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Peacemaking & Social Justice
 

Growing Greener Together:
Composting & Electronics Recycling Fest
Saturday and Sunday, August 30-31
Stewardship in Action: Caring for God's Creation

Introduction: A Call to Stewardship

As caretakers of God’s creation, we are invited to nurture the earth, preserve its resources, and pass along a legacy of stewardship to future generations. In response to this calling, St. Philip’s Earth Care Team is excited to announce a special event focused on two essential ways we can live out this mission: learning about composting and offering a safe, responsible opportunity to recycle personal electronic items.

Event Overview: When and Where

Mark your calendars! On Saturday, August 30, from 9 am to 12 noon, and Sunday, August 31, from 9 to 10:30 am, you can drop off your electronics for recycling at the porte-cochére by the St. Philip sanctuary. Then on Sunday, August 31, after worship, come to a presentation on composting. All are welcome!

Composting: Turning Waste into Life

What Is Composting?

Composting is a simple, natural process where microorganisms break down organic materials such as fruit peels, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, yard waste, and even eggshells, and transform them into nutrient-rich soil. This “black gold” not only enriches gardens but also diverts waste from landfills, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting the health of God’s earth.

Why Compost?

  • Reduce landfill waste: Organic material makes up more than 30% of what we throw away. Instead of sending these resources to a landfill, composting gives them new life.
  • Enrich soil: Compost improves soil structure, helps soil retain moisture, and adds essential nutrients for healthy plants.
  • Mitigate climate change: By diverting organic matter from landfills, composting reduces the production of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
  • Foster community: Composting can bring neighbors together, supporting community gardens and beautifying shared spaces.

Details

Join Leo Brito from Zero Waste and St. Philip’s own Judith Hiott for an informational session that will cover:

  • The science behind composting: what can and can’t go in your pile.
  • Best practices for home compost bins.
  • Troubleshooting tips: how to address pesky smells, pests, or slow decomposition.
  • Creative composting: the possibility of composting at St. Philip, community drop-off, and more!

Electronics Recycling: Declutter Responsibly

Why Recycle Electronics?

Many of us have old cell phones, laptops, tablets, and other electronic devices tucked away in drawers or closets. These items, when discarded improperly, can leak harmful substances into the environment, polluting groundwater, harming wildlife, and creating unnecessary waste. Recycling electronics ensures valuable materials are recovered and reused, and dangerous components are handled safely.

What Can Be Recycled?

Our event will accept most personal electronic items. Here is the full list of accepted items:

  • Desktop computers, CPUs
  • Monitors
  • Laptops (including Chromebooks)
  • Cell phones, smartphones and telephones
  • Tablets and e-readers
  • Chargers, power cords, and mixed cables
  • Headphones
  • Modems, routers, hubs
  • Digital cameras
  • Servers
  • UPS
  • Power Distribution Units
  • Battery Back-ups
  • Wireless transmitters
  • Mice and keyboards
  • Printers, scanners, copiers, fax machines
  • Receipt printers
  • VCR, CD, DVD players
  • Ipods, MP3 players
  • Stereos and speakers
  • Flat screen TVs
  • Cable boxes that are not the property of a cable TV provider
  • Cat5 Cable
  • Hard drives
  • Circuit boards/cards
  • Shredders
  • Walkie Talkies
  • Batteries (alkaline and lithium)
  • Toner and ink cartridges

We are working with vendors who guarantee data security/destruction. Our recycling partner is the City of Houston Solid Waste Management Department. St. Philip will provide boxes in the Gathering Area August 24 and 31 for small lightweight items, and Earth Care Team members will be available to answer questions about the recycling process.

What Happens to Recycled Electronics?

Earth Care Team members will deliver collected electronics to a City of Houston recycling center, where they’ll be dismantled and sorted. Glass, metals, plastics, and precious elements such as copper and gold are extracted and repurposed. Hazardous materials, such as batteries and mercury, are safely contained and disposed of following strict environmental guidelines.

Faith, Creation, and Community: Why This Matters

The Bible reminds us, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1). As Christians, our environmental actions are not just practical, they are spiritual. Caring for the environment is a tangible way to reflect God’s love for all creation, honor our neighbors, and safeguard the beauty and bounty that sustains us.

Our event aims to:

  • Raise awareness about sustainable living.
  • Provide practical steps for reducing waste.
  • Offer fellowship through shared action.
  • Invite all ages to take part and learn together.

How to Participate

  • Bring your curiosity for the composting session.
  • Gather old electronics you no longer need and drop them off at the porte-cochére or e-cycling collection boxes.
  • Share a favorite composting tip or recycling story at the event.

Refreshments and light snacks will be available.

Let’s Grow Greener, Together!

This event is not just about education or decluttering; it’s about coming together as a faith community to make a positive impact. Whether you’re curious about composting, want to responsibly recycle old devices, or simply want to connect with others who care about the environment, we hope you will join us.

Let us heed the call to stewardship, celebrating the abundance of this earth and doing our part to protect it.

See you August 30–31 for learning, recycling, and nurturing God’s good earth, side by side!

Peacemaking & Social Justice Committee Open House
 Sunday, September 7 | Immediately after worship | Rm 205

You will have the opportunity to visit with members of the Peacemaking and Social Justice committee to learn more about our ministries and how we are striving to create justice. No need to RSVP, just show up.

If you have questions, please contact Denise Wilborn (dwilborn55@gmail.com), committee chair.

email ssj10223@gmail.com
  St. Philip bicyclists join the Rev. Omar Rouchon for the blessing of our new bike rack, as part of Green Celebration
Day activities.
       
       
     
       
Our new solar system was commissioned on July 9, 2020, just in time for some very hot, sunny days. The system, during its first eight days, generated 1,890 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity. The average daily solar production was 55% higher than the expected daily production over the course of a year.
       
       
As an Earth Care Congregation, St. Philip will continue to be involved in making our buildings and operations, worship services, education, and outreach respectful of the glory of God’s creation.
       
 
    Peacemaking and Social Justice alcove
The new Peacemaking and Social Justice alcove is a visible reminder to St. Philip, and a sign to those who visit us, of our longstanding commitment to God’s shalom and to the care of God’s good earth entrusted to us. The next time you leave the Gathering Area, make a point of heading down the carpeted hallway with the benches along the way and stopping for a moment at the small alcove on your right at the end. There you will see a special display of documents demonstrating St. Philip’s commitments to peacemaking and earth care. 		   
       
We live out our inclusivity by affiliating with two Presbyterian organizations:
    Covenant Network of Presbyterians The mission of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians is to strengthen the church of Jesus Christ, with the help of God's grace. Covenant Network is called to achieve this goal by working for the unity of the church, furthering the inclusion of LGBTQ persons, seeking understanding and reconciliation, and joining with others seeking a still more just and inclusive church.    
  For more information, visit > covnetpres.org.    
      More Light Presbyterians St. Philip is a “More Light” Presbyterian church. More Light Presbyterians is working toward the full participation of LGBTQIA+ people in the life, ministry, and witness of the Presbyterian Church (USA) – and in society. For more information, visit    
  For more information, visit > mlp.org    
  The Commitment to Peacemaking helps us engage individually and collectively
in peacemaking ministries. Since the introduction of the Commitment, in 1983, more than 4,300 congregations and other groups have affirmed the Commitment and used it to shape faithful and creative ministries of peace and justice. St. Philip has affirmed the Commitment to Peacemaking in 1984, 1992, and 2003. You can see the framed, signed Commitments on the wall at the Welcome Center (between the sanctuary and the gathering area). 		   
  The text is also available by visiting > PCUSA.org    
  Information about the PC(USA) Peacemaking Program and its related efforts
is available at > PresbyterianMission.org		  
    Information about the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship is available at > PresbyPeaceFellowship.org
Its areas of concern include Israel/Palestine, the Colombia accompaniment program, gun violence prevention, and Fossil Free PC(USA). 		   
    For faithful alternatives to divestment from fossil fuel, visit our > Presbytery page  
    The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness is the public policy information and advocacy office of the General Assembly of the PCUSA).  
    For more information, visit > PresbyterianMission.org  
We Choose Welcome
     
     
   
     
 
     
     
     
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Community Garden
       
      The PC(USA) has been involved in Fair Trade since 2001 | all available and on sale at St. Philip    

Each year Equal Exchange gives a portion of proceeds from Presbyterian purchases of coffee, tea and other products to the Presbyterian Small Farmer Fund. Equal Exchange hot cocoa mixes and chocolate bars are available through the Presbyterian Coffee Project. The cacao in Equal Exchange chocolate products comes from CONACADO in the Dominican Republic, COCABO in Panama, CACVRA in Peru, and Fortaleza del Valle co-operative in Ecuador.

Eco-Palms – Sustainably harvested palm branches that pay harvesters fairly are available for your congregation’s use on Palm Sunday. While not currently a Fair Trade certified product, Eco-Palms as an ecumenical program is structured similarly to Fair Trade and operates using Fair Trade principles. Eco-Palms come from cooperatives and harvesting communities in Guatemala and Mexico.

website: http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/fair-trade/
 
  Source: PresbyterianMission.org  
       
     

The Presbyterian Coffee Project offers a special link between congregations and communities around the world. Churches reach out to neighbors overseas not only with the prayers and offerings we give, but with the goods and products we purchase. A warm cup of coffee (or tea) in our hands is perhaps the most tangible daily connection we have with farmers around the world. It represents warmth, hospitality, fellowship, hard work and life's pleasures both fine and simple. Buying fair trade through the Presbyterian Coffee Project ensures that more of the money we spend on coffee reaches the hardworking farmers who actually grow it. Support small-scale farming cooperatives through the Small Farmer Fund, administered by the Presbyterian Hunger Program.

    
  We have been notified that our congregation
is in the top 5% of purchasers from Equal Exchange.
Equal Exchange's Interfaith Program is a vibrant network of thousands of faith communities, including our Presbyterian Coffee project, working to make a difference, together. Through the Interfaith Program, we partner with faith-based relief, development and human rights organizations and work with communities of faith as they learn about and promote Fair Trade. People of faith are living out their values through their consumer choices, and farming communities are providing for their families, greening our planet and building a better future. 		 
     
  All coffee served at St. Philip for fellowship, meetings & in our church office comes from
Equal Exchange.		      

Sold during Sunday School & after 11am worship.
available: Guatemalan Honey! Coffee, teas, olives oil, almonds and chocolate are also available for purchase.

  
 
   
    Our congregation's Coffee Team organizes several quarterly sales in the Gathering Area: Valentines, Easter/Earth Day, Summer Coffee, September & The Alternative Market.  
  Source: PresbyterianMission.org    
 
       
Potong Tea is now for sale   read about > Small Farmers. Big Change
     
       
     

About the Potong Tea Garden

 

Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains in Northern India, a small group of tea farmers are quietly reinventing the tea industry and reviving the land. The Potong Tea Garden is a collectively run organization of tea farmers; something nearly unheard of in the tea industry which has been dominated by large plantations since the British colonized India in the 1850’s. Now, more than a century and a half later tea bushes planted during that era are approaching the end of their productivity and Potong farmers are in the process of replacing these colonial era tea bushes and reviving fallow land.

In 2011, Equal Exchange partnered with some of their food co-op partners to raise funds in support of Potong’s ongoing replanting efforts. Through this collaboration, they were able to raise $45,000 and Potong has used the funds to plant 49,000 new tea bushes covering nearly 15 hectares of land. It hasn’t been an easy process. Potong experienced 30 percent less rainfall in 2014 compared to previous years and climate change has drastically affected growing conditions; leading to losses of nearly 5 metric tons in the 2014 harvests. Despite these environmental challenges, Potong’s vision for the tea garden is well underway.

  
   
 

Potong’s commitment to biodiversity, organic farming, and stewardship of the land is at the heart of their approach to growing tea. In a recent progress report they noted that as a result of these efforts, they’ve witnessed an increase in the population of birds and other wild life in the area. “It gives profound pleasure and satisfaction to observe nature in its revival…the population of deer, rabbits, wild boar, pangolin, and porcupine are on the rise which has started attracting leopards.” In a world where agriculture and wildlife are increasingly at odds, it is inspiring to see such respect and care for the land and the local ecosystem.  

Equal Exchange is proud to partner with Potong Tea Garden in their efforts to produce sustainable, high quality tea, and to make the tea garden their own. Try Potong’s delicious tea in our English Breakfast, Black Tea, Green Tea, and Jasmine Green Tea. Read more about the Potong Tea Garden here.

  
     
 

 

Our “Equal Exchange-Presbyterian Coffee Project” is an aspect of our call to peacemaking and working for social justice as Christians. We strive to live a life integrating the gospel teachings into the actions and decisions of our lives.

As a congregation of believers we have made the conscious decision to support Equal Exchange Fair Trade through our purchases as a congregation and as individuals.

     

We advocate for fairer trade as a model for a global economy rooted in people-to-people connections, justice and sustainability. A system of exchange that promotes economic justice, reduces global poverty, and honors and protects the environment.

 
         
  Art Source: www.equalexchange.coop    
     
   

 

  

Chocolate is big business.
But sadly, it is often an unjust business.
  Most mainstream chocolate comes from cacao plantations in West Africa, where forced child labor has been documented. When you choose Equal Exchange chocolates, sourced fairly and directly from small-scale farmer
co-ops, you can make a positive difference.
 
  > Learn more
Art Source: www.equalexchange.coop/chocolate-infographic
      SPECIAL OFFERINGS | Peacemaking  

One heart at a time, we can change cultures of violence into communities of peace with 2013’s Peacemaking Offering. The General Assembly’s adoption of Peacemaking: The Believers’ Calling, which called for an emphasis on peacemaking, paved the way for this offering, which seeks to promote the Peace of Christ across the PC(USA). Individual congregations are encouraged to utilize a large portion of this offering to sustain their local peacemaking ministries. website: www.presbyterianmission.org/peacemakingoffering
 
Presbyterian Church (USA)
 
   

St. Philip is a member of the Presbyterian Church - USA
4807 San Felipe Street, Houston, TX 77056 - Ph. (713) 622-4807