Last week in worship, Deacon Katharine Daly updated the congregation on the latest efforts and long-term plans of BPC’s Green Team. Not only has the Green Team been hard at work, replacing traditional lightbulbs with LEDs and negotiating with an energy broker to reduce energy usage and costs, but there are plans underway to do a major overhaul on the church building’s systems to set us up for long-term sustainability.
Just in case you missed it this past Sunday, this is what Katharine shared on behalf of the Green Team:
We at Bedford Presbyterian Church are proud of our historic sanctuary, which was built in 1832. This past week, an electrician was in the attic, above this very room, removing some historical artifacts: knob and tube wiring from the early 20th Century. The wiring was still working, but the knob and tube wiring is a fire hazard, and it is better for us to remove it and replace it.
The work this past week is step one in a multi-step process that BPC’s Green Team and Buildings and Grounds have put in place to become better stewards of the earth by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and better stewards of church funds by lowering the cost of our utilities, in the long run.
Step One: Remove old wiring, add thick insulation in the attic, and install solar shades to keep heat from escaping in the winter and keep us cooler in the summer. This project is being paid for with $10,000 from our Capital Reserve Savings Account, $10,000 from the June Ellison Fund, and $6,000 in funds already given toward the Green Team initiative.
Step Two: Prepare our entire church facility for an HVAC overhaul – removing all of our old furnaces and boilers and replacing them with energy-efficient heat pumps that will offer heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer at a fraction of the cost to the older units.
Step Three: Install a solar panel array that will take advantage of the full sunlight that the church usually receives all-day-every-day to reduce utility costs and set us up for a sustainable future.
Step One is already paid for because of your generosity. The Session is currently evaluating ways to fund Steps Two and Three and will likely pair these significant projects with the 275th Anniversary Celebration of BPC in 2024. You will be hearing more about this very soon!
Thank you for the many ways you offer your gifts to God! Your giving makes an impact, not just on our carbon footprint right here, but on the footprints of grace that our people make as they are sent from this place, out into the world, led by the Holy Spirit.
There is a lot of work to be done, but it is exciting work, and I am excited that we can work on this together. . .
See you in church!
Grace and Peace,
John
Prepare for Worship
This week – “Can these bones live. . . right now?” (O Lord, You Know)
- Read Ezekiel 37:1-14
- Read John 11:1-45
- Read or sing this hymn that will likely, be new to you – Hymn # 785 – “In Deepest Night”