Each month we're spotlighting the story of one congregation that put their faith values into action by reducing energy waste in their building. We hope these stories and the resources our speakers share will help inspire and equip other congregations to continue their own energy stewardship journeys.  

Check this page or sign up for our e-newsletters to learn about upcoming webinars. 

Past Energy Stewardship Webinars

Energy Stewardship with Victorious Believers Ministries, 6/8/21

• how the church upgraded their parking lot lighting and in the gymnasium
• how incentives from Consumers Energy assisted in lowering the project cost
• how they are on track to upgrade the lighting in the sanctuary with LEDs

Slides from this webinar can be viewed here. 

Energy Stewardship: Applying for Rebates 101, 5/6/21

In order to move Michigan to a cleaner energy future, state energy legislation requires our large utilities to help their customers (at home and in their houses of worship and businesses) reduce their energy waste. Less energy waste means less fossil fuel use, cleaner air, and smaller energy bills. In order to achieve this, utilities including Consumers Energy offer discounts and rebates on energy efficiency products and services. 

In this webinar, Mike Olsen, an Energy Advisor with Consumers Energy's Business Energy Efficiency Programs, will walk us through the process-- step-by-step-- of applying for and receiving rebates for energy saving projects at your house of worship. 

Slides from this webinar can be viewed here. 

Energy Stewardship with Royal Oak First United Methodist Church, 4/13/21

Royal Oak First United Methodist Church is close to finishing a $4.5 million dollar renovation to their historic building. In the course of this renovation, the church worked hard to reduce the building's reliance on fossil fuels through energy efficiency and solar energy while ensuring a healthful indoor environment and taking advantage of utility discounts and rebates. In this webinar, Bob Prud'homme, LEED AP and Coordinator for Creation Care Ministries, shares about how the church: 

• worked through challenges and opportunities to get the church leadership on board with a green renovation
• upgraded lighting in their historic sanctuary (built in 1917) and throughout their facilities
  
• made their boiler plant and air conditioning systems more efficient
• prepared for the installation of a 20 kW solar array 
  

Slides from this webinar can be viewed here. 

Energy Stewardship with University Lutheran Church, 3/4/21

Pastor Gary Bunge, and Judy Kindel and Dale Romsos the Earthkeeping Team at University Lutheran Church in East Lansing share how their church put their faith into action by upgrading to LED lighting (which reduced their electricity use by 40%) and installing solar. Overall, ULC is now using 56% less fossil fuels than they were in 2016/17. They also share how incentives from Consumers Energy covered over half of the cost of the lighting upgrade. 

This webinar was co-sponsored by the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association. 

Slides can be viewed here. 

Your support is vital to our mission: to inspire and equip people of faith to exercise love for all Creation.

This year, your donations helped us:

• Lift up the voices of faith leaders calling for water protection and water justice.
• Offer 5 solar workshops and host 6 solar celebrations around the state.
• Support the greening of Detroit houses of worship by connecting them with the US Green Building Council’s 2030 District initiative.
• Collaborate with the City of Ann Arbor to help 12 congregations explore and figure out how to finance solar energy.
• Install free energy efficiency upgrades in 160 houses of worship (goal: 200 by the end of the year) through Light the Way.
• Gather thousands of signatures to advocate for strong Clean Car Standards.

...and there's so much more to be done!

As always, you can make a gift today on our Donate page. You may also print the 2019 Pledge Form and return it by mail. 

The Line 5 Pipeline poses an unreasonable risk to our Great Lakes and should be decommissioned. For lots more information, check out Oil & Water Don't Mix.

Faith leaders hand delivered this letter to the Governor's Office on April 23, 2018. 

PRIVACY NOTE: We ask for your address only so that we can identify you as a Michigan resident. We won't send you unsolicited mail.

Dear Gov. Snyder and Attorney General Schuette,

As people of many faiths, we are called by the Creator to guide and lead others to love and care for each other and all of creation. Therefore, we ask that you respond carefully and quickly to an issue which is of grave importance to the entire Great Lakes ecosystem and our communities within the Basin.

Members of our faith communities have indicated growing concern over the lack of adequate upkeep and question the necessity of continuing operation of the Enbridge Pipeline 5. This 65-year-old pipeline, which runs over and through the entire State of Michigan, is showing signs of decomposition and has a history of 29 documented leaks totaling over 1 million gallons. The line’s rising potential for rupture jeopardizes the future water quality, ecosystem health, commercial fisheries, tourism, and livelihood of those across and beyond Michigan.

We call upon you, our elected leaders, to uphold the principle of the Public Trust Doctrine, wherein the people of Michigan have the inalienable right to the preservation, use and protection of the waters of the Great Lakes. This doctrine affirms that no private, public or commercial use shall harm the waters of the Great Lakes by materially reducing the flow, changing levels, or polluting the waters of the Great Lakes Basin. This principle aligns with our call as people of faith and citizens of the world to assure the right stewardship of our waters. Simply put, it is our belief that the Great Lakes are not an appropriate place to transport crude oil and it is our right as citizens to demand that this practice cease.

We share with scores of Michiganders their concerns about a growing threat of a spill, vague safety tests, and piecemeal repair each time pipe degradation is observed. These are not solutions to the problem, but a band-aid at best. For all the risk that Line 5 poses to Michigan and the Great Lakes Region, the benefits are few. The public has been crying out for this Line to be closed for almost a decade and easements across tribal lands expired in 2013.

As representatives of thousands of voices across Michigan we demand that you:

• Initiate decommissioning of the pipeline NOW and decline the building of any more underwater lines in the Great Lakes Basin.
• Stop using the “loss of propane” as a scare tactic and make arrangements for land-based transportation for the small amount of propane that is needed in the Upper Peninsula currently coming from the pipeline. Trains and tankers are proven alternatives and viable options.
• Demonstrate proper governmental oversight to protect the people and state resources!
• Show compassion for others and the planet. Consider the legacy you intend to leave for all our children and grandchildren and the earth.

We will continue to pray over this issue and voice our concern everywhere we can. We will pray that you, our elected and appointed representatives, will experience a change in heart and mind, and that you stand with the majority of people who lovingly show compassion for this planet – our island home – we only have one.