BRATTLEBORO — St. Michael's Episcopal Church of Brattleboro is gearing up for its leadership role in working toward an energy-sustainable future.
Called “Building Hope for the Earth,” its project leaders will host an Open House on Thursday, Sept. 1, from 5 to 7 p.m., in the rectory yard adjacent to St. Michael's Episcopal at the corner of Bradley Avenue and Putney Road. The event will take place rain or shine.
The Rev. Mary Lindquist, St. Michael's Rector, explains that the project “is a wonderful and ambitious initiative that began with a leaky roof, and that's developed into a vision of St. Michael's becoming 100 percent free of using fossil fuels by 2030. We hope that the work we have done in planning and implementing this project will inform and inspire others in our community to take similar steps to address climate change and its devastating effects on God's creation.”
Building Hope for the Earth leadership team member, Cary Gaunt, says of the Open House that the public is urged to come and see “what St. Michael's is planning for our roof, solar, and energy transformation project. The church is taking bold and courageous steps toward an ambitious transformation that will model climate responsibility.”
With the help of outside consultants, the church evaluated everything from insulation to lighting.
“We're undertaking a comprehensive energy transformation,” Gaunt said. “The goal is to live into our environmental stewardship and justice commitments and to model how community institutions can respond to the climate crisis by leading visionary transformation. We aim to generate 110 percent of our electricity, heating, and cooling needs from the sun or other renewable resources by 2030.”
The extra 10 percent, Gaunt said, “represents an earth justice tithe: the extra energy we produce will be donated back to Green Mountain Power for distribution to economically disadvantaged organizations.”
The event will feature engaging, interactive information stations with representatives from solar, roofing, and heating and cooling vendors supporting the project: Norwich Solar, ARC Mechanical, and Phoenix Roofing. There will also be a 5:30 address by project leaders.
Refreshments will be served and a mystery raffle will be held. For more information, visit stmichaels-vt.org.