Established in 1855, Allen Chapel AME is the oldest Black church in Kalamazoo and has a rich history of advocating for social and justice issues. Reverend Millard Southern explains, "since 1855, the members of Allen Chapel have been on the front line of many different community concerns from health and wellness, to arts and humanities, to food insecurity, to housing."

Yet, over the years, the age of the building and its systems has often left members uncomfortable during the hot and cold seasons. This posed a challenge to congregants' willingness to come back to church for services and programs after the early days of COVID.

Thanks to our Sacred Spaces project, the church and its office/classroom space are now MORE comfortable and welcoming and LESS costly to operate!

Pastor Southern shows us one of the four HVAC units that were installed on the exterior walls of the sanctuary.

We can't wait to get started!

This historic initiative, led by EcoWorks, in collaboration with Solar Faithful, will help 15 community-serving houses of worship and food assistance programs in environmental justice neighborhoods become climate resilience hubs.

We hosted an announcement and surprised our community partners with the news at St. Peter's. Joining us were dignitaries including Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Regina Strong, the Environmental Justice Public Advocate at EGLE.

Photo courtesy of St. Philip's Episcopal Church (Beulah, MI)

St. Philip’s Episcopal Church’s Creation Care Committee wanted to go solar and to take advantage of the new incentives available through the Direct Pay (Elective Pay) provision in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA; this is the federal legislation that incentivizes clean energy, passed in 2022).

Our July electricity bill was $250, and the following month when the solar was up and running, we spent $3.42.

The Rev. Dr. Yvette Griffin's congregation, Pilgrim Baptist Church in Detroit, will be able to invest in improvements to "Food for the Soul", her community outreach program, as a result of the Michigan Community Center Grant.

The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity awarded $64 million in Community Center Grant funds for 100 Michigan municipalities and organizations to expand programming or work on capital projects to serve 1.6 million Michiganders. There were nearly 1,000 applications requesting over $1 billion in funding. As part of this, Michigan IPL was awarded $998,638 to support 6 Congregation Community Centers in Detroit that provide critical community resources and essential services to communities that are typically underserved.

Michigan IPL is delighted to be working with 11 congregations in Michigan as a part of the Sacred Spaces program. We are pleased to learn more about Trinity Reformed Church through information shared by Co Pastor Benjamin Bruins.

   Grand Rapids's Trinity Reformed Church shows a vision for the future through a recent ordination service and plans for environmentally focused building projects.

Jim Craig wears many hats at Asbury UMC including Church Leadership Team and Chair of the Asbury CDC Board. He was recently able to share with Michigan IPL regarding the ministries and goals for Asbury UMC and the benefit of participating in the Sacred Spaces program.

 Asbury UMC began a sister non-profit organization called Asbury Community Development Corporation, which operates one of the largest urban farms in Michigan, with 17 hoop houses.

St. Luke's Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Saginaw is participating in Sacred Spaces. Pastor Joyce Redfearn shared a little bit about the church and its focus on Creation care with Michigan IPL.

St. Luke's Christian Methodist Episcopal Church invests in children by offering math and reading programs for both elementary and middle school students.

Located in Charleviox, the Greensky Hill Indian UMC is pastored by Jonathan Mays. Pastor Mays was able to share a little bit about his unique church and how the Sacred Spaces program will benefit his congregation's mission and ministry.

Worshippers at Greensky Hill UMC have services in both Anishinaabemowin and English.

Bob Chapman, the Vestry Warden at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Detroit, was able to share with Michigan IPL how his congregation impacts their Detroit community for the better. As an Episcopal/Ecumenical/earth-based congregation, involvement with Sacred Spaces will help St. Peter's achieve their energy justice goals.

As an Episcopal/Ecumenical/earth-based congregation, solar panels are one part of the efforts to protect the environment at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Detroit.

On Sunday, Sept. 24, the power was switched on at the solar panel installation at Trinity African Methodist Episcopal (Trinity AME) Church in Lansing. The solar panel installation at a Black church is the first in mid-Michigan and only the second to occur in the state.

Henderson Bodiford (Trinity AME, Lansing), Rob Rafson (Chart House Energy), Jennifer Young (Michigan IPL) and David Arnosti (Capital Area Chapter of Michigan IPL) initiate the solar array at the commissioning service for Trinity AME's solar panels.

Rev. Soren Schmidt of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Chassell shares how his congregation is getting inspiration for earth stewardship, and how they ease their fingerprint on the environment. As one of the 11 participants in the Sacred Spaces program, this Michigan congregation is well on its way to achieving its efficiency goals.

Holy Trinity in Chassell, MI describes itself as " A church that actively shares a living, daring, confidence in God’s grace with our community and the world."