Make social and environmental justice part of your congregation's Palm Sunday celebration

The great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the onewho comes in the name of the Lord — the King of Israel!" (John 12:12-13)

Branching out

New Eco-Palm Project helps increase farmers’ wages, protect ecosystem

by Toya Richards Hill

LOUISVILLE — Just as palms marked Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, these symbolic fronds also are waving in a new era for communities in Guatemala and Mexico that are taking part in a program sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A).

The Eco-Palm Project, a new component of the PC(USA)’s Enough for Everyone program, is paving the way for increased wages and a better-protected ecosystem for the communities that harvest palms, widely used by Christian congregations on Palm Sunday. Read the entire story.

The Eco-Palm Project

Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem, accented by the jubilant waving of palm branches, is re-enacted each Palm Sunday in Presbyterian and other Christian congregations worldwide as Holy Week observances begin. Unfortunately for the communities where these palms are harvested, palm fronds do not always represent the same jubilation they do for us.

Production of eco-palms begins in forested areas of Mexico and Guatemala where workers, known as xaterros (sha-tare-rows), walk miles into the forest to harvest palm branches. Photo courtesy of Lutheran World Relief.

This year the PC(USA) is teaming up with Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services and the University of Minnesota to offer congregations the option of purchasing responsibly harvested eco-palm branches for Palm Sunday. The palms come from communities in Mexico and Guatemala where workers are paid fairly and engage in sustainable harvesting in order to protect the local ecosystem.