Genesis Group

Founded in January 2007, the Genesis Group is a faith-based committee focused on Christian living and environmental stewardship at St. John's.

A sampling of some of our accomplishments:

-During Lent (2007), the GG organized a fair-trade coffee tasting and have since switched the congregation to fair trade coffee. We offer Bishop's Blend, a fair trade project of the Episcopal Church.
-We stopped using paper coffee cups at social functions and switched to ceramic mugs (which were brought from home by parishioners). We ask that everyone washes their own mug during coffee hour.
-We use cloth napkins- a Genesis Group member volunteered to wash them.
-On Palm Sunday, St. John's uses Eco-Palms. The palms come from communities in Mexico and Guatemala where workers are paid fairly and engage in sustainable harvesting in order to protect the local ecosystem.
-There are two rain barrels on the church grounds.
-The GG organized two hazardous waste collections for the neighborhood.
-We've hosted two Fair Trade Fairs- in collaboration with the Ten Thousand Villages store in Evanston.
-The church uses green cleaning products and we've installed compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs.
-Last fall, the Genesis Group organized an Earth Festival! It showcased a range of vendors, live music, information on “green” living, fair trade coffee and an array of food.
-We've partnered with a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm south of Chicago.
-This past February, we hosted a Winters Farmers Market.

If sustainability and/or social justice initiatives are of interest to you, please leave a comment on this post or chat with me, Leanne Gehrig, during coffee hour. Everyone is welcome at our meetings.