Church's coffeehouse helps spur fair trade

Fair trade awareness is rising in the public consciousness, but an Elgin church has hit on a new way to get the word out -- a monthly coffeehouse with music, comfortable ambiance and fair trade foods for sale.

Zion Lutheran Church, 330 Griswold St., opens "The Upper Room" coffeehouse from 7 to 9 p.m. the first Saturday of every month.

The music ranges from secular to Christian and back again. Order a cup of coffee or tea, enjoy handfuls of popcorn or sample the chocolate.

You'll feel good knowing that your purchases make a difference for struggling farmers around the world.

"Fair trade products are designed to make sure people who do the growing will get a fair wage," the Rev. Dave Daubert said.

Too often, he said, farmers are underpaid or child labor is used or the environment is abused in growing food.

"I think it's just real important that people think about the products they buy," he said. "How the choices you make when you go to the grocery store, you pick one thing vs. another, and you're actually impacting people's lives."

You can get fair trade products with no markup at the church any time.

A bag of organic coffee may run $8 or $9 at a retail store, but Zion sells it for $6, Daubert said.

It's all part of the mission and the church's 2-year-old commitment to justice and fairness around the world.

Zion also played host recently when parishioners from 12 churches and pastors from two hospitals came together to pray all day for the homeless.

Elgin's annual Day of Prayer for the Homeless is always held Jan. 6, known as Epiphany, the day the church celebrates the introduction of Jesus to the world with the coming of the magi.

"The wise men didn't come to the manger," Daubert said. "They came to the 'house' a year or two after Jesus was born."

Their visit provoked a slaughter of Hebrew babies, the book of Matthew records, and Mary and Joseph were forced to flee with Jesus to Egypt.

"Jesus became homeless as a result of Epiphany," Daubert said. "God understands the plight of the homeless. Jesus has experienced it."

After morning services at their own churches, about 100 people took half-hour prayer shifts at Zion, then gathered for an ecumenical Epiphany service in the evening.

They prayed for the provision of housing and food, for the efforts of the PADS shelters and for the government to make wise decisions that will reduce homelessness.

"I was quite pleased at the end of the day," Daubert said. "It was nice to see a lot of different people from a lot of different congregations cooperating on something that's so important to the community."

Most of the prayer shifts had a good turnout, but only one person showed up for the 4 p.m. slot.

He prayed anyway.

Tasty fundraiser: Ever had a hoagie?

A real hoagie sandwich?

That's what Bruce Batt wants to know.

"The taste is pretty unique," said Batt, a choir member at First Congregational Church of Dundee. "It sells itself."

The church choir will be doing the selling, actually, and figures on stacking about 1,500 of them, like last year.

The singers blend salami, capicola, onions, tomatoes and oregano in sweet harmony with a not-entirely-secret recipe used by the Dundee Scots marching band.

Batt played baritone in the highly acclaimed band from the old Dundee Community High School.

"The way we funded all these activities as kids in high school was selling these sandwiches," he said.

That was in the early 1970s, and the recipe came straight from the East Coast, where the hoagie is to Philadelphia what deep dish pizza is to Chicago.

The only concession: "You can't get peppered ham anymore, so we've had to substitute capicola," Batt said.

To sink your teeth into a real hoagie and support the choir's fundraising efforts, you'll need to place your order ($5 each) by Jan. 27 by calling the church office at (847) 426-2161, ext. 210. Or, visit the Web site at www.dundeefcc.org.

Pickup is after 10:30 a.m. Feb. 2 at the church, 900 S. 8th St., West Dundee.

That'll give you plenty of time to finish your Super Bowl shopping before kickoff Sunday.

Free concert: Christian singer/songwriter Shaun Groves, known for his insightful, spiritual lyrics, will be at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Elgin for a free concert Jan. 26. The concert is part of the church's yearlong 50th anniversary celebration.

A free-will offering will be taken to benefit Groves' ministry. Groves has been nominated for quite a few Dove Awards, the Gospel Music Association's equivalent of the Grammy.

Categories include Song of the Year, New Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. His album, "Invitation to Eavesdrop," also was up for a Dove.

Doors open at 6:15 p.m. for the 7 p.m. concert at Westminster, 2700 W. Highland Ave., just west of Randall Road.

• What's going on at your church or synagogue? Do you have a special program, new staff, big plans? Someone who deserves recognition or something a little out of the ordinary? Contact "In the Spirit" at cmchojnacki@yahoo.com.