Wesley United Church Lives Out Their Vision of Being Good Neighbours, Sharing Worship, Music, Their Talents, and Food

“This place is alive!” – so said Stephen Collette, Building Audit Manager for Faith & The Common Good - who administers the Faithful Footprints program - following the complimentary pasta dinner and music program at Wesley United Church on Saturday, April 26 in celebration of its conversion to heat pumps and its kitchen renovation, part of which included installation of energy-efficient appliances. There was definitely a buzz before and during dinner, described by those present, as marked by conversation among friends and strangers alike, lots of smiles and laughter, bon homme, excitement, good will, and music. The buzz and energy continued after dinner as the guests spontaneously joined in singing the selections they knew and expressing delight with those they didn’t

Wesley’s own ukelele group, the “16th Line Strummers” welcomed guests as they gathered for dinner. An absolutely fabulous pasta dinner, including the “best meatballs I’ve ever had” (as described by some who enjoyed the feast) was followed by additional selections by the 16th Line Strummers, a guitarist and singers from Wesley and a fabulous selection of music from what was billed as “Three Gals and a Geezer” from the Trinity and Providence United Communities of Faith, Bobcaygeon. (A name change may be required since a fifth member recently joined! “Gals and Geezers” has been a suggestion.)

Wesley welcomed over 90 guests to its party to celebrate all who contributed to the success of its energy upgrades and kitchen renovation – regular worshippers and contributors to its budget, community members who support its many fundraising efforts, those who performed the “hands-on” work, the East Central Ontario Region’s Property Committee and the United Church of Canada’s Faithful Footsteps Program.

Wesley welcomed over 90 guests to its party to celebrate all who contributed to the success of its energy upgrades and kitchen renovation – regular worshippers and contributors to its budget, community members who support its many fundraising efforts, those who performed the “hands-on” work, the East Central Ontario Region’s Property Committee and the United Church of Canada’s Faithful Footsteps Program.

Wesley was excited to be able to celebrate the physical upgrades and all the people who helped make it happen in this 100th anniversary year of The United Church of Canada (UCC). Wesley received a $20K grant from the UCC’s Faithful Footprints program, which helps churches convert to more energy-efficient heating and cooling systems. Part of the energy conversion included replacing old kitchen appliances with energy-efficient ones. That led to the idea of totally remodelling the kitchen. The possibility of the grant enabled the dream of the renovation and generated the excitement around it.

Wesley was excited to be able to celebrate the physical upgrades and all the people who helped make it happen in this 100th anniversary year of The United Church of Canada (UCC). Wesley received a $20K grant from the UCC’s Faithful Footprints program, which helps churches convert to more energy-efficient heating and cooling systems. Part of the energy conversion included replacing old kitchen appliances with energy-efficient ones. That led to the idea of totally remodelling the kitchen. The possibility of the grant enabled the dream of the renovation and generated the excitement around it.

The congregation concluded that the kitchen was the hub of a large portion of its community-building and fundraising activities, and that a remodelled kitchen would provide a comfortable, efficient facility where volunteers for the present and for the next generation could enjoy working. So out of necessity (because one of the two 40-year-old furnaces had failed and repair parts were no longer available and the knowledge that the other one wasn’t far behind) was born an investment in the future. The conviction that this church community has much to offer both to those who live close by and to those who live at a little distance resulted in months of excitement, lots of fundraising, and reaching out in new ways.

As it happened, this celebration occurred during Earth Week (April 20-27). The UCC joins with many denominations and faith-based organizations under one banner: Together for the Love of Creation. As Wesley continues to celebrate the steps taken to reduce its carbon footprint, members look forward to seeking new ways to live out their commitment to being good neighbours, sharing worship, music, their talents, and food.

Another way of expressing the sentiments stated by Stephen Collette is a conversation between the Reverend Rodney Smith-Merkley and a parishioner some months ago where Rev. Rod said, “I’m not sure exactly what is going on here, but something exciting is happening.” The conversation concluded with the stated belief that “The Spirit is working here.” Another statement over the winter months with a new regular worshipper went something like: “It’s more than ‘friendly’ or ‘welcoming’; I don’t have a word for it, but it is special.”

Some of the ways we see the Spirit’s presence outside our weekly worship services include our weekly coffee hour; monthly Soup, Sandwich, and Euchre, weekly ukulele group, monthly meditation sessions, weekly Bible Study, and twice monthly art group. And we don’t want to forget that very special social hour following worship service. Most Sundays finds those who join in the fun typically leave about an hour after the service is over.

Our weekly Friday morning coffee hour has enabled us to get to know people in our community we wouldn’t see otherwise. Early on in this relatively new endeavor, one of our long-time members observed, “I don’t know whose idea this was, but it’s really been a great way for us long-time members to get to know the new people in our congregation”. And one of the “newbies” responded, “And it’s been great for the new people to get to know the long-time members.”

About the same time as the weekly coffee hour was proposed, a monthly “Soup, Sandwich, and Euchre” night was suggested. That, too, has been a great way to provide a monthly gathering for those in our community with whom we have no other formal connection. Half the monies brought in from the progressive euchre nights is donated to the local food bank, Trent Lakes Outreach. Serious euchre players do have to adjust that we’re mostly just about having fun. They’ve done well!.

A couple of months after the coffee hour and euchre nights were implemented, a conversation at the Buckhorn Community Centre resulted in a ukelele group being started. We’ve had changes in the group and have remained small, but mighty! We meet weekly “just after coffee time”, work hard, enjoy lots of laughs, and provide special music once a month in Sunday worship. Some members of our “16th Line Strummers” belong to other communities of faith; sometimes they’re able to join us on those Sundays and sometimes not. We’re happy to have them when they can, with no expectation that they should.

Our monthly meditation is led by one of our new members and our weekly Bible study by a long-time member. Wesley is happy to enable the members of a small group that meets twice monthly to explore their artistic talents. A spirit of openness to “something new” while remaining deeply connected to the roots of their faith, a genuine welcoming of newcomers, strong lay and ministry leadership, and genuine love and appreciation of the congregation for its minister and the minister for his “flock” have created fertile ground for the Spirit’s work to flourish.

New Energy Efficiency Grant Available for Faith Communities in Alberta

The Alberta government has released the Energy Savings for Businesses (ESB), a new energy savings grant program that includes nonprofits and cooperatives. The great news is that faith communities qualify for this funding opportunity.

The ESB grant allows each participant to access up to $250,000 per building. An à la carte menu of eligible items indicates what percentage of the costs per item the grant covers.

Some examples of items that can have 25% of the costs covered include qualifying LED fixtures, lighting controls, and solar photovoltaic installations.

Qualifying Energy Star boilers and furnaces, and air source heat pumps can have up to 50% of the costs paid for by the grant. As well, you can access 50% of the grant for the costs of increasing your insulation to meet the standard outlined, or for installing new Energy Star windows.

Why Apply?

Incentives like this can help you reduce your overall operational costs by lowering your energy bills, as well as reducing your carbon footprint. Consider passive strategies first, such as air sealing and insulation, as once these are installed and upgraded, your savings will continue on for years. Ensuring you have LED lights throughout the entire building, inside and outside will save you money and is an easy action for most faith communities. If you are up on a ladder, consider improving ceiling fans to Energy Star new ones, so that they can push the heated, conditioned air back down, reducing the number of times the heat has to come on. Appliances can be a huge energy source, especially old fridges and freezers in your building. Upgrading your old appliance will typically pay for itself in a few months with a new Energy Star rated unit. Finally, you can also upgrade your heating system and hot water tanks from oil to air source heat pumps, and high efficiency electric.

Please click on the link to contact Emissions Reduction Alberta to get more information and to start your energy saving, operational cost savings, and planet saving plan now!

More Savings!

There are even more ways to save! For United Church of Canada properties, you can use the ESB grant to access even more energy efficiency funds from the United Church of Canada’s Faithful Footprints grant program, making your energy efficiency project very cost effective.

For more information on FCG programs, please contact our Building Audit Manager, Stephen Collette, at scollette@faithcommongood.org.