Green team

God’s House
Holy Covenant UMC, April 25, 2010
Rev. Kate Hurst Floyd
Eco-friendly Sunday
Psalm 23

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Have you heard this scripture before?
I thought so.
It’s one of, if not the, most familiar passage in the entirety of the Bible.
Those of you who grew up in churches probably had to memorize it at some point. It’s most often read at funerals or said around those who are hurting or dying. We’re probably most familiar with the King James Version, with its poetic turn of phrase…He maketh me to lie down in green pastures…yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
But this Psalm doesn’t just have resonance within church walls: It’s ubiquitous in our culture. We use phrases from it in our colloquial expressions: “My cup runneth over” and “Goodness and mercy shall follow me”; even “days of our lives”—where do you think that comes from?

Even if you haven’t spent much or any of your life in church, this is probably one of the few passages from the Bible you know. Those of you who are my age probably remember the Coolio riff on the Psalm….made popular in the film Dangerous Minds starring Michelle Pfeiffer…It’s everywhere.

We know this Psalm like we know the back of our hands….and yet it might seem odd to read such a familiar passage on our Eco-friendly Sunday (after all, we’re not at a funeral or in a mediocre 90’s movie). We recite this Psalm in a variety of contexts…but we wonder, what does this Psalm have to do with creation care, sustainability, and environmental justice? (more…)

Holy Covenant asks you to bring in a wide variety of items to support us in our quest to reduce, reuse, recycle, provide for our congregational community, and care for our greater community.

If you have any of these, bring them in!

CINDER BLOCKS NEEDED
Holy Covenant needs cinder blocks for a Lent project! Have a few in your basement? Willing to schlep them to church by February 20th? Let Rebecca Anderson know.

HOT CUP SLEEVE DRIVE
The Green Team and Hospitality have partnered up to start a coffee sleeve drive at Holy Covenant. Please bring in your used hot cup sleeves so we can offer them at the coffee station during hospitality! When using a sleeve during church, please remember to return the sleeve to its basket before tossing your cup. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

BRING US YOUR CORKS!
The Green Team will be collecting wine corks, both natural and synthetic, in the coming year. For every cork collected, Terra Cycle will donate 2 cents to Holy Covenant United Methodist Church. There is a box in the gallery labeled “Cork Collection”. Please bring in any wine corks you have (or your neighbors have, or your local restaurants have) to be donated to this worthy cause!

COAT DRIVE
Holy Covenant is collecting coats for those in need that will be distributed to Dignity Diner guests every Tuesday. Please bring adult coats (L-XL), mittens and gloves (no scarves or hats) to the church and place at the bottom of the basement stairs. We will collect coats through the winter so that as many as possible will receive the gift of warmth. Questions? Please contact Walter Treash.

HAVE PICTURES OF HOLY COVENANT? SEND THEM IN!
We would love to look through your photos and possibly pick out a few for the church’s website! Mission events, social events, hospitality or small groups — if you have any, send them to Katie Cook.

In addition, something you do every day can benefit Holy Covenant:

SEARCH THE INTERNET, GIVE TO HOLY COVENANT!
Every time you search the internet through www.goodsearch.com, the site will donate 1 cent to HCUMC. Just go to the site, enter Holy Covenant to verify, and then search away! It’s free and easy to use for you, and Holy Covenant receives a donation at the end of the year. Many sites also offer a % donation if you make a purchase. So search away, which you do anyway, and give to the church. Their motto is: You search, we give.

Guest Blogger : Olivia McCain

As a member of the Green Living Small Group, I wanted to be sure to share some of our wonderful recipes.  Some are food, some are cleaning products, all help you get in touch with the beautiful earth God gave us.

This laundry detergent has only three ingredients, all environmentally friendly!  And, what’s left of the ingredients can be used around the house for other cleaning, too.

Also, while it takes a little elbow grease to make, this laundry soap comes in at just 4-cents per load, compared to 24 cents for store-bought laundry detergent.  It doesn’t create suds, so it’s great for HE/front-loading washers, too.

The group hasn’t tested it on all fabrics yet, but I did a load of towels and dish rags with no issue!

Laundry Detergent:
32 ounce (think big yogurt) container
1 bar of shaved Fels Naptha soap
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda

You can shave the Fels Naptha with a cheese grater, or, if you prefer, can buy it online at SoapsGoneBuy.com (along with the other ingredients).  If you can’t find it, Ivory soap will work as well.

Mix the three ingredients in the container for a few minutes and use 1 tablespoon per load of laundry. All ingredients can be found at Strack & Van Til (in Logan Square), Ace Hardware stores, or on SoapsGoneBuy.com.

I’m planning on making a few as Christmas Presents and putting in a jar with a bow!

Dear Holy Covenant Community,

This Sunday we have an exciting opportunity to do something special together. The Green Team is holding an event called Curb Your Ride, Green Your Ride. Our goal is to have as many parishioners as possible travel to and from church by walking, biking, CTAing, or car-pooling. Why? Because it ties into every aspect of Holy Covenant’s mission.

First of all, it honors our commitment to “Seek God.” Contrary to popular belief, ‘being green’ did not come into fashion after Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth was released in 2005. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, commitment to earth stewardship has been around for thousands of years (since Day Six to be exact!) – as evidenced by God’s commandment in Genesis 1:28 to be stewards of all Creation. When we live in sustainable ways, it brings us closer to the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of our world.

Curb Your Ride, Green Your Ride is also a way of “Loving All People.” By reducing our oil consumption, we can help prevent wars over nonrenewable resources. Such conflicts traumatize individuals and families, devastate communities, and pit nation against nation. Furthermore, the consequences of global warming have been shown to disproportionately affect the poorest among us.

Finally, Curb Your Ride, Green Your Ride provides us with a chance to “Change the World” by making it a cleaner place and building a movement for sustainable living. Too often, the green movement focuses on what individuals can do to live more sustainably when in reality it’s our institutions – churches, organizations, businesses, and governments — that need to come together to take collective action on the environment. The success of this event hinges on a community-wide effort. It illustrates what we can accomplish together as the Body of Christ in the world.

So this Sunday when you lace up your sneakers or pick up a carpooler, and leave a bit earlier for Church, take comfort in the fact that you are acting as a member of a broader community that is committed to a more faithful and sustainable earth.

Enjoy your walk, bike, CTA, or carpool to Church!

Peace,
Brit Holmberg
Holy Covenant Green Team Member

The Green Team at HCUMC has spend 2009 reducing our environmental impact.  Here are 12 things we’ve done that you can do at home to green your life.

1. HC’s communion grape juice is now organic!  Pick up organic juice or milk this week at your local grocer’s.
2. HC’s lightbulbs in the sanctuary, gallery and basement have been replaced with CFLs!  Switch out an old lightbulb in your home with a CFL this week.
3. HC supported a local restaurant, Crust, who serves organic food grown from local farmers, when we served Crust’s pizza for our movie night last spring!  This week, buy organic produce from your local farmer’s market or dine out at a restaurant that supports local, organic farmers.  www.crustorganic.com
4. HC’s planted some new Hydrangea shrubs and annual flowers along the west side of the church!  Swing by your local grocery store or Home Depot and buy yourself a house plant this week.
5. HC is now recycling all paper bulletins!  This week make an effort to recycle your paper at your home/office/school.
6. HC has spent the past 6 months canceling unnecessary catalogues, junk mail, and phone books being mailed to the church!  This week, call those companies that send you catalogues/junk mail and ask to be removed from their mailing list.
7. HC brews fair-trade coffee during hospitality!  This week, make sure your morning cup of joe was grown and sold in a responsible manner.  You can get fair-trade coffee from these vendors: Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Caribou Coffee, and Millstone coffee.
8. HC uses power strips in the office, to cut down on phantom energy loss!  This week, plug 2 of your electronics into a power strip to help reduce energy waste.
9. HC sends out our weekly newsletter electronically!  This week, change one of your bills from a paper payment to electronic payment and vow to electronically tithe to HC in 2010 instead of writing checks for your donation.
10. HC now offers recycling of glass, aluminum and plastic during our hospitality hour!  This week, work at recycling these items at your home/office/school.
11. HC used rags when spring cleaning the church this past May!  This week instead of using paper towels to clean, cut up an old t-shirt and use it to dust and wipe down mirrors or glass.
12. HC used eco-friendly cleaning products when spring cleaning the church this past May!  Next time you have to purchase cleaning supplies, buy an eco-friendly brand or make your own with this easy recipe:

Homemade Spray Cleaner Recipe

Mix in a sprayer bottle:

1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water

In the kitchen, use vinegar-and-water spray to clean countertops, lightly soiled range surfaces and backsplash areas.

In the bathroom, use vinegar spray cleaner to clean countertops, floors, and exterior surfaces of the toilet.

Let us know if you’re interested in a Beach Cleanup Day in Chicago, and when you’ll be out-of-town this summer. We’d like to accomodate as many vacationers as possible and schedule the day around people’s plans! We’ll be supplying garbage bags, gloves, and sandwiches/drinks, as well as sand toys for the kids. If you could bring a beach-friendly side dish or dessert, we’ll be all set to conquer the litter and save the earth ! We’ll let you all know the day, as well as a “rain day” in case the weather doesn’t cooperate. Contact Jenn Alan with your summer plans.

The Green Team and the Trustees invite you to help give the church a good spring clean on Saturday, April 25, 9:00a-12noon. We need lots of help as we prepare the garden for summer and organize and deep clean inside – all with environmentally friendly cleaning agents. A variety of tasks will be available. Please bring your own gloves, tools, and rags, as we are not purchasing sponges or paper towels this year to clean with to cut down on waste. As part of our spring cleaning day, we’ll be collecting household items for refugees who have recently resettled in Chicago. Please visit our website for the specifics as to what is needed. Bring your donations to the church Saturday (during the cleaning) or Sunday. Thank you!

On Friday, Feb 6th, the Green Team will be hosting a pizza and movie night at Holy Covenant Church. Pizza and salad will be provided by Crust, Chicago’s first certified organic restaurant (http://www.crustchicago.com/index.html). We will show a few short documentaries from the film “Renewal” and after have some light discussion about the film, our reactions, and our thoughts moving forward. (http://renewalproject.net/) So come on out for a great time! *Organic lemon water will be provided for a beverage. Please feel free to bring along any other drink you may want.* And join us Feb. 1st – both services – as we “kick-off” a congregation-wide program to reduce global warming one person at a time!

We resolve to SEEK GOD.

[resolution]: read the Bible.
Whether you’re certain or skeptical, commit to encountering the mystery of the scriptures. Follow a schedule of short (10-minute), daily readings at home and then meet up for a discussion at church
launches Sunday, January 11, 10:30-11:15a

[resolution]: connect to worship.
If Sunday morning is not your thing, try our new evening worship experience–unplugged, acoustic, peaceful, restoring. End the weekend and begin again.
launches Sunday, February 8, 7:00-8:00p

We resolve to LOVE ALL PEOPLE.

[resolution]: join a small group.
Humans aren’t meant to go it alone. Learning, growing, volunteering, understanding, healing, playing–in our experience, these things happen most meaningfully in community with others.
Next cycle launches first week of February

We resolve to CHANGE THE WORLD.

[resolution]: serve a meal.
Every Tuesday evening, our sanctuary is transformed into a restaurant for friends who are hungry or homeless. Cook, serve, welcome, clean: you can do something.
Continues Tuesdays, 5:30-7:15p

[resolution]: go green.
Solve global warming one person at a time. Calculate your carbon footprint, find ways to reduce it, pledge your reduction at church, save money, prevent pollution.
Forum, movie night, and organic meal
Friday, February 6, 7:00-9:00p
Cool Congregations workshop
Sunday, February 22, 12:30p

Thanks to the hard work of the Green Committee, energy-saving CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs) have been installed in the sanctuary and many other places in the building. More environmentally-sensitive changes coming in the New Year, as we care for Creation and save money, too! For more information, email cassiemeyer@gmail.com.