The Presbyterian Coffee Project

I was a curious kid. I'd ask my parents all sorts of random questions that would float into my head: Why is the sky blue? How do birds fly? Who gets to make up words? Why does coffee smell good and taste bad? The answer my parents provided to that last question never satisfied me... "Well, I don't think it tastes bad honey." I promptly filed it away next to vanilla extract in my brain.

But like many college freshmen, I came to know and love coffee quite well. It was able to provide a few extra hours of "studying" and even if I only thought the taste was tolerable, it got the job done.

Fast forward to today (it's only like, five years), and I've become something of a coffee/tea junkie. I make it every morning, have it at work, and sometimes get carried away with how much I drink (this is known as "Jittery Josh"). I recently watched the documentary "Black Gold" which looks at the coffee industry, and specifically, how little coffee farmers are being paid for their commodity.

Enter the Presbyterian Coffee Project, which works with Equal Exchange to provide an easy, convenient way to get fair trade coffee into churches. Purchasing fairly traded coffee supports farmers all over the globe by allowing them to sell coffee beans at a fair price, giving them the ability to pay their workers fair wages and grow the local infrastructure. Rather than relying on charity and foreign aide, these communities are able to create a robust, sustainable economy. Learn more about fair trade practices here.

The Church is Alive. I'm encouraged by how in touch the PC(USA) seems to be with many of the larger social issues in the world today. The Presbyterian Coffee Project. Who'd have thought? I encourage everyone to make the effort to purchase fair trade coffee (and tea, sugar, chocolate, and nuts) at home and in their Church. It's not too expensive, and you'll know you're supporting a sustainable environment in a place that needs it most.




PS: Vanilla extract is not good by itself.

[Update] There has been some discussion concerning fair-trade coffee through the Presbyterian Coffee Project and through Starbucks.Starbucks has been selling fair-trade coffee products for a few years, and are to be commended for it. Equal Exchange offers great prices through the Presbyterian Coffee Project: Less than six bucks/bag when purchased in a case of six!

a bigger God than we can imagine

"College is a time when many young adults begin to think bigger about who God is and who the people of God are."

Cynthia Rigby spoke these words to 860 College students gathered for the Montreat College Conference. She shared stories of her college experience, where she struggled with many notions of God she had known growing up and assumed as absolute truth. Can't we all relate to struggling with scripture and understandings of God? These moments can be frightening, as they can shake the very fiber of our being as who we know God to be.

Cynthia spoke of Kierkegaard's book "Fear and Trembling," based on the scripture passage that says "work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13)." This is a reminder that there are no guarantees apart from the relationship we have with God. This is where our struggles with God reside, in a relationship that is based on who we know God to be.

Cynthia spoke of two ways of looking at our relationship with God. The first is the one she struggled with once coming to college, a transactional "checklist" model. In this model, every moment of our faith journey is spent trying to appease God and others, as if you are paying money and receiving blessings in response. The other model is submission to what God is doing in the world. This model does not reduce God to a transaction where we keep track of the "good" things we do for God and for others. This model is a recognition of God's sovereignty and LOVE for God's people. This LOVE is what we base our relationship with God in and understand God to work through. This LOVE is represented in the life and work of Jesus Christ.

When we look to interpret what God is doing in the world, we often turn to scripture. We must remember that the essence of scripture is the person of Jesus Christ. God's loving relationship with us is our assurance of faith. We need to remember that we don't have God figured out. God is greater than we can conceive God to be. God is greater than words in the Bible. God is a loving relationship that is understood to us through Christ reflected in scripture.

Some people tend to forget that they actually do NOT have God figured out. They do NOT have a direct line to God.

I speak of a particular person who shall remain nameless (to avoid giving him more recognition - he's mentioned halfway through this clip).

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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This person spoke horrific words about the recent tragedy in Haiti. He spoke from a position that expressed he knew God's motives, motives that were in violation of God's loving relationship with us. Perhaps he should examine what it means to work out his salvation with fear and trembling? Perhaps he should realize that God is MUCH bigger than who he sees God to be.

I'm grateful to see some wonderful responses to his comments:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/01/the_devil_writes_pat_robertson.html?ft=1&f=103943429/r:t

http://donmilleris.com/2010/01/13/1513/

As Donald Miller implies, we should have sympathy and reach out in love even to people with such comments. This is not a chance to attack his position, but rather, a chance to make a more truthful position LOUDER.

Let us continue our prayers and support for the tragedy in Haiti. God's love extends especially to the poor and downtrodden. Let us continue to ask and wonder why this happens, yet never forget that God pulls us into relationship and calls us to reflect this love from our very being.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Today, we celebrate an American hero, pastor, and prophet. MLK stood up in the face of oppression with a fierce conviction that all children of God are equal and loved.

Facebook statuses have been booming with quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.'s ministry. It's exciting to see how so many people continue to be touched by the powerful and prophetic words spoken and written by Dr. King, however, it's unfortunate that such words NEED to be said and heard even now, 30 years later.

What words/quotes/ideas of Dr. King have touched you? What messages still need to be heard in our day and time?

PLEASE SHARE! Post your quotes/thoughts in the comments!

Prayers for Haiti in Word and Deed the World Over

Yesterday a horrible earthquake struck Haiti, leaving perhaps hundreds of thousands dead and far more wounded and homeless. In response, the Church is ALIVE team asks for your prayers - regardless of your religious beliefs - of word and deed. Below are two prayers of word offered up during this troubled time - one from the Presbyterian Church USA and one from Father Jean Jadotte, a Catholic priest of Miami's Notre Dame D'Haiti parish.

Below these prayers of Word are ways that you can pray for Haiti through deed and monetary donation. As mentioned yesterday, the PC(USA) has their own system of donation for the cause, but here is an incomplete made-on-the-fly list of different faith-based service organizations. They hail from a variety of religious traditions, and we have included their individual concerns about the disaster and links to their respective relief efforts.

NOTE: We have NOT individually verified all of these service organizations/relief efforts, so donate with caution. If you feel more comfortable, you can always hit up the Red Cross or UNICEF.

Finally, if you have any prayers of your OWN to share, please do so in the comments section below.

The PC(USA) Prayer for Haiti

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As the eyes of the world turn to Haiti, let us join our hearts in prayer:

God of compassion


Please watch over the people of Haiti,


And weave out of these terrible happenings


wonders of goodness and grace.


Surround those who have been affected by tragedy


With a sense of your present love,


And hold them in faith.


Though they are lost in grief,


May they find you and be comforted;


Guide us as a church 


To find ways of providing assistance


that heals wounds and provides hope


Help us to remember that when one of your children suffer


We all suffer


Through Jesus Christ who was dead, but lives


and rules this world with you.

Amen. 
(Adapted from Book of Common Worship)

-Bruce Reyes-Chow, Gradye Parsons and Linda Valentine

‘Lord Hear Our Prayers' - a Prayer for Catholic Relief Services by Father Jean Jadotte, associate pastor of Miami's Notre Dame D'Haiti parish.

-We are praying for hope despite this situation, that even as we face darkness, people may see a pinpoint of light.

-Praying for families.

-Pray for a greater conscience among everyone not just in Haiti but all over that we must do something [to help].

-Pray for a spirit of thanksgiving for international agencies for their good heart and good faith.

-Pray for relief workers to have a spirit of patience and perseverance.

-For those who at this time are in search of meaning in their lives and peace.

An Incomplete List (as much as I could find in an hour) of Faith-Based Assistance/Donation Services:

The United Methodist Church is expressing concerns over missing missionaries, and is allowing for relief donations through the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is allowing for donations through the ELCA International Disaster Response.

Catholic Relief Services has their own system of donation.

The Episcopal Church, which suffered heavy damage to their Diocese, allows for donations through Episcopal Relief and Development.


The Unitarian Universalist Association is joining forces with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee to set up their own donations site.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints has their own system of donation for Haiti.

Tzu Chi Foundation (a large service organization of the Chinese Buddhist tradition) doesn’t have an online donation page as of yet, but has set up a relief center that will be updated in the future.

Haiti Response

In response to the catastrophic earthquake that devastated Haiti and especially Haiti’s densely populated capital Port-au-Prince yesterday, we wanted to make a special post to remind everyone that The Church is ALIVE in humanitarian aid in many different forms.

You can donate money on the Presbyterian Disaster Relief website here.

If you are not able to give a monetary donation, or in addition to monetary assistance, Haiti is in great need of all of our prayers and I know the Church is Alive and capable of keeping Haiti in our constant thoughts and prayers. There is no shortage of news sites that can keep you up-to-date on Haiti’s situation. The Lede Blog on NYT.com is being continuously updated and includes several additional sites where you can obtain information.

L'Union Fait La Force!

Montreat College Conference: Interfaith Dialogue

Eboo Patel took the stage like so many before him have done. He spoke words of reconciliation, peace, justice, and interfaith dialogue. Eboo Patel is Muslim, and if there has been another time in Montreat’s history that a Muslim person took the stage for keynote, I am not aware of such time.

Eboo stated that over the next thirty years interfaith dialogue will be one of the most important issues facing this country and the world. The morning after his keynote, the above picture was on the front page of the New York Times. Quite prophetic.

His Keynote address focused greatly on Martin Luther King Jr.’s work as a result of studying Gandhi. Specifically he told Kings story of hearing about an Indian man, and his philosophy of satyagraha “truth force”, a philosophy of nonviolent protest. King heard this and knew he believed in these same ideals: love, justice, peace for all people. How can we as people of faith - who hold the same ideals - learn from one another? Eboo went on to talk about how King became the leader of the Civil Right’s movement, and how interfaith dialogue played directly into the movement.

If we are to be people of faith that hold fast to justice, peace, and love, we have to learn how to be people who can respect others religions. We have to be a people who intentionally learn about other faiths, and that means more than just which book particular faiths consider holy. We have to know what those books say. It struck a deep chord in me as I sat in the pew that morning, knowing that Eboo had studied Christianity and the Bible. He was speaking our "language". He was able to look to our scriptures and then reflect on the the Qur’an and see how our faiths are similar. If we are to be a people who seek to be faithful, “to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God”, we are called to love all people, and to seek how to work in partnership. Our doctrines may be different, our understanding of who the Christ to be may be different, but imagine what we could do together.

In his closing, Eboo posed the question: “What if as people of faith, Christians, Muslims, Buddhist, Jainist, Jews, made it a point to end malaria? We know that in order for people not to contract Malaria they need a mosquito net over their bed at night. If they do contract it, they need a shot. What if as a people of faith we made it our point to end the injustices of this world, instead of fighting against one another? What if we did that?”

His words resonated within me, inspired me, and frankly led me to a place that I felt I could take on the world. With tears in her eyes, the person next to me in the pew embraced me after the eruption of applause subsided. We could speak few words, but in the embrace we knew no words were needed. We wanted to take on the world.

I leave you with this quote, “We need to get busy building the world we want to live in.” - Eboo Patel

Thoughts?

Check below for a little bit about Eboo Patel.

Grace and Peace- Matthew Ruffner

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About Dr. Eboo Patel (the SUBJECT of this post, not the author): Named by US News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders of 2009, Eboo Patel is the founder and Executive Director of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), a Chicago-based institution building the global interfaith youth movement. Author of the award-winning book Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation, Eboo is also a regular contributor to the Washington Post, National Public Radio and CNN. He is a member of President Obama’s Advisory Council of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship.

Montreat College Conference: 'God Without Borders'

Part of the Church is Alive team is in Montreat for the 2010 College Conference. We will be bringing you articles from all the happenings of the conference. Be sure to check back this week for the articles and maybe even a bit of video! Also, if you attended the conference we would love to hear from you!

We hope you all had a great Christmas season!

Grace and Peace!