Eco-Palms for Episcopalians

With Palm Sunday only four weeks away, Eco-Palms are in the news again. Episcopal News Service published a piece Wave sacramental eco-palms this Palm Sunday by Michael Schut, the environmental and economic affairs officer for the Episcopal Church.

The February 20 Green Sprouts post about Eco-Palms talked about the benefits of using Eco-Palms for Palm Sunday instead of palms harvested in other ways. The way they are harvested is not only environmentally sustainable, but it results in better pay for the workers. And as that post reported, we found last year at St. Stephen’s that these palms enhanced our liturgy.

In today’s ENS piece , Michael Schut writes:

And know that there are real people, real forests behind those fronds. Know that there are real communities benefiting from your purchase of Eco-Palms. Kattie Sumerfeld works for Lutheran World Relief and recently visited some of those communities. She wrote when she returned of Eliasin Visente Gonzales who told her that "Eco-Palms allow him to buy shoes and clothes for his seven children;" and she described hearing from the town council that "their kids actually stay in the communities instead of migrating to the U.S. for work."

Our choice of palms for Palm Sunday is one more place where the best choice for the environment is also the best choice for economic justice and stability for communities.

Eco-Palms

With Palm Sunday two months away, reminders to order palms for the Palm Sunday liturgy are starting to arrive at parish offices.

Last year St. Stephen’s ordered palms through the Eco-Palms project through The University of Minnesota Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management (CINRAM). These branches of the chamaedorea palm were lovely, and worked very well for arrangements in vases and for us to wave in procession. New to the Eco-Palms website this year is a link to The Episcopal Church as one of its partners.

The primary reason to consider ordering eco-palms is that the way they are harvested, emphasizing quality of the branches over the quantity harvested, is environmentally sustainable and also results in better pay for the workers. Consideration of the effects of our purchase of palms on both the people who harvest them and on God’s creation is important given that we use them to hail Jesus as our King.

In last year’s post about eco-palms, it was noted that the rubrics for Palm Sunday in the Book of Common Prayer (p. 270) talk about distributing “branches of palm or of other trees or shrubs” to people to be carried in the procession. In his Commentary on the American Prayer Book, Marion Hatchett wrote (p. 225) that these rubrics encourage the use of branches rather than fronds or small crosses “which can hardly be waved and certainly fail to signify a parade”. Our parish found that the change palms last year from a thin reedlike frond to full chamaedorea palms helped to change the tone of the procession. The more celebratory tone of the procession called attention to the contrast between the festive procession and the reading of the Passion Gospel later on in the service, creating a more profound liturgical experience.

I hear that there was enough of a touch of springlike weather in Nebraska last week to be anticipating Lent. I’ve been away on the Hawaiian islands of Kaua’i and Maui, reminded once again of the goodness and richness of God’s creation – seabirds, whales, flowers, and an incredible variety of palms. And back home, the Sandhill cranes, our own striking sign of the goodness and richness of creation, are beginning to arrive back in the Platte River valley. As we rejoice in the early promises of spring and anticipate the holy season of Lent, being good stewards of creation can deepen our connection with God.

Rich in Soul

Annual Council ended today, and from where I sat it looked like an energizing and renewing event for most of us in attendance. The focus on mission “From every family, language, people and nation” was centered on the establishment of a global companion relationship among our diocese and the Dioceses of the Dominican Republic and of Twic East in Southern Sudan.  The theme of mission showed up throughout our meeting, though.

At the Council Eucharist, the processional hymn was “God of grace and God of glory” (Hymn 594). The words “shame our wanton, selfish gladness, rich in things and poor in soul” summarize a large part of the importance of connecting our spiritual lives with a concern for the environment. Habits of over-consumption that harm our planet also harm our souls. “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal” is a good prayer for us as we consider the church’s role in addressing the environmental challenges of our time.

Thank you to everyone who spoke with me about environmental stewardship during Annual Council! It was exciting to hear about what is happening in some of our parishes and to find others who are enthusiastic about taking care of the Earth. Because of the timing of the environmental stewardship presentation, some folks who were interested in certain resources weren’t able to pick them up at the display before leaving for home, so here are some links:

The brochure about eco-palms is available here from the Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management at the University of Minnesota.

Click here for information about the GreenFaith Certification Program for congregations. Click on this link to Episcopal Life Online for more information about grants available to Episcopal parishes who want to apply for the program. New Green Opportunity for Parishes was an earlier post on this blog about the program.


Someone asked for a list of the books on display; please send me a message if you want that list! I'm also happy to send the page of suggested first steps toward a greener parish to anyone who wants a copy.


And for those who liked the story about the treasures we discovered during our October 10 clean-up, the post about that, Grace, is here. 

"Save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore...Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, serving thee whom we adore."

Eco-Palms

Lent begins in ten days. ‘Lent’ comes from an Old English word for spring, for the lengthening of days, and despite the ongoing snow and ice and cold temperatures in Nebraska, there are a few reminders that spring is on the way – the lengthening days, the appearance of flocks of geese, and the things we do in churches to prepare for observing Lent.

On the list of things to do now to prepare for Lent is ordering palms for the Palm Sunday liturgy. This year, parishes may want to do something different and order eco-palms. These palm branches are sustainably harvested. Instead of paying workers according to the quantity of palm branches brought in from the rainforest, the pay is for the quality of the branches. This encourages careful harvesting of only the most usable branches, with much less waste from branches that are harvested and then never shipped because of their poor quality. This way of harvesting and paying workers has increased the income for the workers, paying them more fairly for the work they do.

The eco-palms project  originates with The University of Minnesota Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management (CINRAM). Their website provides links to pages from the Presbyterian Church (USA) , Lutheran World Relief, and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR); it also has a page of links to news articles about how and why various churches have used eco-palms, and ordering .

The "eco-palms" are branches of the chamaedorea palm, suitable for use in vases or as branches to wave in the Palm Sunday procession. These are not the thin fronds that many parishes order to bend into crosses. The rubrics for Palm Sunday in the Book of Common Prayer (p. 270) talk about distributing “branches of palm or of other trees or shrubs” to people to be carried in the procession. In his Commentary on the American Prayer Book, Marion Hatchett noted (p. 225) that these rubrics encourage the use of branches rather than fronds or small crosses “which can hardly be waved and certainly fail to signify a parade”. However, if the palm crosses are a meaningful parish tradition, a parish could order the fronds from another supplier and eco-palms for use on the altar and by at least some of the people in the procession.

On Palm Sunday, we greet Jesus as our King. Prayerful consideration of how our purchase of palms for this celebration affects both the people who harvest the palms and God’s creation seems important if Jesus is truly our King.