Green and lean
Whether it’s to preserve God’s creation or to lower costs,
more churches are seeking ways to conserve the Earth’s resources
 By John Sniffen
Not long ago Presbyterian congregations that promoted conserving resources were considered progressive. Now, in a time of soaring energy costs and a declining economy, such actions might be seen more as conservationist — as in conserving the environment and sometimes even protecting church budgets.
From small congregations (of which there are many) to big-steeple churches, Presbyterians are becoming more interested in “going green.” It’s a term that some critics say is over-used, but whatever the motivation, more churches are doing it.
“Presbyterians are getting involved, asking questions, asking for resources at a much higher rate,” says Rebecca Barnes-Davies, former coordinator of Presbyterians for Restoring Creation. “We’ve seen a pretty drastic increase in the number of people who are worried, particularly about climate change.”
They are embracing the call to be responsible stewards of God’s creation, motivated by such passages as Isaiah 45:18: “For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos” (New Living Translation).
In its simplest forms, this growing interest in conservation occurs in churches such as Falls Church (Va.) Presbyterian, where the Sunday bulletin is printed on recycled paper. Other churches have discontinued paper newsletters in favor of news shared via Web sites or e-mail, saving paper and cutting postage.
It’s not a cost-saving measure, but the purchase of “eco-palms” for use on Palm Sunday allows churches to make a statement for both preserving the environment and treating fairly the palm harvesters. The eco-palms cost about twice as much as regular palm branches, but they are harvested in a less-wasteful manner. About 25 percent of the proceeds are returned to the communities where the palms are grown and harvested, mostly in South America.
In church kitchens across the nation, disposable eating utensils are being replaced with good old-fashioned glasses and plates that are washed for reuse, preferably in a manner that also efficiently uses water. Efforts to conserve water use have also led to the installation of dual-flush toilets, metered faucets and cisterns to catch rainwater off roofs for use in irrigating landscaping.
First Presbyterian Church of Prineville, Ore., converted a part of its lawn into a community garden, where the church’s neighbors, especially those with low incomes, can grow food. The garden also reduces lawn-mowing costs and pollution.
“Our goal was to serve the poor and have the excess produce go to our local food bank,” says church member Kim Kamback. She and her husband sell the produce they grow in the garden at the local farmers’ market and donate all proceeds to charity. “Last year we donated nearly $1,500 and gave away bushels of fresh, organic vegetables.”
Another Oregon church, St. Andrews Presbyterian in Portland, reduced pollution of a nearby creek by removing 14,000 square feet of asphalt parking lot — 14 parking spots — and creating bioswales, landscape elements designed to remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water. The vegetation planted in place of the asphalt results in cleaner water going into the creek.
On the cost-saving side, the project also reduced the fee the church pays to the city for rainwater runoff from the parking lot.
Solana Beach (Calif.) Presbyterian Church won the Energy Star program’s top national honor for congregations in 2000. The church’s environmental task force developed an energy-saving plan with the help of the local power utility, which also provided a rebate to help pay for the improvements. The church’s resulting annual savings were $6,620 and its annual electricity consumption fell by 94,000 kilowatt-hours, which, according to Energy Star, prevented 120,000 pounds of pollutants from entering the environment.
Using lights only when needed is, of course, one way to save energy. And many churches are replacing incandescent light bulbs with the more efficient compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs (which look like small fluorescent tubes twisted into a globe) and the even more efficient light-emitting diode (LED) lights.
Another method of realizing significant savings is replacing old heating and air-conditioning systems.
“Many churches are realizing a reduction in energy bills when they replace boilers and heating and air-conditioning units,” says Ben Blake, vice president for sales and marketing of the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program, which makes low-interest loans for such improvements. “Most of these upgrades are due to emergency repairs or part of larger renovation projects rather than driven by a desire to become more green.”
He adds that some congregations are also taking recycling, or perhaps more accurately reusing, to a “larger” meaning.
“Another trend is churches taking commercial or government buildings and converting them into churches,” says Blake. “For instance, a church in Sherwood, Ore., purchased a library; one in North Lima, Ohio, bought an old retail nursery; and another in Fair Glade, Tenn., purchased a bank building.”
LET THERE BE LIGHT: Through strategic placement of windows to capture the most daylight and the use of energy-efficient light fixtures, St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, Calif., illuminates its new sanctuary.
Photo by Erin Dunigan.First Presbyterian Church of Elko, Nev., claims to be the first church in that state to use solar power for electricity. Since April 2007 the congregation of just under 300 has reaped the benefits of generating up to three-fourths of its electrical needs through 120 roof-mounted solar panels.
“We are delighted,” says pastor Patrick Mecham. “It’s a thrill for us as stewards of the environment and, of course, it’s a thrill to cut our power bill.”
The church received almost $50,000 — one third the project’s cost — in a rebate from the regional utility company’s SolarGenerations program. Many utilities around the country provide similar incentives for congregations seeking to use alternative sources of power or become energy efficient.
Seeking to provide about two-thirds of its electrical needs through solar power, Limestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Del., dedicated its 180-panel solar system last summer.
Half the project’s $251,790 cost is being covered by a Delaware Green Energy rebate. The remaining money will come from a loan from the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program. It is estimated that savings through lower utility bills will pay off the loan in about 10 to 12 years.
“It is in all of our best interest,” co-pastor Bruce Gillette told the Presbyterian News Service. “The two great commandments are to love God and to love our neighbor. We love God by caring for his creation and the people he’s created, our neighbors.” Limestone Church’s Web site features a link to daily reports of the generating system’s output.
Another way churches are seeking to conserve resources in their communities is by encouraging members to use more efficient methods of getting to worship and other church activities.
Bethany Presbyterian Church in Seattle promotes car-free Sundays from July through October. Members are encouraged to “Leave your cares and your cars behind and take the slow route to church. Carpool, bus, bike, walk — your choice — but make it a celebration, not a chore.”
The promotion suggests that after church, members take advantage of their urban setting and go with friends or family to the Seattle Center, the zoo or another favorite downtown destination.
The largest energy conservation efforts are coming from churches that are building new facilities or renovating existing structures.
St. James Presbyterian Church in Jenks, Okla., chose to construct an energy-efficient multipurpose facility instead of a larger sanctuary that would be used only one day a week.
During planning “it became clear to us that better stewardship was to create a multipurpose building that we could also make available to the community,” says pastor Jane Huffstetler.
Throughout the week multiple community groups and church organizations use the new facility. The need for more sanctuary space was addressed by adding another Sunday worship hour.
“The church really sees the facility as for the sake of the whole community, which for me is also good stewardship,” says Huffstetler.
When 400-member St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, Calif., began planning new construction, the congregation wanted to strengthen its environmental stewardship and witness through the building itself.
Audubon International dubbed the resulting structure “the greenest new church in America” in 2007. Daylight is accessible in 90 percent of the space, limiting the amount of artificial lighting needed. Windows are made of energy-efficient glass and open for ventilation, providing an economical option to air conditioning.
Other features range from waterless urinals to mahogany pews made from trees harvested from a regenerating tree farm.
Environmental stewardship continues outside the building on grounds that include more than 500 trees and native, drought-resistant plants. The grounds earned a “Backyard Wildlife Habitat” designation from the National Wildlife Foundation.
HARNESSING THE SUN: A worker finishes installation of solar panels on the Limestone Presbyterian Church roof. The Wilmington, Del., congregation hopes to pay off the cost of the project with energy savings over the next dozen years.
Photo courtesy of Limestone Presbyterian
Congregations also are collaborating to protect the environment.
For example, Village Presbyterian Church, in Prairie Village, Kan., and Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Overland Park, Kan., have banded with two other Kansas City–area congregations to form the Sustainable Sanctuary Coalition.
The coalition provides broader support for concerns brought to its attention by individual members. Currently a major focus is opposing construction of a coal-fired power plant in Platt County, Mo.
It also seeks to assist faith groups in practical ways to promote environmental awareness, such as using fair trade products, recycling paper and aluminum and becoming more energy efficient.
Within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) presbyteries and synods are also beginning to organize around the issue.
The Eco-Justice Team of the Presbytery of the Cascades provides churches with “Good Earthkeeping” handouts that offer concise, biblically grounded ideas and practical suggestions. It also sponsors workshops, such as one titled “Greening Your Kids’ Programs,” which demonstrated how making summer programs more meaningful goes hand-in-hand with resource conservation. The team places stories of congregational “greening” on its Web site.
In July 2007 Greater Atlanta Presbytery initiated an Earth Covenant Ministry program to provide resources for education, worship, spiritual renewal and practical application of environmental stewardship.
Directing the program is Alan Jenkins, the first PC(USA) minister ordained specifically to fulfill a caring for creation ministry. He affirms the growing interest in caring for the world we were given.
“We are seeing a growing awakening. The scales are dropping off of our eyes to this connection between serving God and caring for God’s creation,” says Jenkins. “This is happening in all ecclesiastical bodies, from the most conservative to the most liberal.”
John Sniffen is associate editor of Presbyterians Today.
WARM IN THE WINTER: Christmas is cold in Grand Forks, N.D., but members of the children’s choir are comfortable inside First Presbyterian’s sanctuary, which is warmed and cooled by a ground-water heat pump. Photo courtesy of first Presbyterian Church, Grand Forks, N.D.
Devastating floods that swept through Grand Forks, N.D., in 1997 heavily damaged First Presbyterian Church’s 85-year-old brick building. Instead of trying to rebuild, the congregation sold the old building and constructed a new, smaller-but-efficient facility. It includes insulated windows, extra insulation and a ground-water heat pump that cools and heats the church.
“Building this way is a witness to environmental integrity, to stewardship of the environment,” says pastor Gretchen Daneke Graf. And, she adds, the new facility has attracted many more visitors and is widely used by the community.
Environmental Justice Ministries, a part of the Compassion, Peace and Justice mission area of the General Assembly Mission Council, bases its work on the 1990 General Assembly policy, “Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice.” Staffing for this office was restored by the 2008 General Assembly after being eliminated in 2006.
The Eco-Palms Project offers congregations the option of ordering responsibly harvested palm branches for Palm Sunday. Call Melanie Hardison at (888) 728-7228, ext. 5626.
Presbyterians for Restoring Creation is an independent, nationwide network that educates, advocates and builds community for eco-justice. PRC’s 2009 conference, “Embracing God’s Call to Be Green,” is scheduled for July 7–11 at the Montreat (N.C.) Conference Center.
Energy Star, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, helps churches and other organizations save money and protect the environment through energy-efficient products and practices.
Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program offers low-interest loans to churches for building and renovations.
The National Religious Partnership for the Environment is an association of faith groups: the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Council of Churches U.S.A., the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life and the Evangelical Environmental Network.
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