Community Corner
Faith-Based Environmental Group Helps Lithonia Church Go Green
The First Afrikan Presbyterian Church in Lithonia makes environmentally-friendly changes.
When you think of environmentally friendly organizations, you usually don’t think of a church.
The First Afrikan Presbyterian Church in Lithonia is changing that.
The church is one of 80 congregations in Georgia that is part of an innovative program started by Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL).
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The faith-based organization helps congregations analyze their energy uses and gives them grants to make improvements.
In addition to replacing the air conditioning units, The First Afrikan Presbyterian Church switched all manual thermostats to programmable ones and added insulation to the attic to reduce energy costs.
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The church is also implementing a two-phase campaign that will educate homeowners within the congregation on how to save energy and partner with community members to share ideas on a neighborhood scale.
GIPL was started in 2003 by several environmentally-conscious faith-based leaders in California and has a national network of 38 state affiliates.
“Saving energy is the most effective way of reducing air pollution and lightening the load on the environment. Georgia Interfaith Power & Light helps the faith-based community to be better stewards of the environment," said Lisa Frank, GIPL public relations consultant.
Once a congregation signs up for the program, Frank explained that the first step in the process is getting an energy audit. “We have a professional energy auditor who provides audits to communities of faith. After the audit, we provide [the church] with a plan for saving energy. We help them decide what to do first and navigate their way [through the process]”, said Frank.
Alexis Chase is the executive director of the Georgia Interfaith Power & Light (GIPL). “Every congregation we have ever worked with is spending too much on energy,” said Chase.
Chase explained that GIPL helps the participating congregations find financial resources to fund the necessary work. “We gave The First Afrikan Presbyterian Church a matching grant and they used it to replace smaller air conditioners," said Chase.
Chase said that any congregation in the State of Georgia can apply for the program and that the energy audit costs between $100-300 depending on the size of the congregation.
For more information about Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, visit their website at http://www.gipl.org/ or call 404.588.9978.