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When the coffee flows at Ecclesia Church in Houston, there is much more at stake than enhancing the worship experience for weekend attenders.
Ecclesia was intentionally planted in the heart of the city with an art gallery, recording studio, music venue and coffee shop that sells only fair trade coffee. The coffee shop also sells pastries and other food items made by local vendors.
"There are many people who buy their coffee only from us," says Ian Uriarte, Ecclesia executive pastor. "We see this as an opportunity to be transformational: with simple decisions, we provide benefits to people who are suffering in the world."
Fair trade coffee will also be pouring soon at Mercy Street, a church plant out of Chapelwood
United Methodist Church in Houston.
For more than seven years, Mercy Street has sold Equal Exchange Coffee (EEC)-- |
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imported products certified by government agencies as coming from businesses that pay workers a fair price, promote good working conditions and abide by strict environmental standards. The church will soon be serving fair trade coffee to attenders as well.
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"We are firm believers in the ethic of work and that a person should be paid a fair wage for their work," says Sean Gladding, Mercy Street's co-pastor. "This isn't just about coffee. This is about life.
"We are called to care for people who are exploited. This puts us in the flow of God's Spirit. "
The Presbyterian Church USA is having the same type of impact on an area of the world devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
When the hurricane swept through Central America--killing nearly 11,000 people
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and unleashing $5 billion in damage--economic resources were scarce and "sweat shops" began popping up across the region. Employees desperate for work produced clothing under poor conditions, working long hours for low wages.
In Ciudad Sandina, Managua, Nicaragua, a small group of women within the community joined forces with the Center for Development in Central America to create a worker-owned cooperative. Unlike their counterparts in the sweat shops, these women worked collectively to earn a just wage in good working conditions.
They founded "Sweat-Free T's," a brand name of sorts becoming recognizable throughout the world with the fair trade stamp of approval from the Equal Exchange, TransFair USA and other members of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Fair Trade Certification program.
The Presbyterian Church USA purchases Sweat-Free T's and sells them to member churches to use when printing shirts for youth groups, mission trips, summer camps and other occasions. The T-shirts are not the cheapest available in the marketplace, but they come with a guarantee.
"A tag tells the wearer that the person who made the shirt was paid living wages in her country," says Pat Plant, Hunger Action Enabler for the Presbytery of San Jose (PCUSA) in California. "Partnering with the co-op is part of our initiative called ‘Enough for Everyone,' which is about fair trade and other issues related to economic justice." |
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Members of a women's sewing cooperative in Nicaragua proudly display the fruits of their labor. Photo courtesy of: Enough for Everyone. |
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Such initiatives are changing the landscape of such areas of the world, and the lives of people there. More than six years after its founding, the Sweat-Free T's cooperative employs 90 heads of household in the community and is able to pay workers one-third more than the minimum wage in the sweat shops. In fact, two-thirds of the workers make more than the co-op's established minimum wage.
"The church has the chance and responsibility to be a prophetic voice in the world," says Mercy Street's Sean Gladding. "[Being involved in fair-trade commerce] is something concrete we can do to be a forerunner in the culture rather than trying to catch up." |
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Fair Trade Zone worker-owners are the
proud makers of "sweat-free" clothing. |
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