The parsonage of Unity Christian Reformed Church in Prospect Park, N.J., is becoming as much of a mission to the church’s pastor and his family as the flock of people AJ Santino shepherds as a commissioned pastor.
Santino, his wife, Larissa Santino, and their four children, whom they homeschool, tend the land and promote a shared community as Mission Living Homestead, a name their oldest, 13, came up with.
AJ Santino said, “They (the children) are a huge help running the homestead,” which includes a chicken coop and garden in the front yard; a deck covered with pots and planters; and grow bags, an alternative to plastic or ceramic pots, filling the driveway. “We want to maximize every square foot of sunlight that we can,” said Larissa Santino.
Living this way—becoming more reliant on the Lord and the work of their own hands—began in April 2020 when a neighbor asked if the Santinos would like some of his blackberry bushes. “He was just sharing,” said Larissa Santino.
They added five baby chicks in May 2022.
A note in the September 2024 Classis Hackensack minutes said Unity CRC offered to host the classis’s in-person March meeting and recorded that Pastor Santino, via video link, “shared his Mission (Living) Homestead chickens in Prospect Park—23. (H)e built coops, has blackberry bushes, green beans, pepper plants, tomato plants, makes his own compost, lettuce, cucumbers, and corn. He needs more space and is asking God for 10-20 acres.”
Mission Living Homestead is about doing life with people in the community. “Self-sufficiency is not sustainable,” said AJ Santino. The homesteading space attracts people looking for healthier options, as well as looking to share what they have with others. There are people who are learning about making non-toxic skin care products, others are making sourdough, and someone is learning how to make their own ice cream. “We want to get to a place where we can barter and teach each other,” Larissa Santino said.
It’s about recapturing a little bit of Eden—a sentiment Larissa realized one afternoon while AJ was working on a sermon and she was in the chicken coop. She recalls she ran out to AJ and said, “‘I get it!’
“‘You get what?’ he replied.
“‘This is about being back in the garden. It’s about teaching people how to walk with the Father. It’s about how the gospel changes lives,’” Larissa told him at the time. “‘This is about teaching people how to walk with God in the garden.’”
The Santinos see the whole venture as a product of listening to God. AJ and Larissa had been praying, about nine years ago when Santino was serving in the city as a youth pastor, that God would take them out of Prospect Park. Instead, when they heard ‘no’ and were led to Unity CRC, the project to live off and attend to the land became a new passion.
“God has blessed our ideas and our thoughts and our hands,” Santino said.