At Gloria Dei

Gloria Dei earns Climate Justice Congregation status  in 2022

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church has been certified as a Climate Justice Congregation by Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light (MNIPL), a statewide climate justice organization representing thousands of people of faith and conscience. Gloria Dei joins an elite group of 24 congregations around the state taking strong and effective actions to address climate change.

MNIPL’s year-long certification program gives congregations the focus, resources and support to galvanize their community into powerful climate action. Once a year, they also reflect on successes, struggles, and new knowledge gained from their experience. More information about MNIPL’s certification program is found here.

Environmental-focused actions taken by the Gloria Dei’s Caring for Creation team over the 2021-22 time frame included:

– Purchasing less dense paper for printing the church bulletins saving on use of timber resources and money.

– Getting 100 percent of its electricity from clean renewables through Xcel Energy’s Windsource program as of February 2022.

– Recycling church pews taken out for the sanctuary remodeling project. About 10 pews were taken home by church members. Most were given by Better Futures, a non-profit that employs men who have been chronically homeless or had mental health challenges to repurpose, recycle or reuse materials.

– Saving miscellaneous renovation materials from the landfill including brick, marble, and doors which were repurposed into other parts of the project.

– Encouraging church members to contact their state representatives to dedicate part of the state’s budget surplus to climate improvement.

– Assisting with a four-week Sunday school lesson on being a good steward, which included a review of recycling principles and the need to recognize and protect pollinators.

– Providing opportunities for children to make beeswax food wraps to learn about the delicate balance humans have with bees, recognizing God’s beautiful creation and our role to care for it. The biodegradable wraps could be used over and over, replacing single-use plastic wrap.

Brief history of Caring for Creation (environmental) improvements incorporated into building projects at Gloria Dei

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church intentionally incorporated Caring for Creation (environmental) improvements into each of its recent large capital and smaller projects. The church was built on the existing site in the early 1950s. Heating and cooling systems, insulation, material selection such as lead paint and asbestos tiling, and a variety of interior and exterior opportunities were addressed where feasible during the last 20 years and continue to be addressed in both it’s annual and capital budget decisions.

Starting with the addition of the Gathering Place building in 2002, energy efficiency was addressed by using better R-value rated windows, increased insulation and adding a more efficient separate HVAC system. Integrated energy controls and LED lighting are now part this space. The church made a carefully considered decision to have a slate roof on this building, both for its aesthetics and 100-year life span. In 2013, the broken slate on the 1950s building was replaced and a new gutter system installed. The existing tile was removed from the lower level roofing of the 1960s addition so that rigid insulation could be installed. It was then put back with new tiles added only as needed.

The windows in the Youth Room were replaced with more efficient models and higher R-value insulation was installed over the sanctuary and in the office wing. LED lighting was expanded to more areas of the GDLC complex. And more recently, in 2017, during a major waterproofing project of the Colonial Room and Choir Room, additional structural foundation work was required for stabilization. Steam pipes and traps were replaced to address fugitive energy loss. And this is when GDLC obtained a grant from the Capital Region Watershed District to put in our beautiful rain gardens and control drainage from our parking lot.