By Flo Johnston, Chapel Hill News
Church of Reconciliation, 110 N. Elliott Road, has been certified as an “Earth Care Congregation” by the Presbyterian Church USA’s Environmental Ministries.
To become an Earth Care Congregation, the church affirmed the Earth Care pledge to integrate environmental practices and thinking into all facets of its church life, and completed projects and activities in the fields of worship, education, facilities and outreach.
Some of its recent projects include special meditative services around the Equinoxes and Solstices, exploring its faith traditions’ interconnection with the seasons of the Earth.
The church uses water-saving devices and low-flow shower heads. It steadily uses e-mail to share information on water-saving and other topics such as the new non-bottle plastics pickups at the Orange County recycling.
Some members have worked with the N.C. Council of Churches to present “Hope and Global Warming” workshops to Presbytery events and area churches.
The church has installed compact fluorescent light bulbs and also offered bulbs for sale to the congregation. The church is now exploring ways that solar panels might be installed on some of its buildings.
Some members participated in Clean Sweep this year. Others have gone to Raleigh to give testimony on coal power plants or to meet with Sen. Kay Hagan’s staff about global warming related to North Carolina.