Okra Abbey - Director Job Posting
Application Deadline 4pm CST Saturday November 8, 2025
At first glance, Okra Abbey looks like a community garden, and while that is true, Okra Abbey is also a sacred space for the residents of the Pigeon Town neighborhood in New Orleans. Like other sacred spaces, Okra Abbey is a place where people grow in friendship and faith alongside one another through the sharing of stories, scripture, prayers, and food. Unlike many sacred spaces, our sanctuary is a garden where we grow food to share with our neighbors.
We are seeking a new Director of Okra Abbey, a multifaceted role that combines community ministry and organizational leadership. The Director provides leadership to staff, offers a pastoral presence in the neighborhood, marshals donations to sustain the garden, food pantry, and Grace and Greens weekly meal, and coordinates and prepares those meals with neighbors and volunteers. The position also requires building and nurturing connections, both locally in the neighborhood and city, and more broadly with Presbyterian entities, organizations, and funding sources.
Okra Abbey is a mission of the Presbytery of South Louisiana and a New Worshipping Community of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Okra Abbey is based in Pigeon Town, Leonidas Neighborhood, in the Carrollton Riverbend Area of New Orleans (corner of Hickory and Eagle streets). If you have any questions, please reach out to Board Member Kathy Randall at okraabbey@gmail.com. If you intend to apply, please attach a resume and cover letter. The application deadline is Saturday November 8, 2025 at 4pm CST.
● Start Date: November 27, 2025
● Hours: 20 hours weekly, Monday 8:30AM-12:30PM, Tuesday 8:30AM-12:30PM, Wednesday 8:30AM-1:30PM, Thursday 8:30AM-12:30PM. One Saturday morning per month 8:30AM-12:00PM
● Salary: offer to range from $20=24/hr
Okra Abbey Director Job Description
Executive
• Casting a vision for Okra Abbey as a whole and as a faith community space.
• Serving as the the public and neighborhood faces of Okra Abbey
• Overseeing day to day operations
• Overseeing Okra Abbey digital communications
• Building, managing, and maintaining partnership relationships with churches, foundations, and nonprofits.
• Raising funds from grants, church partners, and cultivation of individual and organizational donors
Community Pastoral Care
• Providing care for people in the Okra Abbey Community, and providing care for people in the larger Pigeon Town neighborhood who do not participate in Okra Abbey programs
• Praying for the work of Okra Abbey, the members of the Grace and Greens community, the recipients of Pea’s and Love vegetable deliveries, and the neighborhood as a whole.
• Developing and maintaining positive relationships with people in the neighborhood;
Programming
• Overseeing the weekly community meal called Grace and Greens
o Planning and preparing meals as necessary
o Delegating set-up and clean up
o Planning devotional
• Overseeing the weekly vegetable harvest and delivery called Peas and Love
o Participate in harvest and packing as needed
o Participate in the distribution of harvest bags and pastoral care during visits
Worship and Christian Education
• Planning and leading weekly devotions during Grace and Greens, administering the sacraments and/or arranging for their administration, and seeking out ways to incorporate prayer practices and devotion into the garden space
• Organize morning devotions with YAVs
• Collaborating with staff to provide for theological learning for community members
Staff Supervision
• Supervising Lead Gardener
• Supervising YAVs & Associate Gardener(s)
Our contacts & Socials:
okraabbey@gmail.com
Instagram @okraabbey