she has become stronger in her faith.

“It’s a blessing. If it wasn’t for that church I don’t know what I’d do. We’re trying to get more people involved. It’s a cool thing to do,” Williams said.

And for Merritt and Griner, words like that are music to their ears.