NEWS

Church confronts climate change, calls it a moral issue

Charles A. Peterson

GRANVILLE -- Results of an energy audit are anxiously awaited at the United Church of Granville as the congregation explores ways to make its 131-year-old building more energy-efficient.

But the motivation isn't just to reduce the monthly gas and electric bills.

It's a moral issue, too, they say.

Thus, the congregation proclaimed on a banner in front of the church at the center of the village starting last week, "Fossil Fuels? We divested. Ask us how and why."

In addition, the church participated in a National Preach-In on Global Warming on Sunday, in which Pastor Dwight Davidson and other parishioners expounded on the "moral challenge" of climate change and the dangers of continued reliance on fossil fuels.

Davidson said United Church is following the lead of Interfaith Power and Light, a national organization leading, as it says on its website, the "crucial fight of our generation: protecting Creation from the devastation of climate change."

"They have on staff an engineer and advocacy people," Davidson said. "The whole purpose of the national organization is not only to green buildings and educate people — they also work with energy companies to give congregations subsidized energy audits."

United Church had an audit done last year and is awaiting its results, Davidson said. However, he estimated that $150,000 has already been spent getting the church building ready for adjustments deemed necessary to make it more energy-efficient, including new light fixtures with LED bulbs and new ventilation.

One of those options might well be a system incorporated into the church's original architecture, he said, long since put out of use.

"We knew that this building was constructed to have a natural ventilation system," he said, describing louvers installed at the top of the sanctuary that not only released gases accumulating from gas lights used at the time but also allowed cool air to vent up from the basement. He said the vents will be reopened "to see if we can cool the building naturally."

"It's a very breathable structure," said Mathew McFarren, the church's buildings and grounds coordinator. "We're trying to take what's a bit old and taking some technology. Back when they did it, it was quite good."

"This building was built so it lives and breathes in natural ways with the courses of nature," church moderator Lyn Robertson said. "For many, many years that kept people warm and cool appropriately."

To begin using that system again, the basement was dehumidified and cleaned along with the attic.

"We made some strides in trying to clean up our air," McFarren said. "We've been wanting to do that."

Leaders in the greening effort are envisioning use of concepts such as solar panels, reinsulation, and ground-source heat pumps as part of the process.

It's not known yet what kind of fuel resource, if any, would replace the natural gas furnace, but Davidson said emphatically: "We're waiting with high expectations to see what they tell us, because we have this boiler that needs to be replaced."

He said the conversation about divesting from fossil fuels came about in part from numerous scientists who are congregation members. But it also was spurred by the realization that the church had investments in fossil fuel companies, which it has since sold.

"Just as people over the world started divesting from companies that did business in South Africa, people all over the world can divest from fossil fuel development and with a little bit of sacrifice," Robertson said. "We see ourselves as a part of that effort."

In his sermon Sunday, Davidson noted that the words "ecology" and "economy" have the same Greek root — "oikos," meaning "dwelling place."

"Ecology is the 'logic' of our house — the study of how it's structured. Economy literally means, 'household management,' " he said. "The same applies with our planet. It has a sacred logic — an ecology. And Archibishop Rowan Williams of the world Anglican community rightly says: 'Economy and ecology cannot be separated.'

"We live in an economy driven by profit motive and 'efficiency,' not an economy informed by the laws of nature," Davidson continued. "We know that, for every bit of carbon we release into the atmosphere, we're increasing the greenhouse effect, increasing the temperature of our planet, melting our fresh water reserves, and causing other kinds of harm to the environment as well."

The First Presbyterian Church, across the street from United Church, has not ignored ecological issues either, Pastor Karen Chakoian said, focusing so far on approaches such as LED lighting, using dishes instead of paper products for meals, and recycling.

"We're mindful of climate issues and responsibility," she said. "We think about that — how we can be more responsible."

She added that a group of parishioners known as Caring For Creation exchanges e-newsletters on climate and environmental issues.

"It's a small but very dedicated group of people," she said.

During Sunday's National Preach-In, those attending were encouraged to take the "Paris Pledge" to personally reduce their carbon pollution by 50 percent by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050. Those names will be added to a list of others pledging, which Interfaith Power and Light will submit as an act of solidarity to this year's United Nations Climate Talks in Paris.

Sunday's program also included Denison University seniors Megan Hart and Sarah Hunter, two leaders of the college's student environmental groups, who discussed their eco-advocacy work and conversations they've had with school leaders about the possibilities of Denison divesting from fossil fuels.