Good (no, great ) Coffee, Good (no, great) Cause

1. Would you like to reach out to neighbors overseas not only with prayers and offerings but also by the products you purchase?

2. Would you like to know for sure that more of the money you spend on coffee goes to the hardworking farmers who grow it?

3. Would you like to know that the coffee you drink has been grown with care for the stewardship of the natural environment?

4. Would you like to save some money on your purchase of fair trade organic coffee (compared to prices in most supermarkets)?

5. Would you like to know that your coffee purchase will help guarantee that farmers will earn the income they need to feed their families, educate their children, and improve their communities?

6. Do you have a pulse?

If you can answer “yes” to at least one of these questions, check out the Presbyterian Coffee Project. Try a package from the presbytery —better yet, organize a project at your church! More info at www.pcusa.org/coffee

Growing Deep and Wide in Jacksonville

The following article was written by Bill Jordan and will appear in the 2010 Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study.

Take one second career minister who is a lifetime outdoorsman and has an undergraduate degree in biology and put him with a small church that dates back to 1871 in a community with rural roots and a growing suburban population, and see what happens. The Jacksonville Church is engaged in the mission: “To serve Jesus Christ by caring for God’s creation and its people.”

Pastor Dana Eglinton was a contractor who built energy efficient houses. Before he heard God’s call to ordained ministry he believed that a Christian is responsible for the care of God’s earth. In worship, Bible study and retreats the church explored many avenues of service and discipleship related to the care of the earth. Eglinton discovered that there were already people in the congregation who were concerned about environmental issues. Together, pastor and people developed the Jacksonville Presbyterian Church Earthcare Ministry.

The Earthcare Ministry reached out to the neighbors of the congregation members with the distribution of compact fluorescent bulbs and an invitation to join the congregation in caring for creation. Other projects include working with the High School Science Club in building bird houses on property that is void of trees. Members of the congregation are involved with a watershed project that monitors chemicals in creeks and streamsas well as in clean-up projects in their township. All ages enjoy canoe and camping trips, and outings where the emphasis is on enjoying the earth and caring for God’s creation and all of God’s creatures.

Make social and environmental justice part of your congregation's Palm Sunday celebration

Palm Sunday is April 5, 2009

The Eco-Palm Project
Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem, accented by the jubilant waving of palm branches, is re-enacted each Palm Sunday in Presbyterian and other Christian congregations worldwide as Holy Week observances begin. Unfortunately for the communities where these palms are harvested, palm fronds do not always represent the same jubilation they do for us.

In 2007 the PC(USA) teamed up with Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services and the University of Minnesota to offer congregations the option of purchasing responsibly harvested eco-palm branches for Palm Sunday. The palms come from communities in Mexico and Guatamala where workers are paid fairly and engage in sustainable harvesting in order to protect the local ecosystem. Learn more about the benefits of Eco-Palms.

Online ordering new for 2009! Orders are due by March 9 if paying by credit card (March 2 if paying by check). Learn about pricing, ordering options and more.

Read the Presbyterian News Service article about Eco-Palms.

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Would you like to make a positive difference every time you drink a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate or eat an organic chocolate bar? The Presbyterian Coffee Project makes it easy by offering a special link to help us reach out to neighbors overseas not only with our prayers and offerings but with the goods and products we purchase.

Why is this so important? Show the film "Black Gold" in your congregation, which features coffee production in Ethiopia and the farmers in the Oromia Cooperative. Or watch it online Black Gold:

After the Palms - Imagine Scene 2

The following essay is by Peter Sawtell, Executive Director of Eco-Justice Ministries. It really is "food for thought"!

"Palm Sunday is that occasion in the church year when we try and get ourselves into a really joyous mood, so that we can experience the full roller coaster effect of Holy Week.

"In many churches this weekend, the members of the Sunday School will be drafted to form a palm-waving procession through the sanctuary. Some lucky child may even get to play the part of Jesus, and ride the wooden donkey, the same one used by Mary in the Christmas pageant. Meanwhile, in the pews, well-dressed adults will sing All Glory, Laud and Honor and look very self-conscious about waving their fronds.

"Through it all, we make a noble attempt to capture the genuine spirit of celebration that is part and parcel of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. We try to claim the hope and excitement of the Messiah's arrival in the capitol city. And we set aside the awareness of what comes later in this Holy Week -- the agonizing times of betrayal and death, and the astounding joy of resurrection.

"The Christian liturgical tradition packs a lot into Holy Week. We observe Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, and Easter itself.

"And yet, as I re-read the Palm Sunday account in the gospels, I'm struck by what our liturgies skip over. The tradition of the triumphal entry is truncated. Scene 2 is skipped.

"Picture this in your church's observation of the day: The bathrobe-clad Jesus rides the wheeled donkey down the aisle, while the congregation sings familiar hymns of praise and wave their palm branches. Then, as the music comes to a close, Jesus strides to the chancel, sweeps the silver communionware onto the floor, and shouts, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer', but you are making it a den of robbers."

What do you think? Is this true? Read the rest of the article

The painting is undated by Solomon Raj. Asian Christian Art Association

The sculpture of Christ cleansing the Temple is by Brian Burgess.

Food for Thought: Do you know how much your burger costs the earth?

The Food and Faith site of the Presbyterian Hunger Program is "chock full" of good information. The following is directly from there.

Grain

It takes 12 pounds of grain to produce one pound of hamburger. This could make eight loaves of bread, or 24 plates of spaghetti. Grain consumption by livestock is increasing twice as fast as grain consumption by people. Cattle consume 70 percent of all U.S. grain.

Rain forest

While not all hamburgers come from the rain forest, for every pound of rain forest beef, approximately 660 pounds of precious living matter is destroyed, including 20—30 different plant species, over 100 insect species, and dozens of mammals and reptiles.

Water

It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of hamburger. This could be used to grow more than 50 pounds of fruits and vegetables. Half of all water consumed in the United States is used to grow feed and provide drinking water for cattle and other livestock.

Food for Thought: Lord I want to be GREEN and CHRISTIAN in my HEART

I don’t want to have to deal with climate change! I feel hopeless and powerless when I see pictures of polar bears stranded on ice, or think about the rising ocean temperatures and sea levels that we know will eventually submerge an entire nation, or when I visit a rapidly disappearing glacier high up in the Bolivian Andes and learn about the effect on the people who depend on it for their water.

But after a long time of hoping global warming would go away (a.k.a. being in denial),I’ve come to terms with the need to make some changes in my lifestyle. A lot of them are cosmetic: compact fluorescent light bulbs, alternative energy sources, less driving. They’re becoming good habits that I really like.

But there’s a deeper change that I really struggle with, and that is the need to turn away from the individualism and materialism of our market-driven society. I need another kind of change—a paraphrase of an old Slave Song: “Lord, I want to be green (and Christian) in my heart.” And that means a deep spiritual change leading to voluntary simplicity, real community, and the genuine abundance of “enough”—which is, after all the abundant life that God offers us.

That kind of change isn’t easy in a world where we hear the story “more is better” 24/7. But we have God’s promise of shalom, and we have hope that calls us to committed and active engagement with the “principalities and powers” and compassionate relationship with all of creation.

It may not be quite as easy bein’ green on the inside, but “it’s beautiful and it’s what I want to be.”

Wishing you traveling mercies and many glimpses of redemption on your journey with Jesus.

For a really good article which says this so much better than I can, check out Peter Sawtell's recent article "Only a symptom" in Eco-Justice Notes.