I remember like it was yesterday. I was a stay-at-home mom having an exhausting day with our four children (all under the age of 9 at the time) when the doorbell rang. I remember thinking, “I don’t have an ounce of energy left to talk to anyone right now.” But I answered the door anyway, and much to my surprise, a neighbor was standing on my front porch with a warm loaf of fresh-baked bread in one hand, a Ziploc bag with a piece of paper in the other hand, and the sweetest smile plastered across her face. I invited her in, and we enjoyed a cup of coffee while we got to know each other. That day, I met a new friend and was introduced to Amish Friendship Bread! And let me tell you, the bread was heavenly! It was so delicious that our family consumed the entire loaf in a couple of days. I was devastated when I returned to grab another piece only to discover it was empty. I mean, scrape the pan empty!

I pulled out my Ziploc bag of the runny, bubbly goo starter and the instruction sheet my neighbor gave me and set out to replicate that delicious loaf of bread in my own kitchen. As I read the instructions, I grew increasingly unsure of my ability to pull off everything required to keep the bread going, so I, too, could pass it on. Needless to say, I was intimidated. Surely, I was going to mess it up, but I was determined to give it a try.

If you are not familiar with Amish Friendship Bread, let me explain. The goopy starter bag she gave me was a living culture that required feeding and regular nurturing. On Days 2-4, I gently massaged, kneading the goop inside the bag. When Day 5 came, it was time to feed the starter! I added the ingredients as instructed and mixed the contents inside the bag. Days 6-10, more kneading. Finally, on Day 10, it was ready!  I divided my mixture into three separate Ziploc bags to give away, and with the remaining mix, I began the process of baking my first loaf. Which, by the way, was delicious! I can almost smell the aroma of cinnamon and sugar wafting from the oven as I write.

Just last week, I told a neighbor about Amish Friendship Bread, and she suggested I get it going through our neighborhood. I told her that was a great idea! After all, it’s not just about giving your neighbors a delicious baking project. It’s a way to make connections. Each loaf baked from the starter carries with it a slice of community spirit, hence why it is called “friendship bread.”

The conversation with my neighbor got me thinking about the parable in Matthew chapter 13 when Jesus compares the kingdom to yeast. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough” (Matt. 13:33).

This may be a stretch, but stay with me—the original yeast in a first batch of Amish Friendship Bread is transferred from bag to bag for as long as people will pass it on. Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus put yeast in the flour, mixed it, and shared it with others, kneading it into their lives. Think about how long this process has been repeated. You and I have been handed the “goopy” starter bag of dough (the Gospel), working it into our lives by adding Bible reading, prayer, and other means of grace. We knead these spiritual practices (ingredients) into our lives, and then we share with others. Then they take what we have shared and begin to knead the bag of dough, the Gospel, into their own lives. And on and on it goes.

A fun side note, there was a woman in the congregation I served in Pennsylvania who told me she had a friendship bread starter that was given to her in 1987 that she had been using again and again for decades!

Just as my neighbor didn’t give me the bread starter to keep to myself, the Gospel was not given to us to keep. We are called to pass it on. What if, as Christians, we treated our faith like friendship bread? What if every one of us shared our faith with three people while continuing to knead and nurture the original message of the Gospel we were given? I want to challenge you to think about three people you can share your testimony with in the coming weeks. Tell them how Jesus has changed your life, and then, with expectation, watch how the Holy Spirit will nurture the “starter bag” you just shared.

Meanwhile, I have just finished making my Amish Friendship Bread starter (see picture above), which I will nurture and feed throughout the next ten days. On Day 10, I will be excited to separate my mixture into four bags of runny, bubbly goo, and with a smile plastered across my face, I will deliver three of the bags door to door—loving Christ and loving like Christ. All the while praying that the Holy Spirit will cultivate new relationships and opportunities to minister throughout my community.

Keep shining bright, beloved ~
Pastor Jen