Issues we care about

We try to practice what we preach.  In addition to our own outreach ministries and those we support (see Serving Together), we have committed to caring about social and environmental justice issues within our own walls.

Fair Trade as Social Justice

We are proud to serve Equal Exchange coffee.   Equal Exchange, founded in 1986, is the oldest and largest for-profit Fair Trade company in the United States. They offer organic, gourmet coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and chocolate bars produced by democratically run farmer co-ops in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Equal Exchange’s mission is to build long-term trade partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound, to foster mutually beneficial relationships between farmers and consumers, and to demonstrate, through their success, the contribution of worker co-operatives and Fair Trade to a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world.

On Palm Sunday, each worshiper receives a palm frond in remembrance of the exuberant beginning of Holy Week and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

Each Eco-Palm is fairly traded and sustainably grown and harvested in Guatemala or Mexico.

Creation Care: Earthwise Stewardship

We have committed to living as more conscious stewards of God’s—and our—beautiful earth.  Here are a few of the ways we’re doing that—we’re always looking for more, so contact us with your ‘greening’ ideas!

Green Hospitality
-We use reusable drinkware or paper cups instead of earth-unfriendly foam, plastic or single-use, and wash “real” plates and cutlery to lessen the load on the landfills and Mother Earth.
-The kitchen dishwasher is utilized more frequently in efforts to reduce water and energy waste.
-Coffee grounds are saved and worked into a church member’s compost bin.

Energy Efficiency
-Several very old dial thermostats were replaced by more accurate digital programmable ones.
-165 single pane windows were replaced with new energy-wise windows in 2011.

Recycling
During the summer of 2009′s A Week in Mission: Creation Care, volunteers gave new life to discarded fence sections and retired garbage cans by creating the recycling center outside the church kitchen.  After items are placed in appropriate bins, volunteers take them to their home curbside bins or local drop centers.

These church-generated items are recycled at First Christian—signs near the bins explain how:

Mixed Paper:
Blue recycle bins are placed around the church for recycling clean, mixed papers.  A 96-gallon toter is picked up by the local recycler every two weeks.

Cardboard:
Cardboard is flattened and stacked, then taken home by volunteers to be recycled.

Aluminum, Tin, Plastic & Glass:
Church-generated recyclable waste is placed in the bins in the building or outside the kitchen.  Signs near the bins detail which materials are accepted.

Used Ink & Toner Cartridges and Discarded Cell Phones:
Empty printer ink/toner cartridges and old cell phones are collected for recycling and fundraising.

Burned Out Light Bulbs:
A member transforms old light bulbs of all shapes and sizes into handpainted ornaments.
We recycle old fluorescent tubes, and spent incandescent bulbs are replaced with CFLs (fluorescent).