VIPL Service Learning Project - Interfaith Quotes

Coffee Talk

Does your congregation have a coffee hour?

If so, it would be a great time to facilitate a discussion about how the congregation views its role about how best to care for creation and each other.

Here are some questions for you to consider as a congregation:

1. What kinds of cups do we currently use?
2. Where does our coffee come from?
3. How does this reflect our priorities as a religious congregation?

You would be surprised at how this sort of discussion can help you clarify both your goals as individuals and a group. It will help bring out the real motivation behind the actions you take. Clearly, if your congregation has a coffee hour, you face several choices, not just about whether to use Styrofoam, paper, or washable coffee cups, but also about whether or not to buy Fair Trade Coffee. These two decisions, although relatively simple, have implications on both your environmental impact as a group and on relations both within your congregation and in the larger global community.

Here are some thoughts brought up in discussions between a group of Middlebury College environmental studies students and a couple congregants at the Jericho Congregational Church.

Kelly King brought up how she washed the dishes that they used for coffee hour at their church because she felt compelled to do it by faith for the sake of the environment and other people.

Nancy Carey pointed out that by choosing to use paper plates instead of washing dishes they could still be responsible and try to act in accordance with God’s will but just have different priorities, like saving water and time.

Disclaimer:
The point of this handout is not to tell you what to do but rather to get your congregation to dialogue amongst themselves about their own priorities and how the actions that they take have an effect on other people and the world. At times, it is really important to stop and reflect on what you are doing and how you can make it better.

Questions or Comments? Contact us!