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An Update from Rev. Dr. Porkchop
On Monday, August 24, I will begin a new chapter of life as Director of Hospitality at St. James’s Episcopal Church in Richmond. Shutting down Redemption BBQ earlier this year was very difficult, but sometimes closing one door really does open up another.
On the very day I turned over the keys to the restaurant space, I started working in the meat department at Whole Foods Market in Short Pump. A few weeks later, I received an unsolicited email from Beth Franklin, the rector at St. James’s. She wanted to talk with me about this new position, a bold and creative vision inspired by one of her early ministry experiences.
After my first meeting with Beth, I came home and told my wife that it felt like my dream job had just fallen into my lap. Assuming I would have to work to convince a local church to do something like this, I never imagined being invited into a missional conversation about food and hospitality already in motion.
It’s a lot easier to believe that things happen for a reason when something good happens than it is when things fall apart. So I don’t intend any glibness or narcissism when I say that this opportunity feels providential. However we might name it, there is no doubt that two decades of church ministry and seven years in the restaurant business have prepared me for this new position.
I have lots of ideas for food and hospitality ministries at St. James’s. I have always believed that faith communities should be leaders in the redemption of local, national, and global food systems. In my role at St. James’s, I will have both the time and the platform to think and teach about food in more explicitly theological ways than was possible while working 60- to 80-hour weeks keeping an independent restaurant afloat.
The remainder of this calendar year will mostly involve getting to know the congregation and settling in to the church kitchen. There are a variety of congregational events and meals to work on. As we grow together as partners in ministry, I look forward to exploring our corner of Richmond and listening for opportunities for outreach, service, compassion, and transformation.
I don’t yet know when or in what form, but I expect that barbecue and deep dish pizzas will be involved in whatever emerges on Franklin Street.
For more information, you can read the announcement from St. James’s here.
Rev. Dr. Porkchop
Pitmaster John Vest—aka Rev. Dr. Porkchop—is the owner and operator of Redemption BBQ. After nearly two decades as a pastor and seminary professor, John turned his passions for traditional cooking and building community around shared tables into a barbecue business committed to practices that honor the animals and farmers who feed us.