Caring for God’s Creation
Westminster is a certified Earth Care Congregation of the PCUSA. The Creation Care group works to lighten our church’s burden on natural resources and to educate members and neighbors on ways they can do the same at home and in their community. We support local farmers and small businesses that take good care of God’s creation. Throughout the year we sponsor drives to keep recyclables and reusables out of our rivers, lakes, and the waste stream. Block foam, pharmaceuticals, electronics, candle stubs, and old sneakers are a few ongoing projects. We sponsor talks by local experts about living more simply, supporting healthy bee habitat, and more. We have installed solar panels on our church roof to become even more environmentally friendly. Come to one of our meetings at Westminster (usually third Tuesday, 5:45 p.m.) and join in on one of our projects, or propose a new one!
Solar System
In April 2017 we started up our newly installed solar-electric generating system. It is expected to provide about 80% of the church’s annual electric power usage, and will reduce our carbon footprint by saving emissions of approximately 18 tons of CO2 annually. It is part of Westminster’s mission to Earth care.
The system consists of 62 solar electric modules (panels) mounted on the roof of the church’s fellowship hall wing. Three inverters convert the generated power to 240 volts AC, and are tied into the grid through the utility (EWEB) meter. The total capacity is 21.39 kilowatts.
The project was funded over 80% by church member donations. The remaining cost was provided by an incentive from the EWEB Greenpower program.
Click on the button below to view the performance of Westminster’s solar-electric system.