17 April 2025
“Who is feeding Bob today?” is a sentence often heard recently within the Conway Road Methodist Church congregation recently. Bob is not a child or an animal, but a sourdough starter who has become the unlikely star of this Cardiff church's Lenten journey.
What began as a simple idea to bring people together in Wales Synod Cymru has risen into something far more meaningful. Philippa, a congregation member, was inspired by BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme and suggested a communal sourdough project to Deacon Laura Evans as a way to unite the various groups who use the church building.
"It grew organically from there," explains Laura. "We started on the first Sunday of Lent. We got the junior church together, and they mixed the flour and the water." The plan was to distribute portions the following week, but nature follows its own timetable. "Unfortunately, because it's a natural process, it wasn't ready until the 23rd."
The youngest church members have embraced the project from feeding Bob to kneading and baking. Ella, a child from the congregation, shares her enthusiasm: "I think the sourdough is very nice and it's going to be very tasty. We have already made lovely pancakes and lovely cake with it."
In the meantime, the church building's diverse community has become invested in nurturing the starter. "Theo groups that use the building were heavily involved with making sure that the sourdough was fed," Laura recalls. "Watching the little ones get so excited because it's bubbling and showing signs of being alive is incredible."
The starter needed a name and thus Bob Cross was born – a playful nod to both its church origins and the Easter season. The small portions distributed to congregation members became known as Boblets, sparking humour and conversation throughout the community.
"It's done wonders for the congregation," says Laura. "People have been talking about Boblets and naming their sourdoughs. Mine is called Breadward. Philippa’s one is Sid and we know somebody else who's called theirs Gordon."
The spiritual significance has not been lost on the congregation. Philippa explains one of the most fascinating aspects: "The sourdough picks up the bacteria from the air around it to make the yeast. Sitting on his shelf in the church kitchen, Bob absorbs the goodness in the air, and that same goodness is in every Boblet that people take home."
This has provided rich material for sermons and discussions. "As a minister, I have had a blast preaching about this," Laura enthuses. "This tiny thing, which is barely significant, but does so much to a loaf of bread – there's something utterly miraculous about it. The sourdough starter gets its life from the goings on around it, so the Boblets are strongly connected to this community and the worship, fun and fellowship that takes place here."
The project has also connected congregants to biblical traditions. "When we read about bread, leavened bread, in the Bible, what we're talking about is a form of what we would now call sourdough," Laura points out. "What we're doing, even though it feels terribly modern, is actually something that's been going on for thousands of years. Something that Jesus mentions in the gospels."
Bob's journey culminates over Easter weekend, with hot cross buns planned for Good Friday and sourdough contributions to the traditional Easter morning breakfast. "We've invited people to bring along things that they've made with their sourdough to share," Philippa explains.
But Bob's story won't end at Easter. The starter will be reduced and stored dormant in the refrigerator, ready to be revived for future church events. "For every event where we can shoehorn bread into it, I feel like bread will be shoehorned into it," Laura laughs.
