Baltimore church converts neglected urban forest into ‘peace park’
By Timothy B. Wheeler
Bay Journal
March 2, 2021
Project to restore degraded woodlands in damaged community enlists help from all over.
Nature has a way, it seems, of getting people to shed their cares for a spell and relate both to it and each other.
That’s what is happening, at least, in southwest Baltimore. There, a long-neglected swath of forest in an urban neighborhood that’s had its share of troubles has been reborn as a “peace park.” The church that owns the tract is drawing legions of helpers to transform it into an oasis of contemplation and connectedness.
For Stillmeadow Community Fellowship’s pastor, Michael Martin, the project aligns with the biblical admonition to be good stewards — of the church and its property, of the community in which it is situated and of the Earth itself.