Before I left for my sabbatical (which was AMAZING, by the way…thank you!) our Social Justice Committee was pondering ways we can continue and strengthen our work on behalf of the environment, and the church.

Earlier this year I accepted an invitation to serve as a board member on the Community Weatherization Coalition- an incredible non-profit which trains volunteers to assess the energy usage of homes; particularly targeting those in low-income neighborhoods, then making some small improvements and suggestions on how they can reduce their energy usage and, resultantly, their energy bills. Also serving on this board with me is Anna Grace Sampson, the General Manager for another local nonprofit, “We Are Neutral.”

At the SJC’s urging, I asked Anna what it would take for UCG to become “carbon neutral.” She came in, met with me and promptly went back to the office to assess our facility. By looking at our energy consumption, they can predict how much carbon is created to provide the energy we use. She then told me what that was, and through their services (primarily, tree planting and home retrofits) we can pay to “off-set” that carbon output. When she gave me the price tag I was a bit stunned at how little it would cost to plant over 400 trees in UCG’s name. We went for it.

Now the United Church of Gainesville is the first carbon neutral church in the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ . I am issuing a challenge to all the other churches in our conference to join us in putting our faith into action and ensuring that the times we gather together at our places of worship are times of life and livelihood, good news and grace for not just us, but for our planet as well.
Look for upcoming opportunities to join the good people of We Are Neutral for tree-planting days! And perhaps consider adding your place of business or your home to the carbon neutral category. It is amazing what we can accomplish with a little bit of grit and a little bit of grace.

Rev. Andy Bachmann