A blessing for solar panels

 The church of Saint Martin in Davis California has installed solar panels to improve its ecological footprint. When the bishop came to bless them, he had to improvise. According to the Episcopal News Service (16 June 2021):

After reading an abridged version of “A Song of Creation” from the Morning Prayer II lessons, Traquair stood on a scissor lift, sprinkled the panels with holy water, and prayed “that they may continue to capture the light of God’s beautiful creation, the thumb that he placed above us, and that its energy may go to help support the life of those that he has placed here in this community, in this country and in this world.”

 Solar panels make a lot of sense in a sunny part of the world like California. but they are not the only steps that the parish is taken. It has long had an eco-policy that has led to a number of changes

The church began by replacing worn-out items with eco-friendly alternatives, and in 2018, the congregation decided to be more proactive and began converting utilities that had previously been powered by other sources, such as gas stoves or furnaces, to electric. By making sure everything was powered by electricity — which is sourced from solar energy — St. Martin’s was able to become a zero-carbon campus, meaning it doesn’t give off any carbon emissions.

Solar panels can be expensive and churches do not always have the resources to fund them. A number of parishes in the diocese of San Diego, California, have entered into a "a diocesan collective power purchase agreement".  Perhaps our parish should work with others on a collective power purchase agreement. The time may be right, since an awareness of the need to take steps to preserve God's creation is growing: "Caring for creation is a part of our baptismal call, said San Joaquin Bishop David Rice..." 

In this past year the COVID pandemic has grabbed more headlines than the worsening environmental situation on our planet, but we have some hope that COVID may become less of a problem as more people are vaccinated, but the climate crisis has no vaccine to offer a fix. 

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Gutiérrez, Tony, 16 June 2021. "Episcopal churches step up efforts to go solar to reach net-zero carbon emissions goals" in Episcopal news service. Available: (LINK)

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