From the Creation Care Team:

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Gaithersburg, MD was a recipient of a City of Gaithersburg Environmental Award for their creation care carnival, energy efficiency measures, and educational efforts.

Sun, 7/17: Greening our Sanctuaries: An Interfaith Workshop and Expo

On Sunday, July 17, 1:30-5 pm at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation

Discover the latest, most effective methods, techniques, and approaches for operating our sacred spaces in ways that fully reflect our values:

-1:30 PM: Tours of Adat Shalom’s Vegetable Garden & 44-Kilowatt Rooftop Solar System
-2 PM: Workshops on Going Green in Our Congregations
-4 PM: Connect with vendors and organizations in our Green Resources Expo Hall

Learn how to:
Start a Green Team — Save Energy — Go Solar — Shift to Greener Groundskeeping — Commit to Greener Procurement

Featuring:
Sarah Jawaid, Green Muslims — Jerry Lawson, EPA Energy Star for Congregations Program — Joelle Novey, Director of Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light — Rosina Perthel, Presbyterians for Earth Care — Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life — Anya Schoolman, Director, Community Power Network — Rev. Sarah Scherschligt, Coordinator of the Metro DC Lutheran (ELCA) Creation Care Team – and many more!!!

A suggested donation of $10 at the door will benefit our work with congregations.

Register here, and join the Facebook event.

Persimmon Tree Lane, Bethesda MD. Click here for directions. Register to request ride from bus stop, or to carpool.

Earth Hour

Check this out!

April 2 Workshop:
Receiving Cash Incentives for Energy-Efficiency Improvements at your Faith-Based Organization

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church is hosting a workshop focused on energy-efficiency incentives for faith-based organizations and other businesses and organizations.  Brooke Smallwood from The Pepco Commercial and Industrial (C&I) Energy Savings Program will provide a program overview on the cash incentives available, application process and eligibility.  Eric Coffman from Montgomery County Dept. of Environmental Protection will discuss the newly launched Commercial & Multi-Family Building Energy Efficiency Rebate program. Steve Bell, Program Director for the ENERGY STAR® for Congregations program will be available to discuss energy efficiency opportunities and measuring and tracking energy use and savings.  Persons interested in Creation Care, property managers, boards of trustee members, maintenance staff and others should attend this event to learn more about how these support their energy efficiency goals and hear success stories of organizations that have upgraded their properties. Event sponsored by Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in partnership with Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL).

The workshop will be held on April 2nd from 10:00 to noon at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 11900 Darnestown Road, Gaithersburg MD 20878.

Please RSVP: 301-349-5052

Each month we will feature a different local congregation who is leading the way in Creation Care.  If you are interested in knowing more about what a specific congregation is doing, please feel free to contact them directly.

ELCA Joins Effort to keep the Clean Air Act Regulatory Authority intact.
Read the press release.

Recent Climate Change article

Lutheran Church of the Reformation goes solar!

Lutheran Church of the Reformation
212 East Capitol Street
Washington DC 20003

During the service on October 17^th, Reformation Church had a ceremony celebrating the installation of 75 new solar panels that have been installed on a church-owned office building adjacent to the sanctuary.  The project provides a high level of visibility since the church is located only one block from the Supreme Court and two blocks from the US Capitol.  This project is an outgrowth of the “Stewardship of Creation” Committee that is seeking to “green” the church.

Installing solar panels reduces our reliance on fossil fuels, which contribute to climate change, groundwater contamination (e.g., from mountaintop mining), surface water pollution (oil spills, etc), and air pollution (e.g., mercury emissions from coal power plants).  The more locally-produced renewable energy, the less need we have for fossil fuels.  Reformation’s 17kW system is believed to be only the second one installed on a church in Washington, DC, and we hope that other churches will follow our model.

Reformation worked with Solar Solution, LLC to get the solar panels installed.  The overall project cost was about $85,000; however, available rebates cut the overall cost down to only about $15,000. Rebates vary significantly by state, and are very strong in the District.  Reformation will lease the system over five years, paying an annual fee for the power generated, and will then will own the system after the five year term.  When the sun is shining, the panels feed electricity into the electric meter – reducing the need for energy produced by the local power company.  Over the lifetime of the panels (about 25 years), Reformation will save well over $100,000 through avoided energy costs.  We hope to see over the next year that the panels are producing close to 25% of our power, and future efforts to improve the weatherization of the church can also reduce energy use.

Reformation has been working closely with the congregation and community to extend the reach of solar projects beyond the church itself.  Reformation hosted the first Annual Solar and Sustainable Homes Tour and Fair that was put on by the Capitol Hill Energy Cooperative.  Adults and kids alike are very enthusiastic when seeing the panels close up.  One six year old on the tour remarked, “Wow, these are the first real live solar panels I’ve ever seen.”  This enthusiasm has led more than thirty local families to go solar, and the recent event drew in about 400-500 more people that are now interested.  Booklets explaining how to go solar are now online at www.capitolhillenergycoop.org and photos of the Church project and local homes are also posted on that website.  For more information, contact Mike Barrette at Michael.barrette@verizon.net.

Check out this recent post from Politics Daily discussing the ‘greening’ of worship spaces.

Gettysburg Seminary Professor named ‘Greenfaith’ Fellow

NATIONAL INITIATIVE TRAINS RELIGIOUS LEADERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP
(September 14, 2010) GreenFaith announced today that Dr. Gilson Waldkoenig, Professor at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, has been named a GreenFaith Fellow, joining the 2011 class in the only comprehensive education and training program for religious environmental leadership.  “We’re thrilled to welcome Gil to the Program,” said Rabbi Lawrence Troster, Fellowship Program Director and a nationally recognized religious environmental leader.   Fellows gain “the opportunity to become well-trained leaders in religious environmentalism,” noted GreenFaith Executive Director, the Rev. Fletcher Harper, who added that “they will help create an environmentally just and sustainable world.”

Through retreats, webinars, and extensive reading, Waldkoenig will receive education and training in eco-theology, “greening” religious institutions, environmental advocacy, and environmental justice. Waldkoenig, who already teaches courses in ecological theology in the seminary curriculum, will join Fellows from Jewish, Muslim, Roman Catholic and Protestant denominations who come from congregations, universities, campus ministries, NGO’s, and denominational organizations.  Each Fellow develops an eco-theological project intended to mobilize religious leaders in relation to an environmental issue.

Gettysburg is an ideal base for work in the Fellowship. “Seminary Ridge is treasured by millions of people around the globe because of its historical significance,” Waldkoenig noted.  “The seminary has been a faithful steward of the natural habitat on the ridge since 1832, helping it to recover from the battle’s devastation in 1863 and collaborating with the Park Service and Gettysburg Borough in long-term care of this public treasure,” he added.  “As the global community confronts new environmental challenges,” Waldkoenig said, “how–and why–we sustain the natural habitat of Seminary Ridge will be a witness and inspiration to many.” Waldkoenig serves as one of two faculty members on the Seminary’s Green Task Force, a community wide campus effort to steer the seminary in ecologically healthy directions.

GreenFaith is a leader in the fast-growing religious environmental movement and has won national and international recognition for its work.  The Kendeda Sustainability Fund supports the Fellowship Program.

A Prayer for Humanity as we Encounter Creation

We give you thanks, Most gracious God, for the beauty of the earth, sky, and sea; for the richness of the earth, plains, and rivers; for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers.  We praise you for these good gifts and pray that we may safeguard them for our posterity.  Grant that we may continue to grow in our enjoyment of your abundant creation, to the honor and glory of your Name, now and forever.
(Book of Common Prayer, 1549)

photo courtesy of: RogueSun Media