CELEBRATE FAIR TRADE 2016
After 3 years of campaigning and hard work, the Church in Wales was declared a Fair Trade Province by Fair Trade Wales in the summer of 2015.
But whilst the vast majority of Church in Wales churches have pledged themselves to do all that they can to support, promote and shop Fair Trade, the struggle goes on for fair pay, decent working conditions, and proper facilities – like schools, clinics, roads and toilets – for all the communities across the world that provide our favourite treats and staples like tea, coffee, and chocolate.
That’s why we’re encouraging all churches – whether you’ve already signed up to Fair Trade, or not quite got round to it yet – to celebrate Fair Trade with Fair Trade Sunday. This year’s Fair Trade Fortnight runs from February 29 to March 13, so we suggest using February 28 as Fair Trade Sunday – but feel free to choose another Sunday if that suits you better. Mothering Sunday, for example (March 5) would be a good opportunity to remember the many women who earn their living as Fair Trade producers. And the Fairtrade Foundation’s campaign this year - ‘Sit down for breakfast, stand up for farmers’ – might lend itself to that traditional Mother’s Day treat of making breakfast for Mum!
At the same time, Traidcraft are holding The Big Brew – with campaign materials, producer stories, and special offers on tea and coffee – so there’s no shortage of ideas to help you celebrate Fair Trade this Spring.
And if you haven’t signed up yet as a Fair Trade Church, that’s the best way of all to celebrate! Contact to find out how.
CAMPAIGNS AND RESOURCES
Sit Down to Breakfast, Stand Up for Farmers: find out more about the Fairtrade Foundation’s campaign at:
Traidcraft Big Brew:
PRAYER AND WORSHIP
Christian Aid, Traidcraft and other Christian development agencies provide ideas for prayers, reflection and worship on a range of themes which are appropriate to Fair Trade – including trade and tax justice, the environment, and the position of women.
These are some samples – follow the links for more.
Kyrie (based on Ps 63) (also available in Welsh)
Creator God, you have given us knowledge and resources that your people may flourish throughout the earth: yet we spend our money on things that do not satisfy, that bring harm, and damage the earth.
Lord, have mercy.
Loving Lord, we have an abundance of rich food and drink: yet many of your children go hungry, and live in dry and thirsty lands where there is no water.
Christ, have mercy.
Source of Life, we long to reflect your loving-kindness and rest in your love: yet we exhaust our compassion when we rely on our own strength, and fail to remember that you are our steadfast helper.
Lord, have mercy.
Christian Aid's prayer for fair trade
As I enter the street market
Wheel my trolley at the superstore
Leaf through a catalogue, or log on to the internet:
Be with me and help me
When I spend money
Be with me and help me
To see the market place as you see it
As wide as the world you love so much.
Be with us and help us
To share the markets we share
For all people.
As we live under your steady gaze,
So we can change, by your gracious love.
Amen
Loving God, you make us in your image.
Forgive us when we fail to see your image in each other,
when we give in to greed and indifference
when we do not question the systems that are life-denying.
As we are made in your image,
let us live in your image
and be Christ-like
in service, endurance and love.
Amen
Creator God,
You loved the world into life.
Forgive us when our dreams of the future
are shaped by anything other than glimpses of a kingdom
of justice, peace and an end to poverty.
Incarnate God,
you taught us to speak out for what is right.
Make us content with nothing less than a world
that is transformed into the shape of love,
where poverty shall be no more.
Breath of God,
let there be abundant life.
Inspire us with the vision of poverty over,
and give us the faith, courage and will to make it happen.
Christ Jesus, we long for justice.
We long for the prosperity we deserve, the freedom we were meant to have.
We long for victory over our adversaries, for our cause to be upheld.
We long for release from the people and demands that hold us back.
We long for you to reign as King in our world.
Christ Jesus, forgive us when we misunderstand your justice.
We long for your compassion and mercy.
We long for your grace and peace.
We long to surrender ourselves to your gentle humility.
We long to be more like the servant King.
Christ Jesus, we long for your justice.
We long for the poor to be released from poverty.
We long for the oppressed to be freed from fear and exploitation.
We long to uphold the cause of the weak.
We long for your Kingdom to come.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A Prayer for Smallholder Farmers
Lord, we pray for the sowers and harvesters of the world.
We pray for those who make their living from the land,
Those who seek to feed, clothe and educate their families,
Those who tend small plots,
Those who battle with hostile weather and destructive pests,
Those for whom the help of a donkey would not be out of place even in this day and age.
Thank you for their hard work and long hours.
Thank you that they bring food to our tables and commodities to our homes.
We remember them.
We ask you to strengthen, encourage and protect them.
We ask that they would be rewarded fairly for their work.
Help us to be mindful of them, and to live out our faith even when we’re shopping.
Amen.
Dismissal
In the name of God, the Almighty, the Merciful, the One of infinite wisdom, knowledge and power;
Who only has to say the word: “Be!” and it could be;“Go!” and it could be achieved;“Love!” and we could be healed:
Have mercy on us as we strive to act justly, show your compassion, and walk in the ways of righteousness.
Be amongst us as we meet, be with us as we leave, and let your love guide us at all times. Amen.
REFLECTIONS ON EUCHARIST READINGS FOR FEBRUARY 28, 2016: THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT
Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9
With his metaphors about buying food and drink, references to God’s justice and mercy, and calls to us to be God’s witnesses, you could almost imagine that Isaiah has accepted the Church in Wales’ invitation to write some reflections for Fair Trade Sunday!
The wealth of imagery about food and drink in all these passages reflects its central importance in our lives. Because it’s so important, our use of food and drink is something in which we should strive to reflect God’s hospitality, love and justice.
Isaiah refers to the importance of how we spend our money. He asks: why do we spend it on things that don’t satisfy? Why do we spend our money on things that are bad for us – or for society? Isaiah calls us to forsake unjust, unrighteous behaviour; and instead, to embrace justice and righteousness. This includes, in Isaiah’s imagery of the market place, how we shop and use our spending power.
St Paul reminds us that even as Christians, as people who have experienced God’s mercy and know the stories of God’s relationship with humanity throughout history, it’s all too easy to slip back into sinful ways. It’s important to constantly re-examine our behaviour, and seek God’s help to live righteously.
After some dire warnings from St Paul, Jesus’ parable provides a message of reassurance. The story is about giving a hopeless plant – a date palm, so a crop very significant to Fair Trade! – one last chance. Nothing is beyond redemption and rescue! But we have to co-operate with God’s good and loving intentions. And, as Jesus shows by allusions to recent tragedies and atrocities of his time, we should not fall into the trap of thinking that because we are safe, secure, prosperous, or even because we are Christians, we are superior to others; or that people who are suffering at the hands of others are somehow responsible for the unfair treatment they experience. Cruelty, oppression, poverty, or injustice that goes unchallenged is a mark against us all.
God’s ways higher than ours, says Isaiah – but sometimes, it can be surprisingly easy and obvious to follow God’s way. ‘Delight in rich food ... and come to me’ Isaiah encourages us. Eating and drinking Fair Trade does not need to be penitential! In addition to the huge range of Fairtrade tea and coffee in the shops (remember – it doesn’t have to be Traidcraft; all the best manufacturers as well as supermarket’s own brands have Fairtrade choices) the Fairtrade mark boasts some of best chocolate on the market, including Real Easter Eggs.
‘The way of the cross’, as the Collect reminds us, is ‘the way of life and peace’. Supporting Fair Trade is an example of love in action – and gives us a treat to look forward to after Lent!