Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Hearing the rumble outside my office window, my first thought was that the recycling truck had arrived. When the noise continued longer than expected, I looked up: it was the oil truck.

Living in the northeast, I have a love/hate relationship with home heating oil. Love that my provider is so dependable that I’ve never run out of oil. Hate that the price goes up and up and up. Today’s price: $3.99 per gallon; $3.79 for me as I pay at the time of delivery. It wasn’t so long ago that I paid 1.99 a gallon.

My workday interrupted, I’m thinking about oil: how much I use to heat my house and operate my car. Thinking about the impact not only on my budget, but also on the environment. And, how much more it costs to heat the church, the parish hall, and the other buildings owned by the church. Given the tight budgets that most congregations are working with, where are opportunities for relief when it comes to energy use? And, can we reduce costs and our carbon footprint at the same time? Where would we begin?

Congregational leaders can start by:

1. Learning exactly how much energy your church property uses. “The Genesis Covenant: Action for Climate Change” in this month’s issue of Vestry Papers includes a link to a carbon calculator specifically designed for congregational use. This free, online, interactive energy management tool allows users to track and assess energy and water consumption within individual buildings as well as across an entire building portfolio.

2. Joining Fletcher Harper of GreenFaith on Thursday, March 17, 2011, for “Greening Our Congregations,” a live chat at 7:00 pm ET.

3. Checking out the websites, EarthMinistry.org and GreenFaith.org as well as Interfaith Power and Light. 

Has your congregation gone green? Do you have resources to share? Please post your best ‘green tips’ in the Your Turn section of ECF Vital Practices.