This is the first in a two-part series on the different approaches Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) Endowment Management clients have taken to responsible investing.
When the Rev. April Berends arrived as rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in late 2017, one of her first questions at an endowment committee meeting was whether ECF/State Street offered a socially responsible investment option. At the time, the answer was “not yet.” Responsible investing options were still in development.
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As climate change and environmental degradation continue to shape the lives of our communities, our response as people of faith has never been more urgent, and full of possibility. Churches have the unique opportunity—and responsibility—to weave care for God’s creation into worship, mission, and daily life. What does it look like when a congregation takes that call seriously?
Below is a Top Nine list of the benefits of congregational creation care. You can help me with making it an even 10 by emailing your suggestion to [email protected].
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Nearly ten years ago, St. George’s Church in Valley Lee, Maryland undertook a comprehensive, detailed energy audit. This was built on top of the previous years in which their buildings and grounds leadership had begun to focus on building use and internal re-designs and renovations for great efficiency of spaces and needs.
It wasn’t the simple energy audit that utility companies readily provide. The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) offers three levels of energy audits. Level 1 is what the utility companies offer, and they’re generally provided at no cost. From Better Buildings: a “Level 1 audit is a simple audit that involves a basic walk-through assessment, review of utility bills and other applicable operating data, and interviews with operations staff.” Level 2 audits “build on the level 1 analysis with more detailed energy calculations and added financial analysis of proposed energy measures. This level of audit uses utility data over a longer period of time so that the auditor can better understand the building’s energy use. The financial analysis at this level of audit is used to build the business case for implementing energy measures.” St. George’s invested in a Level 2 audit.
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This story begins at a time of genocide, when an evil ruler set out to wipe a race of people off the face of the earth. A baby boy was born to them, and though his mother tried to hide him away, a growing baby can’t just keep quiet. In desperation, she floated her infant son in a basket on the big river. The ruler’s daughter found the baby and took him home to raise him in the palace.
Moses grew up in comfort and privilege, insulated from the suffering of the people outside his cocoon. Then one day, as a young man, he began to explore the city outside the palace walls. Men who looked a lot like him were working at hard, physical tasks. Women surrounded by skinny, wide-eyed kids peered at him out of their half-open doors. Soldiers roamed the streets, lording it over the men and leering at the women.
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Yesterday afternoon, my husband and I opened the door to our home to unload groceries from the car. The door was open for about 20 seconds before the fire alarms went off in the house. I looked at the security app on my phone, and it said, “excessive heat.”
The “real feel” here in Phoenix was somewhere around 119 degrees, and when the security alarm rep called, he said that having that inferno blow past the heat sensors in our alarm system was enough to set it off, because the change in temperature in the house was so rapid and so extreme, it mimicked that of a fire.
Later that evening, we stepped into the back yard to go for a swim. For the first time in the 18 years that we’ve lived here, something felt wrong. Though we’ve become accustomed to excessive heat, especially during July, this was different. It was oppressive on a level that we’ve never felt.
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Jesus was known for working miracles, right? The Gospels say he healed hundreds of people, fed huge crowds with just a little bread, walked on water and calmed a storm. Those “signs” made him stand out from other teachers and spiritual leaders.
For some reason, the Creator’s miracles don’t get as much attention. We often take for granted the way day follows night, the changing of the seasons, the cycles of birth and death and new life. Taken to an extreme, science can seem to reduce all of that to a mechanical system, meant to sustain its human operators. One of our most basic sins (meaning “separation from the Creator”) is acting like we’re in control of the world.
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