St. John's Earth Festival

At the end of September, the Genesis Group hosted an Earth Festival in the garden. {Thank you Tim & Holt for the poster design.}

It was a casual gathering on a cool and cloudy day. Luckily, there was no area-wide flooding like last year's festival- ha! Our goal was to make green products available to our neighbors, educate people on environmental issues, and have a good time.

Our CSA farmer graciously donated the tasty fruits and vegetables & colorful gladiolus. {Thank you Vicki} A neighborhood cat joined in on the festivities and at one point, decided the CSA box looked cozy.

Part of the funds raised at the Earth Festival will go to buying organic vegetable shares for our local CEDA/WIC office, which provides assistance for needy families and nutritional education.


Susan (a St. John's parishioner) set up an informative table showcasing her EarthBox. It seemed to be a nice tie-in to St. John's compost bin and rain barrel (not pictured). Thank you, Sarah, for coordinating the live folk music. It was a nice group gathered beneath the towering cottonwood tree.


The festival food was delicious; we had some wonderful vendors. First Slice pies and salads...

Homemade tamales...
Gelato & apple cider sorbet from Black Dog Gelato...
Even "Photographer Bob" sampled some gelato- as did the soccer boys.

The Genesis Group sold beverages and other "green" items at the welcome table. The apple cider from Seedling and hot, Bishops Blend coffee seemed to be hit! {Thanks to everyone that helped coordinate the drinks- buying, selling and biodegradable cups purchase}

The eco-bags in the trees are supposed to be "green" festival balloons/ hanging lanterns.

St. John's Episcopal Church is a member congregation with the organization Faith In Place. We greatly appreciated their participation!


The Genesis Group was fortunate enough to gather several talented vendors. My apologies for not getting photographs of everyone. Thank you for participating in our Earth Festival!

Revamped & upcycled housewares from Revamp Boutique...

Eco-friendly candle products from Bright Endeavors...

Patrick's inventive artwork (St. John's parishioner)...

Leslye's handmade jewelry (St. John's parishioner). All proceeds went to our church partnership in SE Mexico...

In addition to the food, music and products for sale, we also held a bike drive in partnership with the Working Bikes Cooperative.


Thank you to those that helped with planning, set-up, clean-up, advertising, etc. and for supporting St. John's. And I'd like to extend an extra special THANK YOU!! to the Genesis Group- some of whom are pictured below.

Sustainability Task Force

I am a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago's Sustainability Task Force. Our mission is to grow the church, form the faithful and change the world by integrating sustainable practices throughout the diocese.

We will be presenting a sustainability initiative at Diocesan Convention in November. **Updates to come in the future months...

Earth Festival

Please bring used bikes to donate to Working Bikes Cooperative, who will refurbish and send them to someone in need.

A visit to Genesis Growers Farm

{Group from St. John's}

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to visit Genesis Growers for a farm party. I would estimate that 60+ people attended. Farmer Vicki kindly gave a tour around the grounds and then we gathered for a bountiful potluck. Sorry, no pictures of the amazing food... I was too busy eating. It was a great afternoon!
****
A little background: The Genesis Group has partnered with Genesis Growers, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm south of Chicago. St. John's is a three season drop-off site (April-December). The weekly drop-offs include local, farm fresh vegetable and fruit shares, eggs shares and on occasion, chicken shares. If you'd like more information on our CSA partnership, please leave a comment.
****
Psalm 24:1 (NIV)
1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

Environmental Intersections Panel

Earlier this month, I spoke at Northwestern University at their Environmental Intersections Panel. SEED {Students for Ecological and Environmental Development} organized the program to examine the connection between the environment and another topic. This year, the series looked at the relationship of religion to the environment. I spoke specifically about the Genesis Group at St. John's.

The interfaith panel included: an Episcopalian, a Unitarian reverend*, a Catholic priest, a representative from the Jewish Reconstructionist Center and a member of the Jainist Society of Chicago.

*Reverend Clare Butterfield is the Executive Director of Faith In Place. St. John's is a partner congregation with FIP.

Some of the topics/ themes of the panel included: What does your faith’s scriptures/belief system say about humanity’s relationship to the environment? What place are humans given in the world? What is the connection between religion and social justice (clean water/land/healthy food rights) and the environment? What makes a religious approach to environmental concerns unique?

It was an interesting discussion.

Farm Tour

The Genesis Group has partnered with a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm south of Chicago. St. John's is a three season drop-off site (April-December). Farmer Vicki will be hosting a farm tour at Genesis Growers Farm on Sunday, June 28th from 1:00-5:00pm.

Genesis Growers Farm is located in St. Anne, IL (near Kankakee). The tour is open to everyone. Please bring a dish to share- Farmer Vicki will supply the drinks. Please contact Leanne if you think you might be attending; we'd like to organize a carpool. Hope to see you there!

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.