Faith Prevails: Presbyterian Church Convenes Around Care for Planet
Moving together with faith is the foundation of a “deep call to care” from the Presbyterian Church of Traverse City that focuses on the well-being of our community and planet. The Church provides leadership to convene all interests – the Church’s congregation, private businesses, nonprofits and governmental organizations – in the cause of conservation, environmental stewardship and community service.
“We feel a deep call for God’s creation as we are filled with the awe and wonder of it each day,” says Senior Pastor and Head of Staff Julie Delezenne. “As a certified Earth Care Congregation, we pledge and follow through on that pledge to care for our planet locally and globally which God has entrusted us.”
And the Church launched a big project (due to be completed in April) to reduce its carbon footprint through a remarkable energy efficiency initiative involving a host of partners.
Pastor Delezenne learned of the need for the capital project a few weeks after she accepted the Church position in February 2024. It included replacing the Church’s boilers – some that were up to 67 years old. It quickly became part of a larger Church initiative to reduce its carbon footprint by replacing the boilers/HVAC system, installing LED lights across the Church building and powering the church with new rooftop solar panels.
The Presbyterian Church of Traverse City; The early days of their Native Pocket Forest; Their Native Plant Garden in warmer months
Most recently, Venture North Funding and Development, a nonprofit that provides services primarily to private businesses, supported the energy efficiency initiative with a zero-interest loan of $50,000 toward the $600,000 project. The loan was made possible through a Traverse City Light and Power (TCLP) Energy Efficiency Loan Fund, currently available only to TCLP customers and administered as a service to TCLP by Venture North. The loan will be used to cover nearly one-third of the $158,000 needed for a Solar Photovaltec (PV) System. The PV system includes solar panels that absorb and convert sunlight into electricity as well as a solar inverter that converts the output from direct to alternating current.
“The Church is providing inspiration, outreach and a spirit of partnership that sets a high bar for the region that we want to support,” said Venture North President Laura Galbraith. “Our social mission to lift underserved people and communities with business services fits well with a social mission of the Church to care for our planet locally and globally. Whether it is their recycling practices, road-side clean ups or this big energy efficiency effort, they are having a powerful impact to benefit our communities. This is a special circumstance for us since we don’t typically finance nonprofits and offer loans at this interest rate. This is only made possible by TCLP’s support for energy efficiency projects by their customers.”
“It’s so cool to be the Pastor of this Church!” said Pastor Delezenne. “With the leadership of Elders Linda Racine and Kris and Randy Wendland, our Creation Care Team and countless others, we have received $350,000 in pledges from our Congregation to support this and other Creation Care Team projects.” Delezenne said other projects include replacing unused lawn with a native pocket forest, a plastics reduction initiative, and a native plant pollinator garden.
TCLP provided a $80,000 grant toward the energy efficiency project. The Church also secured a $400,000 loan from the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program in addition to government rebates available to nonprofits and Churches.
Keen Technical Solutions, based in Traverse City, is overseeing design and installation of the multi-faceted power system project. The company granted nearly $16,000 toward the rooftop solar system component of the project from their Energy Fund.
Congregants, friends pose with a check from TCLP; Signage announcing the energy efficiency projects; Construction continued, even during colder months.
“Working with the church has been great. They set goals and followed a process.” said Keen president, Tim Pulliam. “So many times we see people forgo renewable energy and energy efficiency because of up-front cost. But if you don't go through the process, you won't really know the cost, or the value of the many different system options. Looking at available incentives, rebates, life-cycle energy and maintenance costs, how the different systems can work together, doing the math. In this case, it allowed for solar, VRF heat pumps, lighting, and control upgrades to be combined into a holistic application. Moving the church toward the goals for decarbonization, costing less up front than the conventional system, and costing less over time to operate.”
“While this is a huge project, it also begs the question about what comes next,” says Delezenne. “From church grounds to advocacy and working with and learning from our indigenous neighbors – our landscape is rich with things we can do to make this world a better place.”
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Contact: Tim Ervin - Ph: 231-794-0089 - Email: timervinassoc@gmail.com
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