Good Soil: A Review

 

Jeff Chu

By Mindy Hidenfelter

In the growing field of compost theology, the ecological practice of composting intersects with spiritual renewal. The connection between farming, faith, and life experience is highlighted in Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand by Jeff Chu.

Author Bio from Jeff Chu’s website:

Writer, reporter, editor. Editor-at-large at Travel+Leisure. Teacher in residence at Crosspointe Church in North Carolina. Parish associate for storytelling and witness at the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley in California. Ph.D. student in theology at the University of Stellenbosch. Minister of Word and sacrament in the Reformed Church in America (RCA). Cook. Gardener. Author of Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America (Harper, 2013) and co-author, with the late Rachel Held Evans, of the New York Times best-seller Wholehearted Faith (HarperOne, 2021). For a while, I also served as co-curator, with Sarah Bessey, of Evolving Faith. Resident of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where my husband and I moved in 2020.

Before that, I was a seminarian at Princeton Theological Seminary, where I worked as a farmhand at PTS’s Farminary. Don’t be deceived: When I got to the Farminary, a 21-acre experiment in sustainable agriculture that doubles as the world’s best classroom, I didn’t know anything about farming and I had more experience killing plants than nurturing them. But my work there changed me. That land taught me about the story of life, death, and new life that God has written into creation. Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand, my memoir about my time at the Farminary, published by Convergent, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

In brief, author Jeff Chu finds himself working at Princeton Theological Seminary’s 21-acre “Farminary.” In his book, Good Soil, “he unpacks what he learned about creating ‘good soil', both literally and figuratively, drawing lessons from the rhythms of growth, decay, and regeneration that define life on the land.” (from the dust jacket).

Many notable authors and podcasters have crafted thorough reviews of Good Soil, as well as related conversations with Jeff Chu on compost theology. Here are a few you can check out to learn more:

Book Review in The Presbyterian Outlook by Amy Pagliarella (March 25, 2025)

Evolving Faith Podcast Hosted by Sarah Bessy and Jeff Chu (Season 1, Episode 3, July 8, 2020)

Jeff Chu: Cultivating a Theology of Compost, interview by Katie Noah Gibson (March 21, 2025)

Jeff Chu: Good Soil podcast with Kate Bowler (Season 14: April 1, 2025)

Mindy Hidenfelter serves as the Coordinator for Presbyterians for Earth Care.  She holds degrees in forestry/wildlife science and natural resource management and has experience in urban forestry as an ISA Certified Arborist in both state government and the non-profit world.