The Artisan BreadChurch

When Jesus said that he was the bread of life, the bread to which he was referring wasn’t anything special — not at all like the variety of designer breads we love to enjoy these days. But the bread he was talking about was different in one important way — to eat this bread was to partake in eternal life.

Mike Ferretti tells people: “We don’t give samples, we give ‘amples.’

Mike is the CEO of the Great Harvest Bread Company, and he’s talking about the thick slices of freshly baked bread, topped with rich honey his customers get when they walk into his stores.

Mike understands, as did Jesus, that you don’t eat bread, you experience bread.

When you walk into one of his stores, the aroma is what hits you first. Follow your nose and look behind the counter and the chalkboard menu and you’ll see the racks of hand-kneaded, new-this-morning loaves of honey wheat, cinnamon walnut, spelt and country French breads, among others.

But what you’ll really notice is the eclectic mix of people crowded into the little shop — business people in suits, multipierced high-school students on lunch break, a mom with a toddler in hand, a bike messenger, a homeless man — all lined up, patiently waiting. Some are there waiting to take home a loaf of handmade bread for the family table, but all of them are...