(Left) Fresh, locally-grown, organic Concord grapes will soon be pressed into juice by youth from Puyallup UMC. (Right) The Rev. Jenny Phillips talks with Alex Cupp and Aaron Berndt about the process of pressing juice – to be served with homemade bread.

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PNW Creation Care:
Just Juice!

By The Rev. Jenny Phillips | Photos by Jesse N. Love

Making communion elements by hand from local ingredients can deepen a personā€™s experience of the relationship between God, humans and creation–thatā€™s the idea behind the PNW Creation Care program, ā€œJust Juice.ā€

This fall, members of six local churches in the Pacific Northwest Conference pressed and preserved their own grape juice for communion using grapes grown in their own gardens as well as grapes from Canale’s Farm in Yakima, Wash. Once the work was done, participants reflected on the impacts of environmental degradation on the people and land that produce our communion elements, and discussed the social justice-oriented history behind Welchā€™s ā€œUnfermented Sacramental Wine.ā€ They closed with a communion service with cupfuls of delicious juice for everyone, and brought juice back to their congregations.


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The Rev. Jenny Phillips serves as Minister for
Environmental Stewardship and Advocacy for the PNWUMC.

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