This liturgy is designed for when you enter the kitchen to make bread. You will notice the sections marked Breath Prayer and Collection. These are places where you can insert prayers specific to the season or baking occasion, or insert your own prayers.
mise en place
First, gather the things you need. 3 cups all-purpose or strong flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt. 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast. 1 1/2 cups room temperature water. 3-quart mixing bowl. measuring cup and spoon. bowl scraper. Plastic wrap or tea towel. Baking pan, loaf pan, or Dutch oven. And a Bible, if you like.
As you prepare your workspace, prepare your mind as well. Ask God to join you in this process of baking bread. Breathe slowly and meditate on the following words:
Inhale: my soul finds rest
Breathe out: in God alone.
Psalm 62:1
mix
Continue this meditative breathing while measuring the ingredients. As you mix the dry ingredients, feel the texture and temperature of each element with your fingers. Thank your community of farmers, millers, and grocers for bringing these ingredients to your kitchen today. Let's express our gratitude to the bakers who have passed on the tradition from generation to generation. And be thankful for the Christians who have joined Jesus in the baking and breaking of bread.
When it's time to mix the dough, breathe in and out on each line of your chosen breathing prayer.Pour water into the center of the well. Using your fingers, slowly pull the flour into the soggy center, a little at a time. Slowly thicken the water and scrape off any dry lumps of flour that form. Consider how substances change in your hands. Continue mixing until all the flour is hydrated.
Cover the mixture with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and retreat to a quiet place for 30 minutes to read, pray, or be still in God's presence. As you do so, pray:
God, may I believe that transformation will occur even when my hands and heart are at rest.
stretch and fold
Open the lid of the mixture again and squeeze one side firmly with your hand. Stretch and fold it and think about the changes that occur. Water floods and softens the grain, allowing tight, wounded but untapped power to burst open. Stretch the sides and fold over the dough. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat.
Pray as you build resilience and strength:
Inhale: Oh God (stretch) Who's coming (fold)
Exhale: (stretch) the bread (fold) towards us;
Inhale: (Don't stretch) (Let's fold)
Exhale: Go (stretch and fold).
Repeat this 4 or more times if necessary, then cover the dough and let it rise for a long time (8-18 hours). If you need to wait more than 24 hours before shaping, let the dough rest for 4 hours and then refrigerate until you are ready to bake the bread.
shape
When you are ready to shape the dough, place it on the counter. Marvel at the beauty and strength of the fabric and the bubbles that show the growth of new life. It has a fermented aroma and is tangy and slightly sweet. While dividing, stretching, rolling, and folding, gather the words you have chosen and pray.
As the dough enters its final 30 to 60 minutes of fermentation and relaxes into its newfound strength, repeat these words:
God, I ask you to prove your unfailing love for me as I step away from this dough and ask the protein to rest and the yeast to prove that the dough is still alive. .
bake
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425° (450° if using a sandwich pan or baking tray).
When the bread is ready to bake, slide it into the preheated oven. If you can see through the oven door, watch the dough rise, burp, and lose its shape. Notice the smell that will fill your kitchen in the next few minutes. Rejoice in the creativity of God who gave humans the idea of creating materials with the ability to change in this way and combining them.
As you bake the dough, ask the Lord:
God of Creation, where will you lead me in the next few minutes, days, months? Be prepared for any changes that may come.
eat
Once the bread is cool enough to eat, pick it up, breathe in its aroma, and soak up its beauty and nourishment. Smile as you thank God for making something so delicious.
Eating itself is a prayer, a sign of gratitude to God, and at the same time a good gift from God to you.
Adapted from “Bake & Play” Written by Kendall Vanderslice. Copyright © 2024. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
