December brings the close of TIPL’s second year.  We feel all grown-up now, much as a teen does when faced with the awareness of new horizons and the capabilities to reach them.  TIPL has done much this past year to find its legs and presence.  We have a functioning all-volunteer organizational structure; we have a modest budget from a grant we received from national IPL to help us pursue our vision; we have the care and support of the many stalwart TIPL volunteers.   TIPL is grateful for all these and more.

In December, the Steering Committee gave its final blessing to our first set of policies available to our members and partners on our website.  With these policies, TIPL has graduated from a close group of volunteers working together to an organization open and accessible to anyone wanting to engage with it.  The steering committee is now working on its 2014 goals and budget, which will be available to share with you next month.

One goal we can share is TIPL’s Climate 1000 initiative, which will engage the environmental, environmental justice, and faith-based communities in Knoxville to advocate for climate protection and weatherization of lower income homes.  This campaign in July will culminate with an event in Knoxville that will attract more than 1000 to witness their support for climate protection and economic justice.  We will keep you abreast of Climate 1000 as plans develop.

We ended the year with thirteen faith group partners and more than 60 individual members.  Our job in 2014 will be to engage both our partners and members deeply into TIPL’s work of creating opportunities for others to respond spiritually to climate change.

TIPL will continue to grow its base, and volunteers are willing and ready to meet with faith groups to present TIPL’s story and mission.  If you want this to happen in your faith group, simply email tennipl@gmail.com.

TIPL continues not having dues for its members and partners.  However, TIPL will send out in February an invitation for you to make a contribution to our ongoing work.  As we are an all-volunteer organization, our financial needs are modest.  Whatever you can contribute will go far.

One of our Steering Committee members, Rev. Ed Wolff of Cross of Grace Lutheran Church in Jonesborough, has stepped off the committee as his work with the regional stewardship efforts of the Lutheran Church has deepened.  Many thanks to him for his leadership.

Preach-in:  All major faith traditions call on their supporters to be good stewards of Creation, and to love God by loving others — especially those in our community most in need. Join IPL in highlighting this calling on Valentines Weekend for the National Preach-In on Climate Change.  The theme of the 2014 Preach-In is “Doing our Part.” Congregations all over the country are doing their part by using energy more efficiently and greening their facilities. We are responding to the urgent need to curb climate change and protect our children’s future.  Learn more here.

Cool Congregations Challenge:  Get your entries ready for the 2013 Interfaith Power and Light Cool Congregations Challenge, an annual national contest to recognize “Cool Congregations” that are becoming energy efficient and sustainable role models within their communities. Projects completed from October 18, 2012 through December 31, 2013 qualify for the 2013 Cool Congregations Challenge. There is no fee to enter.   Learn more about it.    The deadline for entries is January 31, 2014.  Grand-prize is $1,000!

 

 

 

The following meditation and reflection were shared at the November 10^th TIPL Climate Vigil in Knoxville, Tennessee:

Meditation shared by Rev. Laura Bogle, Foothills Unitarian Universalist Church in Maryville, TN.

“Though I have no faith that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”  -Henry David Thoreau

Spirit of Creative Love, Energy of Life that flows through us and between us, God that is in all and holds all—

We gather in Thanksgiving

for this day

for this community of challenge and hope

for this season of autumn that teaches us the wisdom of letting go.

In the falling of the leaves is the nurturing of future growth.

In the dropping of seeds is the beginning of new life to come.

We confess that we sometimes cling too tightly to what we think is ours…

…

Today we open our hands

What can we release?

What good can we return to the earth that sustains us?

What might we give so that the earth and future generations may thrive?

Each one of us is a seed bearer – carrying the small things that may grow and transform into wonders.

Wonders of love and justice and sustainability.

We open our hands to scatter the seeds.

In the opening of our hands we are transformed, and become part of a greater transformation.

Blessed be, and Amen.

Relection shared by Gene Burr of the TN Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, TN.

We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.

from The Great Turning by David Korten.

 

 

People of faith give thanks every day because we experience the Mystery moment to moment.  We see the winter clouds and sky over the brown, resting fields and hear the bird that calls out first in the pearly dawn.  Our love touches all.  We feel the joy of being alive on Earth and know that Earth is the temple in which and through which we worship the Mystery.

TIPL builds upon the strengths of its faith communities that feel the responsibility of caring for the Earth and its incredible life.  With the worsening weather extremes occurring here in the United States and around the planet, TIPL works to find ways and create opportunities for the voices of many to be heard so that we may have climate protection.

Here in TN in November, we made a large step toward climate protection when TVA announced it will close 3300 MW of coal plant capacity, responding to TIPL’s repeated requests that it do so.  The 2013 TIPL climate protection policies were for TVA to close down more coal plants and deliver us more energy efficiency.  TVA still has a way to go on energy efficiency, but it is becoming a national leader in de-carbonizing the electricity it generates.

In November, the Knoxville TIPL offered a climate prayer vigil at the TN Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. The meditations offered by Gene Burr and Rev. Laura Bogle (Foothills Unitarian Universalist Church) will be made available soon.

At the end of October, TIPL Knoxville members and other climate protection activists recognized the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy by performing Dr. Eddie and Mr. Koch, an original street theater production, on Market Square.  Wild times in which even the Grim Reaper made an appearance.  Many thanks to Todd Waterman, the master mind behind this.

TIPL has set itself a goal of having 40 faith group partners by the end of 2014.  We currently have thirteen.  In November, we presented  to St. Raphael’s Episcopal Church in Crossville an introduction to who and what we are.  The congregation is now in the process of becoming a TIPL partner.

Carol Landis posted a blog describing TIPL’s work in East TN in partnership with the Green Interfaith Network to encourage and conduct church energy assessment.

TIPL joined the national IPL’s conference call with Gina McCarthy, the head of EPA, to learn how faith communities can support the carbon rule that EPA will put out for public comments in June 2014.  Ms McCarthy and Rev. Sally Bingham, IPL president, both affirmed the importance of our moral obligation to protect those most vulnerable to climate change and future generations.

The TIPL Steering Committee works on finalizing a basic set of organizational policies and setting the 2014 goals and budget.  More of that in the December report.

TIPL raises its voice in song, full of joy and gratitude for being alive on Earth.  May we all come to know Earth as our temple, in which and through which we worship the Mystery of Being.

 

 

Written by Carol Landis, a TIPL member residing in Johnson City.

We all use energy:  individuals, households, businesses, and organizations. It can be expensive and may even be a part of our budgets that seems bloated. We also know that managing energy use can enable us to reallocate some of the money currently being spent for utilities to pay for other things.

In February 2013, the Green Interfaith Network, Inc. (GINI) was awarded a grant from the Harris Fund of the East Tennessee Foundation to help five congregations in Washington County reduce their energy use and apply their savings toward other ministries. Through their “Cool Congregations in Washington County” project, GINI members are ready to help congregations identify strategies to conserve energy, thereby enabling them to redirect funds toward other important ministries–a win-win situation!

To be considered, a faith group must apply (information available online). Congregations in Washington County that are selected to participate in the project are guided through a series of steps. Upon completion, the faith group is awarded an incentive of $500 to begin implementing strategies that can reduce their energy and resource use. The recipients of this incentive return $500 to GINI from their savings within the first year so that more congregations can be helped.

Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church of Johnson City and the Wesley Foundation also in Johnson City were the first two applicants to receive this help. On Oct. 9th, a group of Munsey and GINI members was given a tour of the facilities at Munsey UMC in Johnson City. The second energy assessment took place at the Wesley House near ETSU on Monday, Oct. 21st.

In each of these tours, the team of volunteers wrote notes about resource use on a form like the one that Sister Paula Gonzalez (the “solar nun”) developed in Cincinnati in the 1990s. As expected, general considerations on the form (used for assessing resource use) include:  the building construction and size (walls, doors, windows, roof/ceilings, & basement); the heating, cooling, & ventilation systems; lighting of all types; and water use. In addition, specific areas related to use of the facility are also considered for potential savings:  kitchen and laundry areas, office and technology use, landscaping, outbuildings, and vehicle maintenance.

As the facility is toured, participants indicate areas where recent upgrades and/or cost-saving strategies have been implemented as well as those where changes might still be made. Some no-cost behavioral changes include strategies such as:  encouraging turning off lights, closing doors, shutting off pilot lights, adjusting thermostats, etc. Other changes might be low-cost, such as putting a timer on a unit, or using a power strip to turn off a set of appliances or equipment that have an instant-on feature. Still other changes require a more significant investment of time and funds, such as making structural changes or replacing equipment that is inefficient by today’s standards.

The GINI team is not professionally qualified to recommend which strategies to employ, nor provide cost-benefit analyses. The participating congregation must examine current costs and study the research about various options in order to make those value-laden decisions amongst themselves. GINI is pleased to provide procedural support to stimulate action, and offers follow-up communications to help document success as the congregation makes changes.

GINI’s “Cool Congregations” project is underway and we are eager to learn more as we help others, and also to share the results!