U.S. churches nationwide are using Direct Pay funding for solar conversion, but the program is about to drastically change.

ATLANTA – Enacted by the 117^th Congress in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act gave tax-exempt entities like local governments, schools, hospitals, public utilities, churches and community organizations an opportunity to receive Direct Pay tax credits when they build renewable energy projects like solar, wind or electric vehicle charging stations for the first time. The act had a 10-year term limit, set to expire in 2032.

Businesses and homeowners claim these credits on their tax returns once their projects are completed and meet the prescribed specifications. Direct Pay (also known as Elective Pay) created an opportunity for nonprofit entities to receive the value of certain clean energy tax credits as direct cash payments, offsetting about 30% of the cost of specific projects. This extended the opportunity for nonprofit organizations, including churches, to build sustainable energy infrastructure, contribute to cleaner air and water, and create green jobs.

On July 4, 2025, the 119^th Congress signed into law the H.R. 1 reconciliation bill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). H.R. 1 changed the term limit of Direct Pay, so it now expires at the end of 2027, and it adds new eligibility rules for projects constructed between now and then.

Although the federal Direct Pay program is ending sooner than expected, there is time before the program expires. However, new restrictions come into play for projects that start in 2026.

Global Ministries Environmental Sustainability Program director, the Rev. Jenny Phillips, says projects that have been completed or have “started construction” before December 31, 2025, will be eligible to file under the pre-H.R. 1 rules. “Started construction” means at least 5% of the total, final project cost is paid and/or physical work has commenced.

Projects that start construction by January 1, 2026, or later, will be subject to rules related to equipment content from “Prohibited Foreign Entities.” The rules about what this means should be released sometime in August 2025. In addition, projects must begin construction by July 4, 2026, or be placed in service before December 31, 2027.

Credits for storage (batteries) will be available through December 2033, subject to the Prohibited Foreign Entities rules.

The Global Ministries Environmental Sustainability Program will continue to host its monthly Zoom meeting for United Methodists who are planning to file or are in the process of filing for Direct Pay. Most participants relate to their churches’ finance or trustee committees as volunteers or staff. The meeting’s primary agenda is for participants to discuss questions and share information with one another about Direct Pay rules and the filing process. To receive the Zoom meeting link, email environment@umcmission.org.

The October 2-5 EarthKeepers training this year takes place in Washington state, and participants will have an opportunity to ride the ferry to Vashon Island to visit Vashon UMC and learn about its ministries. The deadline to apply for this EarthKeepers training is August 21, 2025. See details here: https://umcmission.org/earthkeepers/.

Laity interviewed from three United Methodist churches that completed their solar projects all agreed that transitioning from fossil fuel usage to renewable energy is possible and even affordable if you know where to look for funding, even for small churches. Not one, however, said it was an easy journey, though well worth the time and effort.

How did Vashon United Methodist Church on Vashon Island, Washington, achieve its dream of solar-powered independence? Church member Eric Walker noted: “It took the right season, the right conference, the right state, and in many ways, the right people to get this done.”

On the U.S. East Coast, First United Methodist Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina, was laying out $75,000 annually to meet its energy bills, and those costs continue to rise. Bob Doughty, the church’s facilities manager, said they were dealing with a boiler system from the 1920s.

“Half of the church was steam, and the other half was water-baseboard, and with that comes lots of opportunities for leaks and downtime if the boiler goes out, which it did.”

Edmonds UMC, in Edmonds, Washington, on the shores of Puget Sound just below Seattle, had green energy on its “to-do” list for a long time. A dedicated group in the congregation wanted solar energy for environmental reasons, but it wasn’t economically feasible until they found local and federal funding programs.

Stan Gent, prefers to think in broad strokes when it comes to how United Methodist churches can help to sustain environmental balance. He maintains that a United Methodist Church shouldn’t be in this process alone, and he leans on the Social Principles and the connectional tradition of Methodists. The Pacific Northwest Conference is engaging all its churches to reduce their carbon footprint.

“There has to be some bigger thinking. Is there a way to understand that part of our church ethos is to care for the land and the world itself? We are environmentally focused,” Gent noted. “That should be a big part of how we manage our investment assets as well. It’s just that we haven’t looked at the resources we have.”

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

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ATLANTA – “EarthKeepers training has given me a real sense of community. I know I am not alone in my passion for the importance of the care of creation,” the Rev. Laura Nordstrom said of her EarthKeepers training experience this fall.

Indeed, she is not alone. She was commissioned by Global Ministries on November 19 as one of 67 EarthKeepers trained and sent back to their communities with a better grasp on how to push their environmental projects forward. Some attended in-person training in either Baltimore, Maryland, or St. Paul, Minnesota, while others attended online. This group of EarthKeepers represents 30 annual conferences and all five U.S. jurisdictions. Participants include clergy, laity, annual conference staff and agency staff.

During the commissioning, General Secretary Roland Fernandes of Global Ministries assured the candidates that their creation care work is vital and blesses their communities, and that Global Ministries affirms their call from God to the ministry of creation care.

“Global Ministries and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) join communities around the world on the front lines of extreme weather events that have been exacerbated by climate change,” Fernandes noted. “The increasing number and intensity of these events are directly connected with humanity’s impact on God’s creation. I’ve been with UMCOR for 30 years and I remember, there were some years with no hurricanes in the U.S. Today, we run out of the alphabet naming storms every year.”

EarthKeepers are asked to come to training with a project idea they’ve already hatched. The program supports people looking to turn an idea into action as well as those who want to deepen an existing ministry. Participants develop plans in conversation with their peers, in a place where they can troubleshoot ideas and develop strategies with experienced trainers and people who share their passion for the stewardship of the Earth.

“When I went to the training, I knew that my project would be about prairie restoration,” Nordstrom continued. She pastors Stewartville United Methodist Church, which sits on 12 acres of former farmland on the outskirts of Stewartville, Minnesota. The congregation has been considering God’s will for their land resources and how to develop a space for the local community.

“Through conversations at the training, I was able to hone the idea down to something doable. I think that was very, very helpful.”

Projects included not just use of land but reducing landfill waste as well. Janet Marshall-Tate, from Connecticut in the New York Conference, is developing “FlexCollects,” to target collection of plastic bags, plastic packaging, bubble wraps, shrink wraps, cereal box liners, dry cleaning bags, retail plastic packaging – all the stuff people throw out that ends up in landfills because most municipal recycling programs don’t accept it.

In many cases, municipalities dig landfills in areas that are close to low-income neighborhoods and those where Black, Indigenous and other people of color reside. Reducing the toxicity in the air and soil by eliminating some of the pollutants can improve the environments surrounding the landfill.

Daniel Hiatt will be working on industrial composting on the Mount Eagle Retreat Center campus in Clinton, Arkansas. He hopes to reduce waste and the resulting downstream effects that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Composting will become a new way to engage people on campus and in the community while producing life-giving soil amendments for the greater production of foods grown.

The Rev. Kevin Brown at Mt. Washington UMC in Kentucky pastors a church which, like Nordstrom’s, has a big land footprint. His congregation has a vision of creating a community garden that will become a fresh expression ministry – perhaps an extension of the church’s ministry to a community that prefers to meet and worship outdoors.

“This idea that we had for a community garden wasn’t mine,” said Brown. “But I’m fully supportive of it. It’s unique and a little bit edgy. It will take quite a bit of commitment.”

Pastor Brown and two younger parishioners from Mt. Washington, Tyler Vandeveer and Emily Allison, are the first EarthKeepers commissioned from Kentucky. “We wanted to address both food insecurity and spiritual insecurity, so from the beginning, we were incorporating the idea of feeding people spiritually as well as physically,” noted Brown.

Allison lives in a nearby apartment complex: “I don’t have much property of my own, just a small balcony that holds six large pots and that’s it. So, I thought, I’m not the only one in that situation. It would be nice to have an area that we could garden – and eat what we garden – that would supplement my groceries. I like to buy organic produce, but that can get a little pricey.”

Vandeveer noted, “We had the idea for the community garden, and through the training, we narrowed it down in stages, what we were going to do this year and next year – and we developed a five-year plan.” The plan now includes a solar and water catchment system. And the raised platform beds will be accessible for wheelchairs and others for whom working on the ground might be challenge.

Bishop Lanette Plambeck from the Dakotas-Minnesota Episcopal Area, who also serves with the Native American Comprehensive Plan, officiated the online commissioning service. Her homily was rooted in Mark 4: 35-41, in which Jesus, with his disciples in a boat, calms the storm.

“It’s not just the miracle itself,” she said, “but the relationship it reveals between Jesus and creation – between the Holy and Creation. The wind and the waves know his voice. They obey, not out of compulsion, but of recognition of the one who brought them into being. This moment in the Gospel is a declaration. All creation belongs to God.”

“This commissioning is not simply about stewardship,” the bishop noted. “It’s about discipleship. Caring for creation is not a peripheral task of the church. It is central to the Gospel. When we care for the Earth, we proclaim Jesus’ lordship over all creation.”

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

Global Ministries’ Environmental Sustainability program leads sustainability initiatives within the agency, in collaboration with other United Methodist agencies and in support of churches and ministries throughout The United Methodist Church. Learn more about this program at https://umcmission.org/environmental-sustainability.

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ATLANTA – Global Ministries will commission 67 new EarthKeepers in an online service on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. EST. This service will affirm the EarthKeepers in their call to the ministry of creation care and bless their work in their communities. The service will be livestreamed at www.facebook.com/GlobalMinistries.

Global Ministries EarthKeepers is a training program to equip United Methodists in the United States for environmental stewardship. Participants discuss theology, United Methodist resources, community organizing and antiracism, and then use what they learn to develop an environmental project for their churches and communities. The program supports people looking to turn an idea into action and those who want to deepen an existing ministry. Participants develop plans in conversation with their peers, troubleshooting ideas and sharing strategies.

With 2024 trainings held online and in Baltimore, Md., and St. Paul, Minn., this group of EarthKeepers represents 30 annual conferences and all five jurisdictions. Participants include clergy, laity, annual conference staff and agency staff.

“Large-scale, climate-driven catastrophes around the world are stretching the capacity and resources of United Methodist disaster responders,” said Roland Fernandes, general secretary of Global Ministries and General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. “When Global Ministries EarthKeepers lead community-driven environmental projects, they are building a bulwark against future suffering.”

“These EarthKeepers are driven by the urgency of the environmental crisis, a sense of calling to respond, and a deep well of faith to carry them on the journey,” said the Rev. Jenny Phillips, director of Environmental Sustainability. “They have developed ambitious projects which together will create significant positive impact on emissions, sustainable land use, waste management and more.”

This is the eighth year that the EarthKeepers commissioning service has been held online, allowing EarthKeepers to participate along with their family, friends and church community. The service will be led by Bishop Lanette Plambeck, resident bishop for the Dakotas-Minnesota Area.  

Headshots of the participants are available for annual conference communications use at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/globalministriesearthkeepers/albums/72177720321391510.

To read more about EarthKeepers projects and to get updates on 2025 trainings, join the Global Ministries Creation Care Network at http://creationcare.umcmission.org/signup.

The 2024 Global Ministries EarthKeepers reside in the following conferences:

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About the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church

Global Ministries is the worldwide mission and development agency of The United Methodist Church. Founded in 1819, Global Ministries today supports more than 200 missionaries in over 60 countries, including the United States. It has personnel, projects, and partners in 115 countries. Learn more about Global Ministries by visiting www.umcmission.org or by following www.facebook.com/GlobalMinistries and www.twitter.com/UMCmission.

Media Contact:
Susan Clark, Chief Communications Officer

communications@umcmission.org

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ATLANTA – On Nov. 14, 2023, Global Ministries commissioned 57 EarthKeepers from across the United States. Friends and family gathered virtually to celebrate the new class, which included United Methodists from 23 U.S. regional conferences. This is the largest class to be commissioned since 2019, and the first class since then to have the option to participate in training in-person again, or to participate through live virtual coursework developed in response to the pandemic.  

This year, trainings were held online in the spring and in-person in the fall. The fall training took place in three different locations simultaneously – Hartford, Connecticut; Birmingham, Alabama; and Denver, Colorado – and participants connected intermittently for online discussion and interaction. Each of the in-person trainings were led by a staff or team member and an experienced, commissioned EarthKeeper.

Bishop Thomas Bickerton of the New York Episcopal Area officiated the commissioning and gave the homily for the service. He was joined by Roland Fernandes, general secretary of Global Ministries, and the Rev. Jenny Phillips, Global Ministries’ director of Environmental Sustainability.

The bishop began his message with a passage from the 5^th chapter of Amos, which ends with the verse made famous by Martin Luther King Jr., “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” He cautioned that readers often rush to get to that part, because the verses leading up to that quote are warnings about assemblies created for show rather than for worshipping God and offerings made to impress others rather than as heartfelt gratitude for what God provides.

But, he said, Amos also gives us the answer for avoiding these false and selfish motives – to seek the Lord and live and to seek good rather than evil.

He encouraged the EarthKeepers, saying that this commissioning will have great meaning and purpose in their lives. “Seek the Lord and the action plans that you develop will be in response to our gratitude for a gracious and loving God giving us the opportunity to serve in these ways. Seek the Lord and you will find the source that enables justice to roll down like water, and righteousness to flow like a stream that never dries up.”

As they develop projects, EarthKeepers put their faith into practice in ways that honor and preserve the environment and promote communities that value and demonstrate environmental care. This year’s projects focused on ways to draw people to connect with and appreciate God’s creation.

In Cheswold, Delaware, among a community of Lenape Indigenous people, RuthAnn Purchase serves as the Cultural Mapping program manager of the Lenape Tribal Census District. She has been working with her community on projects related to their cultural heritage and environmental stewardship. These include forest gardening, which began when she volunteered to help a few elderly members clean up a nearly abandoned, overgrown cemetery. An Eagle Scout and his troop helped to clear weeds, replant indigenous plant varieties and create space for seating. From there they branched out across the street to a second cemetery next to a former Methodist Native American church building that was no longer in use.

They did the same for that space but discovered that the property extended down to the freshwater section of the Leipsic River that empties into the saltwater Delaware Bay. Over the course of three years, they continued clearing the path, planting indigenous plants, and creating spaces for meditation and community gathering. The Lenape, who once fished and navigated the Northeastern waterways, currently have little access to local rivers and streams.

“The mouth of our [Leipsic] river is the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. We should have local tribal people stewarding the river and working with the wildlife refuge,” Purchase said. “These are some of the things I’m hoping for, but in a very disadvantaged community, we just don’t have much access to the water.”

This project has given the Lenape a small piece of river access. This past summer, as part of her EarthKeeper project but also a natural progression of the work Purchase had begun, she pulled together a group to collaborate with the Stroud Water Research Institute to develop a summer camp program on freshwater mussels. She also partnered with the Brandywine River Trust for a summer camp program on that river, with one additional program on a third local riverway.

“I’m going to continue next year with summer camps to teach young people where they can access the river, what they can learn from it and how it helps to define us. A river’s relationship with humans can change the way we look at ourselves.”

Further down the East Coast, Joseph Donoghue of Hendersonville, North Carolina, is working on his project to help smaller congregations transition to renewable energy systems. His church, First UMC of Hendersonville, made the transition with the help of a large bequest, but they still had to learn about partners, contractors, installation and system maintenance. Rather than stopping at that success, Donoghue decided it would be a better idea to pass on the knowledge and connections to smaller churches that need assistance to make the transition.

“We can help small congregations adopt more energy efficiency practices and sustainability. We’d like to get them to adopt rooftop solar, but the big hurdle is the upfront funding,” Donohue explained.

This year he began training with North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light to become an energy auditor, so he can do an official audit to help United Methodist and other churches understand their energy usage, misusage and options for renewable alternatives.

On the other side of the country in Walla Walla, Washington, the Rev. Paul Mitchell was thinking about how wasteful the pristine green grass lawns around churches are, especially in places like the eastern part of Washington state, which requires gallons and gallons of water every day to keep them pristine and green.

“The EarthKeepers focus on environmental racism helped me to think about how the church is on lands that were stolen from people who had lived here for generations. Many people acknowledge that, but don’t want to talk about it.”

Mitchell plans to reach out to tribal groups that work on environmental justice and hopes to learn more from them about indigenous plants and xeriscaping (landscaping with native plants that requires less irrigation.) If his church, on a visible lot, could set an example in xeriscaping, others in the city might follow.

“What training did for me was to pull together many streams or threads of awareness and information I already had, and I learned a lot more. It helped me to integrate a lot of things that I care about,” Mitchell confirmed.

The next EarthKeepers training will be held completely online in March 2024. Click here for an application and more information.

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.

Global Ministries EarthKeepers

Global Ministries EarthKeepers is a training program that equips United Methodist lay and clergy environmental leaders to launch projects in their communities that promote sustainable actions both locally and systemically.

For more information and to join the online community, visit Global Ministries Creation Care Network: https://creationcare.umcmission.org/signup.

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ATLANTA – Global Ministries will commission Fifty-seven new EarthKeepers in an online service on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. ET. This service will affirm the EarthKeepers in their call to the ministry of creation care and bless their work in their communities. The service will be livestreamed at www.facebook.com/GlobalMinistries.

Global Ministries EarthKeepers is a training program to equip United Methodists in the United States for environmental stewardship. Participants discuss theology, United Methodist resources, community organizing and anti-racism, and then use what they learn to develop an environmental project for their churches and communities. The program is both a launchpad for people looking to turn an idea into action and an incubator for people who want to deepen an existing ministry. Participants develop plans in conversation with their peers, troubleshooting ideas and sharing strategies.

The fall training marked the return to in-person training following the COVID-19 pandemic and took place in Birmingham, Alabama; Denver, Colorado; and Hartford, Connecticut. The spring training took place online.

This year’s EarthKeepers represent 23 annual conferences and all five jurisdictions. The group includes clergy, laity, a mission advocate, and agency and conference staff.

“In a year of epic heat, storms, fires, floods and droughts, the work of Global Ministries EarthKeepers is crucial,” said Roland Fernandes, general secretary of Global Ministries and UMCOR. “The world needs faithful leaders in every community to take action to harness climate change and interrupt environmental degradation. Global Ministries is proud to support these United Methodists as they answer God’s call to care for creation.”

“The urgency of the environmental crisis is clear,” said the Rev. Jenny Phillips, director of Environmental Sustainability. “These EarthKeepers are leading the way in grassroots, community-based responses through projects focusing on energy, food production, water management, plastic reduction, textile waste and more. Their ministries will have wide-reaching impact in their churches and communities.”

This is the seventh year that the EarthKeepers commissioning service has been held online. The online service allows EarthKeepers to participate along with their family, friends and church community. The service will be led by Bishop Thomas Bickerton, resident bishop of the New York Conference in the Northeastern Jurisdiction, president of the UMCOR board and president of the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church.

Headshots of the participants are available for annual conference communications use at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAu7BL.

To read more about their projects and to get updates on 2024 trainings, join the Global Ministries Creation Care Network at http://creationcare.umcmission.org/signup.

The 2023 Global Ministries EarthKeepers reside in the following conferences:

Photos are available at: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAu7BL

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Atlanta, GA – Climate change is exacerbating more frequent and extreme heat waves, hurricanes, and other climate disasters, yet fossil fuels are still the go-to source of backup power during emergencies. A coalition of Atlanta-based partners has come together to make disaster response more sustainable in Georgia through the building of solar microgrid trailers that serve as mobile solar power stations to provide clean and portable power. These solar trailers, which can also be used for live events, are easily towed to where they are needed most to power cell phones, Wi-Fi, refrigeration, lighting, medical devices and other critical services.

A new solar trailer, powerful enough to charge an electric vehicle, was officially unveiled at the ninth annual Ray Day event on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. RayDay celebrates the life and legacy of Ray C. Anderson, an industrialist turned environmentalist and brings people together, encourages conversations and connections and spreads the word about sustainability. Following the event, the trailer will be staged with the North Georgia Disaster Response Ministry of The United Methodist Church to provide emergency clean power for their disaster response team and community relief hubs.

Each solar trailer is rapidly deployable and can be towed to where it is needed most. In between disasters, it can also help offset the use of traditional gas or diesel generators at local live events and festivals. “In addition to providing cleaner energy for communities in crisis, the mobile solar microgrid trailer is an outreach and education tool that can be used to promote and celebrate resilience,” said Jamie Swezey, Program Director at Footprint Project.

“In times of disaster, gaining access to a source of power is one of the most essential yet challenging parts of response and recovery,” said Roland Fernandes, Global Ministries’ chief executive. “Thanks to this partnership, responders in Georgia will be able to bring their own environmentally sustainable power source with them, providing vital emergency power without the environmental damage caused by traditional fossil fuels.” 

Several Atlanta-based organizations came together to support this project. The Ray C. Anderson Foundation provided financial support. Cherry Street Energy donated the solar panels for the microgrid and is coordinating the trailer build with Footprint Project, who will also organize the deployment of the trailer. The North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church and United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) will use the trailer for disaster response situations. The partners share a vision of promoting a more sustainable society and a just, equitable transition to net-zero emissions.

CONTACT: media@umcmission.org. Images and b-roll available upon request.

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ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS

Ray C. Anderson Foundation – www.raycandersonfoundation.org
The Ray C. Anderson Foundation is a Georgia-based, private family foundation that seeks to promote a sustainable society by supporting and funding educational and project-based initiatives that advance knowledge and innovation in sustainability.

Cherry Street Energy – www.cherrystreetenergy.com
Cherry Street builds, owns and operates next generation, high-performance energy infrastructure powering cities, businesses, and institutions with reliable, renewable energy. The Company’s easy-to-adopt platform allows large-scale customers to achieve the benefits of solar energy without the cost or complexity. Cherry Street sells power directly to the City of Atlanta, Fulton County, Emory University, and leading businesses across Georgia and is expanding across the Southeast.

Footprint Project – www.footprintproject.org
Footprint Project is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide cleaner energy for communities in crisis. They accomplish this by deploying mobile solar systems to support disaster relief and recovery operations, building resilience with communities that are disproportionately affected by climate disasters, and upcycling renewable energy components to keep them out of landfills.

North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church – www.ngumc.org
Comprised of nearly 700 churches, more than 1,400 clergy members, and approximately 320,000 lay members, The North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church seeks to fulfill the mission of our denomination: “To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

United Methodist Committee on Relief – www.umcmission.org/umcor
As the humanitarian relief and development arm of The United Methodist Church, the United Methodist Committee on Relief – UMCOR – assists United Methodists and churches to become involved globally in direct ministry to persons in need. UMCOR comes alongside those who suffer from natural or human-caused disasters – famine, hurricane, war, flood, fire or other events—to alleviate suffering and serve as a source of help and hope for the vulnerable.

Trailer Mural Art – The colorful mural on the trailer wrap was designed by Cienna Minniefield, an Atlanta-based Black artist. “The design was inspired by the Magnolia flower, which is commonly found in the South. The use of vibrant colors and abstract visual elements inspires joy, freedom and peace. The flower is a reminder of home, the lush evergreens of Atlanta, the city of trees,” said Cienna Minniefield. The words “Brighten the Corner Where You Are” refers to a phrase Ray Anderson always included in his speeches, referring to the individual power we all hold for creating a better world for tomorrow’s children. The phrase comes from a hymn written by Ina Mae Duley Ogdon. The use of the phrase on the trailer is both a nod to Ray’s legacy and the power of the sun in brightening lives as the trailer is used in service.

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By Jenny Phillips
October 12, 2022 | ATLANTA

Floridians are experiencing God’s light in a new way now that United Methodist disaster response volunteers from around the Southeast have shipped, built and deployed solar energy systems in the days following Hurricane Ian. Working in partnership with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), the Florida Annual Conference and Footprint Project, the volunteers learned solar energy basics and benefits as they responded to damage from the storm.

Thanks to UMCOR grants to the Florida and North Carolina conferences, UMCOR, Footprint Project and volunteers from each conference were already planning to meet in Florida in early October for a two-day Build Power workshop to learn to build, operate and maintain their own solar generators. The training is a program of Footprint Project, a Minnesota nonprofit whose mission is to help communities #BuildBackGreener after disasters.

After Ian hit Florida, Trish Warren, Florida Conference Disaster Response Coordinator (CDRC), requested help getting power and supplies to places that needed it right away. North Georgia Conference volunteers shipped truckloads of flood buckets, tarps, plywood and cleaning supplies, as well as solar panels donated by Cherry Street Energy in Atlanta, Georgia. Footprint Project and UMCOR worked with Warren to deliver solar microgrids on loan from Tesla to places without energy. North Carolina volunteers, led by NC director of Disaster Ministries, Al Miller, met up with Footprint operations manager, Will Heegaard, ahead of the workshop to set up microgrids in the hard-hit Fort Meyers area. This is truly the United Methodist – UMCOR connection working at its best.

One of the places to receive two 5kW microgrids was Port Charlotte UMC in Port Charlotte, Florida, where key community sites were without power. One system was used by local EMTs to support triage, while the other provided the reopening of a preschool for children and much-needed cell phone and computer charging for their parents. Another site was a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in Punta Gorda, where the system heated water for a volunteer shower trailer. At the end of one workday, Heegaard arrived at a short-term rental house without power where he and volunteers from the South Georgia Conference were staying. He quickly set up a small solar generator, so the volunteers could have light, charging and cooling for the night.

By the time the workshop started, many of the participants had already gotten some practice with solar in the field. Participants included volunteers from North Carolina and a volunteer from Florida. They were joined by Lara Martin, UMCOR director of U.S. Disaster Response, and the Rev. Jenny Phillips, Global Ministries’ senior technical advisor for Environmental Sustainability. At the training, they learned the basics of energy management and important safety information for handling solar energy systems. Then they got to work assembling and installing systems with help from Footprint Project staff and from Footprint volunteer Rachel Acevedo-Hoffman, a solar energy professional and member of Hennepin UMC in Minnesota. They built two systems over two days, with North Carolina volunteers installing a system on Florida’s trailer for them so that Florida disaster response volunteers could continue meeting immediate needs in their communities.

Solar technology makes disaster response cleaner and healthier, consistent with Global Ministries’ commitment to just and equitable net-zero emissions by 2050.

Leaders from both North Carolina and Florida see solar as a game-changer for their disaster response ministries. Their disaster response volunteers are excited for the ways in which they can use solar energy to brighten the lives of people recovering from the storm.

There are a number of ways to contribute to Hurricane Ian relief and recovery. UMCOR is receiving donations for United States Disaster Response, Advance #901670.

If your church would like to help create cleaning and hygiene kits for those impacted by Hurricane Ian and other flooding events, please visit this page for more information: https://umcmission.org/umcor-relief-supplies/.

The Rev. Jenny Phillips is Global Ministries’ senior technical advisor for Environmental Sustainability.

Global Ministries Environmental Sustainability

The Environmental Sustainability program leads sustainability initiatives within Global Ministries, in collaboration with other United Methodist agencies and in support of churches and ministries throughout The United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Committee on Relief U.S. Disaster Response (UMCOR USDR) seeks to alleviate suffering caused by disasters that strike within the United States and its territories.

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By Christie R. House
September 29, 2022 | ATLANTA

Friends, family and Global Ministries staff gathered virtually on September 27 to celebrate a new cohort of EarthKeepers who completed their training in 2022 and have been sent into their communities to carry out the work of caring for creation and sustaining the world’s fragile environment. A total of 29 EarthKeepers from two training sessions, one in the spring and one in the summer, were commissioned for projects they designed in the training.

Bishop LaTrelle Easterling of the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware conferences officiated during the virtual service and Roland Fernandes, the general secretary of Global Ministries and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), also participated.

“With the increase in extreme weather-related disasters in recent years, I have seen a significant increase in concern about climate change, both in The United Methodist Church and among ecumenical partners around the world,” Roland Fernandes noted, while discussing the EarthKeepers program. 

During the commissioning he said: “We recognize that transformation requires action from both institutional and grassroots leaders. Training EarthKeepers to develop environmental projects within their local communities is essential to global sustainability efforts.”

The Rev. Jenny Phillips, senior technical supervisor of Global Ministries’ Environmental Sustainability program, considered the text of Luke 8:22-25, when Jesus calmed the storm while in a boat with his disciples in a lake. This Scripture reminded her of a time she was invited to serve on a panel discussing environmental issues. Panelists talked about the effects of climate change on vulnerable communities, particularly women and people of color. As the audience began to understand the depths of the climate crisis, a man in the audience asked her, “Pastor, are we going to be ok?”

“EarthKeepers have heard that question and God’s call and they respond in faith,” noted Phillips. “They look at communities and the resources they have at hand to make a difference in the climate crisis. They are living examples of how each of us can look at the needs of our communities and our gifts and how we can make a difference.” 

During EarthKeepers training, participants present projects they have been working on or would like to start and often the trainers and other participants act as helpful sounding boards to flesh out possible challenges and solutions. EarthKeepers also learn about the many resources that are available for those seeking to understand the connections inherent in faith and faithful stewardship of the Earth. 

Some EarthKeepers tackle big projects, such as conference-wide programming or working through clean-energy agencies and networks to offer renewable energy to whole communities. Others choose to nudge their churches in the direction of offering unused grounds for gardens and food production, or cutting down on waste and developing recycling programs, especially in places that have no municipal recycling services. Others are concerned about the need for more greens spaces, particularly in urban settings, which increase a city’s resistance to the warming climate.

This year a couple of EarthKeepers decided to offer their farms for respite and spiritual growth opportunities. Both are connected to a network called “Sabbath Life,” which was developed by the nonprofit organization “Life Around the Table.” That organization will close at the end of the year, but various Sabbath Life ventures will continue, and new sites join the network.

The Rev. Jonathan Brake, a staff newcomer to the Global Ministries Environmental Sustainability team, has worked for Life Around the Table and he is still connected to Sabbath Life as well. He was trained with the first class of EarthKeepers in 2016. 

Brake says that Sabbath Life started first outside Raleigh, North Carolina, as a place of Sabbath where clergy could find rest and renewal.

“We want to support creation-focused developmental ministry,” said Brake. Hands-on gardening and harvesting of food is part of the program, and spending time outside, alone and in groups. Sabbath Life farms can now be found in multiple places in North Carolina, in Nashville, and a new pilot project in North Georgia, developed by one of this year’s EarthKeepers, Chuck Pugh. 

Chuck and his wife Lynn have maintained an organic farming business at their Cane Creek Farm for about 20 years, though, Chuck is quick to admit that Lynn is the farmer in the family.

“We’ve always been interested in environmental stewardship, sustainability, and healthy food. As we got a little older, we began to think about winding down the farm production, but we’ve had many people talk to us over the years about how this farm that we have at the end of the road, surrounded by subdivisions, is a very peaceful place.” 

Lynn Pugh has been teaching sustainable agriculture on the farm for some time. In fact, even as they retire, they offer what Chuck calls a business incubator for beginning farmers – people who want to start farms but don’t have the land to cultivate. At Cane Creek Farm, they receive a plot of land, training, and the infrastructure and support they need to start their own businesses.

Stephanie Campbell, in Snow Camp, North Carolina, has worked for Life Around the Table for the last six years. She’s hosted Sabbath Life retreats too. But for her EarthKeepers project, she feels she’s being led to another kind of spiritual venture.

Campbell and her husband bought their farm after they retired from their first careers. She is an ordained deacon from the Florida Conference.

“Moving to the farm was part of our calling to live close to the land and learn about and speak to our need to be connected to nature, to the Earth, to the environment, to the wellness of it all,” she explains.

She’s been in touch with another network called “Wild Church,” which sounds a bit like holding church services in the woods, but Campbell says it is much more than that. She is a trained Forest Bathing guide who has seen how the forest transforms people.

“What I learned from Forest Bathing is that you provide the space and you hold the space, but that the forest teaches and talks, and God talks through those,” she said. “I hope to offer experiences that are in-between the secular and the religious. My heart is to people who are edge-walkers, or even outside the church. We could name it something other than church, but what is more complicated is to bring other voices and share leadership and to really figure out what it can be.”

This fall, Campbell has been working with first-year students from Duke Divinity School as part of the school’s spiritual formation retreats. After four days, she said even “nature averse” students come away with a better connection to the Earth and the forest. She said the students will learn the New Testament and the Old Testament, but nature is God’s first testament of love for humankind.

As this new cohort of EarthKeepers continues work in their communities, the link between spiritual growth, religious practice and care of God’s creation becomes stronger in the places they serve.  

As Bishop LaTrelle Easterling prayed in her opening prayer, “As our bodies ground us in our homes and communities, bind us together across the country, in ministry with the church, for the love of your good creation.”

For more information about EarthKeepers, 2023 training sessions and to receive the latest updates, sign up for the Global Ministries Creation Care Network, https://creationcare.umcmission.org/signup.

Christie R. House is a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMC

Global Ministries’ Environmental Sustainability program leads sustainability initiatives within the agency, in collaboration with other United Methodist agencies and in support of churches and ministries throughout The United Methodist Church. Learn more about this program at https://umcmission.org/environmental-sustainability.

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