Cultivating Belonging and Evolving Faith with Jeff Chu

2025-04-18

Description:Jeff Chu, an award-winning journalist, author, and "sort-of-kind-of farmer," joins Jen on the For the Love podcast to discuss his book, Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand. In the book, Jeff shares stories from his time at “The Farminary”, a twenty-one-acre working farm at Princeton’s Theological Seminary, where students explore life's biggest questions while cultivating the earth. Jeff reflects on his own struggles with faith, identity, and the expectations placed upon him as a gay man raised...

Description:

Jeff Chu, an award-winning journalist, author, and "sort-of-kind-of farmer," joins Jen on the For the Love podcast to discuss his book, Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand. In the book, Jeff shares stories from his time at “The Farminary”, a twenty-one-acre working farm at Princeton’s Theological Seminary, where students explore life's biggest questions while cultivating the earth.

Jeff reflects on his own struggles with faith, identity, and the expectations placed upon him as a gay man raised in a conservative Christian environment. His journey reveals the challenges of cultivating, not just plants, but also a spiritual life that is authentic, evolving, and inclusive.

In this conversation, Jeff, Jen and Amy discuss:

What Jeff learned at the “Farminary” about creating “good soil,” drawing lessons from the rhythms of growth, decay, and regeneration that define life on the land
Finding moments of grace and healing.
Challenging traditional interpretations of the biblical Parable of the Sower
Exploring faith, not as something static, but as something that evolves.

Thought-provoking Quotes:

“God's love is that lavish and it's there for you. And it doesn't come with the conditions that you might have. It doesn't require you to do anything more than you've already done. It just requires you to be. God's love is big enough to hold that, and your mess, and your beauty, and your frailty, and anything else you might bring to God.” – Jeff Chu
“I see folks trying to figure out how to create belonging, not just for themselves, but also for others, and being willing to ask those tough questions out loud, and being brave enough to say, I don't know, but I wonder. Being bold enough to point out not just the ugly things, but also to name the beautiful and hopeful things. Those are all things that give me hope.” – Jeff Chu

#JeffChu #GoodSoil #ForTheLovePodcast #SpiritualJourney

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Community First Village / Mobile Loaves and Fishes - https://mlf.org/community-first/
Genesis Gardens - https://mlf.org/genesis-gardens/
7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker - https://amzn.to/4kZZmjN
Actually Believing God Loves You Changes Everything: Jeff Chu - https://jenhatmaker.com/podcasts/series-16/actually-believing-god-loves-you-changes-everything-jeff-chu/
Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand by Jeff Chu - https://amzn.to/4kXozLJ
Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans and Jeff Chu - https://amzn.to/4iZlOrA
Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in America by Jeff Chu - https://amzn.to/4bZH91N
March: Book One by John Lewis - https://amzn.to/4c6xmXI
Travel and Leisure magazine editor-at-large - https://www.travelandleisure.com/author/jeff-chu
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - https://amzn.to/446LUo5
Padraig O'Tuama, poet - https://www.padraigotuama.com/
Kitchen Hymns by Padraig O’Tuama - https://amzn.to/4ccPFdV
Maggie Smith, poet - https://maggiesmithpoet.com/
In The Shelter: Finding a Home in the World by Padraig O’Tuama - https://amzn.to/4ccNNBL
Jeff Chu’s Good Soil Book Tour - https://byjeffchu.com/tour