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Faith & Environmental Justice

Ferncliff Conference Center

Retreat Pix

More than 40 people from five states attended the retreat just outside Little Rock. Surrounded by the beauty of the natural world, participants had opportunities to relax, network and learn.

Dodd Galbreath from Lipscomb University at Nashville, Tennessee, opened the retreat with a presentation that linked scriptures to the stewardship responsibilities of caring for creation. He encouraged others to “be seen doing good.”

“Can you market your friendship with God?” Galbreath asked the group.

“Try to be a mustard seed,” Galbreath added. “Stay connected to God, to the earth, and to one another. We don’t know all the answers, and we are not supposed to know how it all ends up.”

“We are called to do radical things,” Galbreath added.

People packed the workshops on Stop Fracking in Arkansas, The Science of Climate Change, Green Mission Outreach, Social Justice, Solar Potential in Arkansas, Energy Efficiency and Watershed Protection. The retreat concluded with an outdoor worship service by the lake.

Rev. David Gill, camp director, took participants on a tour in a solar-powered bus. The group drove over a bridge built from a recycled 40-foot tractor trailer. They saw a community garden, a composting system, a drip irrigation system, a worm farm, houses built by AmeriCorps volunteers from trees that fell during an ice storm, chicken coops and donated pallets for “goat palaces.” The goats will serve as natural lawn mowers and will provide natural fertilizer for the gardens.

Gill described how water purification systems, powered by solar panels, are built by volunteers who attend Solar School. The first 20 systems have gone to Haiti, and other countries are under consideration for solar power installations. More information is available at www.SolarUnderTheSun.org 

“Moms need solar energy to run nebulizers for children with respiratory problems,” said Gill, who just returned from Honduras. Children have health problems because of fires from burning wood for heat and for cooking.

Volunteers assemble baby kits, hygiene kits, school kits, and food kits at the Disaster Relief Center at Ferncliff. At the Center, built by the Presbyterian Women, visitors saw a car that runs on used cooking oil that goes through a filter. Also through Presbyterian Women, Ferncliff will receive $100,000 for rooftop solar panel installations this summer.

At Ferncliff, hydro power from the lake is used to warm and cool inside spaces. All leftover food goes to a compost pile. Everything possible is recycled.

For those interested in the slides from Dr. Terry Tremwel’s presentation on “Faith and Anthropogenic Climate Change” the PowerPoint presentation is available here:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/M3Btb2VBdWNCMTVYd3NUQw

Over the years, it will all be worth it in energy savings, indoor comfort, indoor air quality and structural resilience.  Also, with a recommended improvement in the access hole to the crawlspace, it should control most smaller animals that make a mess underneath the building, eat the insulation off electrical wires, reproduce, die and then sometimes smell bad.

Appreciation goes to Merl and Lance of George’s Heating and Air Conditioning and to Jesse Steward of BNS Electrical for their assistance.

Thanks to all for a job well done!

Interfaith Power and Light practices creation care

By Christie Storm

Posted: January 26, 2012 at 5 a.m.

FAYETTEVILLE — One of the state’s oldest churches is getting a makeover – a weatherization touch-up courtesy of Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light.

Founded in 1828 by settlers from Tennessee, Mount Comfort Presbyterian Church has used its current building for more than 130 years. The small, white building sits on a foundation of stacked stones and logs. Its timeworn hardwood floors creak underfoot. Architectural distinctives of a bygone era, such as the pressed tin ceiling, hint at the true age of the building, which has been fitted with modern touches throughout the years.

Even with these additions, heating and cooling bills remained high. Now, thanks to a $3,000 grant and assistance from Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light, the small congregation hopes to save money on utility bills. Volunteers have already completed one phase ofthe project.

“They came in December and put foam insulation into the attic to fill gaps, which in a building this old, there are a lot of gaps,” says Randi Henderson, church pastor.

Vo lunteers and staff from Stitt Energy Systems of Rogers worked in the attic spraying a soybean-based insulation foam. An infrared pressure test of the church revealed that heat was escaping through the floor, so the crawl space beneath the building will be weatherized, too.

“It was a blessing for us,” Henderson says about receiving the grant.

The project is being supported by a grant from the Larson Family Foundation in cooperation with Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light, a state chapter of the national Interfaith Power and Light organization. The Arkansas chapter grew out of the Green Team at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock. Team members, inspired by a 2008 Caring for Creation Conference at Mount Sequoyah Conference and Retreat Center in Fayetteville, established the Arkansas Green Faith Alliance. The group drew members from various denominations and gathered monthly to share ideas and resources. The organization became an affiliate of Interfaith Power and Light in 2009.

The nonprofit organization’s goal is to encourage houses of worship to be good stewards of creation by improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.

“We’re trying to communicate a theological message across a broad spectrum to people of faith – Christian, Jewish, Muslim – that we should be concerned about creation because God is concerned about creation,” says Stephen Copley, an ordained United Methodist minister and co-chairman of the organization.

Copley says they work with congregations and nonprofit groups to improve energy efficiency. They look at utility bills and usage and assess the efficiency of the building and offer advice on how to improve the facilities.

“For Mount Comfort we were able to secure a grant to do that,” Copley says. “Truthfully, a lot of churches are older structures, and many times they aren’t energy efficient.”

This year, the organization has partnered with the Arkansas Energy Office to offer energy efficiency talks to faith groups. They also have other energy improvement projects in place, including one at a Boys’ and Girls’ Club facility in Little Rock.

Frank “Mac” Mayfield, cochairman, says he hopes the project at Mount Comfort will generate interest from other faith groups and encourage congregations to look into improving their buildings.

“That’s the real hope, to have people be more aware and change their behaviors,” Mayfield says.

Mayfield says he had an epiphany while inching along in the cramped crawl space beneath Mount Comfort Presbyterian. “The main support beam is mortised and it shows that old timber craftsmanship,” he says. “I looked at that piece ofoak and realized it was growing during the Revolution. That congregation stands on the shoulders of people who came before and built that church and survived the Civil War. … What kind of shoulders will our children’s children be standing on? What kind of world will that be?”

Mayfield said making a house of worship energy efficient is good fiscal sense, but a larger purpose is caring for God’s creation for future generations.

Early in its history, Mount Comfort was surrounded by farmland, and Henderson has been emphasizing their roots of living lightly on the earth. They planted a garden last year and partnered with St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville to provide fresh produce for their free community meals.

The congregation is small, with an average of 30 worshippers on a given Sunday. They come from throughout Northwest Arkansas, not just Fayetteville.

“I don’t know what draws them here,” Henderson says. “But there’s a ‘coming home’ feeling when you come to a church like this.”

The energy improvements have also increased enthusiasm among members.

“It’s generating a lot of energy in the congregation,” Henderson says.

For Henderson, who was an environmental engineer before becoming a minister, caring for creation goes hand in hand with the church’s mission.

“Our Reformed ethos is to embrace a simplicity that shuns ostentation,” she says. “We believe that the physical world was made for us … and it makes sense to be good shepherds. It really fits the mindset of this congregation.”

Churches or groups interested in an energy efficiency presentation can contact Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light at arkansasipl@gmail.com or call Scharmel Roussel at (501) 772-9906. Information is available online at arkansasipl.com.

Statement by Interfaith Power & Light’s President

The Rev. Canon Sally G. Bingham

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 18, 2012 — President Obama has just announced his decision against the issuance of a special permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. What follows is a reaction by Interfaith Power & Light’s President, The Rev. Canon Sally G. Bingham:

“Interfaith Power & Light applauds President Obama for demonstrating leadership in deciding against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. His actions today will help to ensure a clean, healthy and safe world for our children. Transporting dirty tar sands oil through the heartland of America will unnecessarily risk catastrophic damage to ecosystems and aquifers that millions of people depend upon for their livelihood. People of faith are called to be good stewards of God’s Creation, and to love our neighbors and take care of the vulnerable among us.

“For months, faith leaders have been speaking out against the Keystone XL pipeline at State Department hearings and in letters to the Administration and Congress. It is of great concern that Keystone 1 has had many more leaks than expected, and the 1 million gallon tar sands oil spill into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River in 2010 was a national tragedy. An EPA spokesperson said he has never seen anything like it – a heavy crude mixed with chemicals that sinks instead of floats, greatly hampering the multi-year clean-up effort.

“Our nation is on the cusp of a clean energy revolution. According to a Brookings[1] report released in 2011, more than 2.7 million people are working in the U.S. clean energy economy right now. Bloomberg New Energy Finance reports that in 2011, America surged ahead of China[2] on clean energy investments. The new proposed fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks will save 2.2 million barrels of oil a day by 2025 – about double the amount the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would have delivered, and without the risk.

“People of faith strongly believe that we need an urgent response to the climate crisis through continued implementation of better clean air safeguards, construction of a renewable energy grid, and more robust energy efficiency and renewable energy standards. The Keystone XL would only slow the pace of this clean energy transition, continue with business worse than usual, and hasten global warming. We can and must model a way forward for the world, create jobs, and care for God’s Creation. Thank you Mr. President for making the right and moral choice to set us in that direction.”

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Interfaith Power & Light has 39 state affiliates and is mobilizing a religious response to global warming in more than 14,000 congregations through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

www.interfaithpowerandlight.org

Foam insulation was blown into the attic. This improvement will help the church save money on energy bills, which means more money for ministries!

Late Breaking News… Join friends for “Sweet Justice” at  Second Baptist Church this Wednesday at 5:30pm.  Alexei Laushkin, the editor of Creation Care magazine (www.creationcare.org), will speak for about an hour, followed by desserts and time with Alexei.  He will be talking about caring for God’s creation through the lens of the Bible.  Alexei works for the Evangelical Environmental Network, an organization that strives to help others understand our role in caring for the earth so that all will have resources to live healthy and sustainable lives.
 
The group will meet in 2nd Place at the corner of Cumberland and 8th Streets in Little Rock.  A parking lot is immediately across the street from the church. All are welcome.  www.2bclr.com