Cool Congregation: Haygood Memorial United Methodist Church
Congratulations to Haygood Memorial United Methodist Church in Atlanta, GA, our newest Cool Congregation! Haygood was nominated by Alexis Myers, the Communications and Outreach Director of Georgia IPL, and is being recognized for its comprehensive efforts to conserve energy and raise awareness about environmental concerns. With the support of Senior Pastor Mary Lou Gilbert and the church’s Green Team, Haygood has implemented a wide variety of changes that have earned the church the title of a Cool Congregation.
Haygood’s transformation began in 2008 with efforts to start a recycling program at the church. Willa Paton-Smith, a member of the congregation who presented this idea to the Church Council, says she grew concerned about environmental issues when Georgia experienced a Level 4 drought: “As I mother, I questioned what kind of world we were leaving for our children and my role in that.” However, during the formation of Haygood’s Green Team, Paton-Smith became increasingly aware of the negative associations connected with environmentalism and was not sure that the church was an appropriate place to address such a politically divisive issue. Paton-Smith’s participation in a Disciple One course designed to create better disciples of the Bible convinced her otherwise. In this course, Paton-Smith was struck by the biblical call to care for creation. She explains this conviction: “It just clicked—it’s not a political issue. If we are going to be good Christians, we cannot ignore that we were put in charge by God to care for the earth.”
Fortunately, there were others at Haygood who felt the same call, and the church’s new recycling program was just the start of many changes. Haygood has since taken several steps to conserve energy and educate their congregants about their own energy usage. The church’s actions also serve as a witness to the wider community. For example, Haygood’s recycling bins are used by other Atlanta residents, and the church’s two rain barrels, which provide water for a children’s garden and a memorial garden, are visible reminders of the church’s commitment to earth stewardship.
With the help of Eric Fessler, the church’s Associate and Youth Pastor, Haygood’s young people are also getting involved in the church’s creation care initiatives. The Youth sponsor quarterly “Green on the Screen” movie viewings that raise awareness about environmental issues. Trips to a nearby recycling facility and landfill as well as recycling drives to collect everything from batteries to old athletic shoes have encouraged youth to think critically about their own consumption habits. Paton-Smith explains that young people at Haygood have been “very instrumental in getting adults to change their behaviors.”
Less than two years after the formation of Haygood’s Green Team, environmental concerns have taken on a theological significance that overshadows the “political side of things.” Paton-Smith credits the changes at Haygood to the support of ministers and congregants who recognize the Christian call to care for creation and the importance of this issue for future generations. Change, she explains, begins with small steps. At Haygood, these small steps have added up to a transformation that earns Haygood Memorial United Methodist Church the title of a Cool Congregation!
Cool Congregations are faith communities recognized by the national Interfaith Power & Light campaign for their outstanding work toward reducing their carbon footprint and promoting creation care.
Cool Congregation: Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church
Congratulations to Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Fairbanks, Alaska, our newest Cool Congregation! Saint Matthew’s was nominated by Mary Walker, the Project Coordinator of Alaska IPL, for implementing a successful Carbon Fast during Lent last year.
Conservation efforts come naturally to the members of Saint Matthew’s, an old log church nestled by a river in a picturesque landscape of summer flowers and winter snow. Many of Saint Matthew’s congregants are native Alaskans and have, as Andrea Backlund explains, an innate understanding of what it means to “live lightly on the land.” Backlund and her husband Oliver help coordinate the church’s creation care programs, efforts that Backlund describes as offering a theological context to actions many church members are already taking to care for the earth.
Last year during Lent, twenty households at Saint Matthew’s participated in the church’s first Carbon Fast, a program modeled after a Lenten resource developed by North Carolina IPL. Participating families received informational packets containing weekly guides to thought, prayer, and action concerning global climate change. Pledge cards provided participants with specific ideas for cutting down on carbon emissions as well as information on the value of each action for the environment. The cards also included quotations from scripture highlighting the Christian responsibility to care for creation.
Oliver and Andrea Backlund pose next to Saint Matthew’s colorful tree, which they used to represent the church’s progress throughout last year’s Lenten Carbon Fast.
Each Sunday, participants in the Carbon Fast signed and returned pledge cards to report their energy saving actions. The carbon savings were then tallied and reported to the congregation. The Backlunds also created a poster to serve as a visual representation of the church’s progress. The poster began as a bare tree, but with each pledge card submitted, the tree gained leaves, flowers, butterflies, bird’s nests, eggs, and birds. Each of these symbolized a certain amount of carbon emissions saved from the atmosphere.
Over the course of six weeks, participants in Saint Matthew’s Carbon Fast saved or pledged a grand total of 50,000 pounds of carbon emissions, and the once-bare tree in the Parish Hall teemed with new life. The tree provided the congregation with a reminder of the importance of creation care. Participants in the program also gained a better understanding of the Christian responsibility to care for creation.
Congratulations again to Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Fairbanks, Alaska, for holding a Carbon Fast during the Lenten season that has earned Saint Matthew’s the title of a Cool Congregation. For more information about how your church can hold its own Lenten Carbon Fast this year, check out North Carolina IPL’s website [http://ncipl.org/content/publications/] to download their Lenten resource, and contact your state’s IPL [http://www.theregenerationproject.org/State.htm] for help getting started.
Cool Congregations are faith communities recognized by the national Interfaith Power & Light campaign for their outstanding work toward reducing their carbon footprint and promoting creation care.
Cool Congregation: Congregation Beth HaTephila
Congratulations to Congregation Beth HaTephila in Asheville, North Carolina, our newest Cool Congregation! Nominated by Richard Fireman, the Public Policy Coordinator of North Carolina IPL, Beth HaTephila is being honored for its comprehensive and longstanding commitment to creation care.
The members of Congregation Beth HaTephila, a Reform congregation in the mountains of Western North Carolina, have an understanding of the call to care for creation that is rooted deeply within the Jewish tradition. Idelle Packer, a member of Beth HaTephila’s Social Justice Committee, explains that for Jews, “ the environmental crisis is a religious challenge.” For example, the tenants of tikkun olam, a Hebrew phrase that means, “repairing the world,” include a responsibility to take care of the earth. Other Jewish values stress the danger of waste and the importance of preserving what we have been given for future generations.
While the congregation has always been concerned with creation care, it was only recently that this issue became the main concern of the Social Justice Committee at Beth HaTephila. Before, the committee was working on issues ranging from conflict in Darfur to economic justice, but they began to wonder how effectively they engaged members of their community. So the committee took the advice of the Religious Action Center, the social justice arm of Reform Judaism, and decided to refine their approach by building an organizational structure based upon the interests of their congregants.
Six months later, the members of the Social Justice Committee had conducted a total of 55 one-on-one interviews with a diverse selection of the congregation’s members. The results from these interviews indicated that members of the congregation not only share a concern for the environment; they also share a common expertise on the topic that makes creation care an ideal focus for the congregation.
In response to these results, the Social Justice Committee at Beth HaTephila formulated a new action plan called “Preserving Our Planet.” The committee formed working groups that began planning around what developed into the four foci of the initiative: Energy, Recycling, Transportation, and Agriculture. Each working group approaches creation care from a unique angle, which allows Beth HaTephila to address the issue comprehensively. For example, the agriculture committee connects congregants to a Community Supported Agriculture program that allows congregants to purchase produce from local farmers.
Congratulations again to the members of Congregation Beth HaTephila and the Social Justice Committee, whose comprehensive Preserving Our Planet initiative has earned Congregation Beth HaTephila the title of a Cool Congregation!
Cool Congregations are faith communities recognized by the national Interfaith Power & Light campaign for their outstanding work toward reducing their carbon footprint and promoting creation care.
Cool Congregation: First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City
Congratulations to the First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City, Utah, our newest Cool Congregation!
First Unitarian was nominated by Elaine Emmi of Utah IPL, who praised the congregation for developing an “amazing program that involves more than just their faith community.” This program has developed with the support of Rev. Tom Goldsmith and the church’s Environmental Ministry Team, and it has a strong foundation in the church’s educational efforts, which include discussions and lectures, movie screenings, workshops, book groups, and other events that inform both church members and the wider community about a variety of environmental issues.
Members of First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City, UT, put their faith into action on a workday in the church’s community garden.
First Unitarian’s educational programs not only inform their members about the importance of environmental issues; these programs also provide congregants with a strong foundation for faith-based action. Joan Gregory, the current coordinator of the Environmental Ministry, explains that classes such as the Northwest Earth Institute Course that inspired her to join the ministry provide a “common grounding in environmental topics that serves as a basis for future actions.” This action begins in the church itself with programs such as a community garden, recycling and composting, and even pursuing LEED certification for the church’s new sanctuary.
First Unitarian’s faith-based also extends beyond church walls with advocacy that takes shape on a number of levels. In June, congregants worked to pass an Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association to mobilize Unitarians across the country to support America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act. This national legislation would permanently protect more than 9 million acres of wilderness-quality land in Utah from drilling and mining, off-road vehicle damage, and other threats. The church’s efforts to pass this AIW reflect the deep, spiritual connection that many congregants feel to their local lands. Gregory explains that these lands are “deeply cherished by people from many different spiritual traditions as places of inspiration, connection and renewal.” Congressional hearings for the Red Rock Wilderness Act are expected to occur this month.
First Unitarian also encourages its members to confront difficult questions about the nature of environmental advocacy. In January, the church hosted a discussion about the role of civil disobedience. This event was prompted by the bold actions of Tim DeChristopher, a participant in First Unitarian’s Environmental Ministry Team who put himself on the line last December to protect Utah lands from oil and gas drilling. DeChristopher will face a trial this month on felony counts of disrupting a government auction, and he could receive up to 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines for actions that stemmed from his deep moral conviction about the urgency of our climate crisis. First Unitarian’s program provided support for DeChristopher as well as a forum for the community to discuss his actions and the nature of our responsibility as people of faith to protect creation.
Congratulations again to First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City, a congregation committed to both educating their community about climate change and encouraging members to act to protect creation. The church’s comprehensive and challenging creation care program has earned First Unitarian the title of a Cool Congregation!
Cool Congregations are faith communities recognized by the national Interfaith Power & Light campaign for their outstanding work toward reducing their carbon footprint and promoting creation care.
Michigan IPL Offers Free Energy Audits for Churches
Michigan IPL is helping congregations across the state go green by offering free energy audits to assess churches’ energy usage. These audits, which are funded by a grant from DTE Energy, are a part of the Michigan Public Service Commissions’ Energy Optimization program. The audits help people of faith find ways to make their buildings more energy efficient.
As a recent article published in Up North Live reports, “just making a few improvements can immediately start saving the church 20 to 40 percent off their energy bills.” These small changes contribute to a church’s long-term sustainability and help congregations fulfill the call to become better stewards of our natural resources. To read more about the program, click here.
Cool Congregation: Ascension Lutheran Church
Congratulations to IPL’s newest Cool Congregation: Ascension Lutheran Church in South Burlington, Vermont! Under the leadership of Pastor Nancy Wright and the church’s Care for Creation Committee, Ascension has implemented a comprehensive greening program that stems from what Pastor Wright calls a “deep sense that care for creation is part of the church’s mission.”
Ascension was nominated to be a Cool Congregation by Vermont IPL’s coordinator Betsy Hardy, who praised the congregation’s efforts to “educate faith community members about the climate crisis and the need to make significant changes.” Ascension achieves this goal through educational programs that both inform members about their impact on the environment and reach out to the local community. In Spring 2008, the church sponsored an interfaith lecture series entitled “Greening Our Religions.” About 100 people attended each of the five lectures, and the series drew attention from local media and others who were happy to see a faith community working at the forefront of environmental issues.
Members of Ascension Lutheran Church, also known as “the church in the woods,” pitch in to clean up the nearby Bartlett Brook.
The educational programs at Ascension are coupled with hands-on action that begins in the church’s own backyard with efforts to care for the surrounding woodlands. Ascension recently partnered with students from the University of Vermont to clean up rubbish from the nearby Bartlett Brook. Currently, the church is developing a plan to maintain and improve the health of the trees, plants, and animals living in the woodlands.
Ascension also has a successful energy conservation campaign that began in mid-2005. Changes such as switching lightbulbs and replacing old and inefficient refrigerators have reduced the church’s annual electricity usage from 51,080 kilowatt hours (kWhs) in 2005 to 28,618 kWhs in 2008. These changes are not only shrinking the church’s carbon footprint—they also equal an estimated $3,000 savings on the church’s annual electricity bill. Ascension also plans to upgrade its heating system with the help of a grant from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources to a more efficient system that, when completed, will reduce CO2 emissions by 8 tons annually.
Pastor Wright credits the success of Ascension’s programs to a strong network of leadership from within the congregation. She advises other faith communities interested in going green to learn from the work of other churches and begin with “small successful steps that keep the momentum going.” For Ascension Lutheran Church, this momentum has culminated in a creation care “energy explosion” that has earned this congregation the title of a Cool Congregation!
Cool Congregations are faith communities recognized by the national Interfaith Power & Light campaign for their outstanding work toward reducing their carbon footprint and promoting creation care.
Call Your Representative Today to Support ACES
UPDATE (6-26): The bill passed! It was very close. Thanks to everyone who took action!
The American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) will head to the House floor for a vote by the end of the week. This bill brings us close to the clean energy revolution that we have been working and praying for, but we still need your help to push this legislation through! Call your representative today to express your support for this bill. Here’s how:
- If you do not know who your representative is, click here and enter your zip code in the top left corner of the page.
- Call the Congressional Switchboard and ask to be connected to your representative: (202) 224-3121
- Ask your representative to support HR 2454. What you can say:
Please pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act, HR 2454. I am calling as a person of faith (and/or as a member of ___________ congregation in _______). This bill will help launch a clean energy future and avert the worst impacts of climate change.
Your Congressional representatives have been inundated by calls and letters from the opposition. Please take a few moments today to call your representative and tell him or her that global warming is a moral issue people of faith care deeply about.
Kansas IPL Hosts “Cool Congregations” Workshop
Kansas IPL is making headlines for its stewardship of creation. In May, St. Andrew Christian Church in Olathe, Kansas, hosted a “Cool Congregations” workshop to educate the community about going green. Participants, which included people of faith from 14 different congregations, learned how to calculate their carbon footprints and start environmental stewardship programs in their own churches. Attendees also learned more about our moral responsibility to care for the earth. Eileen Horn, the statewide coordinator of Kansas IPL, explains the connection between faith and ecology in a recent article in DisciplesWorld:
All the world’s faiths and texts call us to care for creation and to be good stewards of our environment. We are also called to love our neighbors, and to care for the poor among us…Climate change threatens the rich diversity of species on this planet, and its impact will be borne by those least able to adapt — namely the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society.
Congratulations to Kansas IPL for hosting a successful and informative workshop on creation care. To read more, click here.
