IMMANUEL CHURCH-ON-THE-HILL
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CREATION CARE MINISTRY

​The Episcopal Church’s Covenant for the Care of Creation is a commitment to practice loving formation, liberating advocacy, and life-giving conservation as individuals, congregations, ministries and dioceses.  It is helpful to review this as our Creation Care Ministry moves forward using this covenant as our guide:
 
In Jesus, God so loved the whole world. We follow Jesus, so we love the world God loves. Concerned about the global climate emergency, drawing from a range of approaches for our diverse contexts, we commit to form and restore loving, liberating, life-giving relationships with all of Creation.
 
LOVING FORMATION For God’s sake, we will grow our love for the Earth and all of life through preaching, teaching, storytelling, and prayer.
 
LIBERATING ADVOCACY For God’s sake, standing alongside marginalized, vulnerable peoples, we will advocate and act to repair Creation and seek the liberation and flourishing of all people.
 
LIFE-GIVING CONSERVATION For God’s sake, we will adopt practical ways of reducing our climate impact and living more humbly and gently on Earth as individuals, households, congregations, institutions, and dioceses.

​
To learn more about Immanuel’s Creation Care Ministry and Action Team, contact Denise Freeland at eco.voce@verizon.net.

RESOURCES

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NEW!  2023 Clean Energy Tax Credits for Consumers (a benefit of the Inflation Reduction Act)
Click here to check out some of the items included in the new law. 
​

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​Click here to read "The Climate Crisis: Here's How YOU Can Help"

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Click here for information on how to reduce, reuse, and recycle

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Click here for a comprehensive guide on planting native trees: why and how.

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​Click here for the latest information and FAQs on Immanuel’s solar project.

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Click here for the list of native plants growing in Immanuel's garden.

FORUM HOUR
January 22, 2023:  Forum Hour on "Climate Resolutions"
The definition of the word “resolution" is “harmony."  A climate resolution is one way you can help restore the planet, bringing God’s Creation to a more harmonious state. 

What will your climate resolutions be for 2023?  

Check out the slideshow below to see how some Immanuelites are caring for God’s Creation with their commitments made at the recent Forum Hour, complete with selfies! 
Other commitments made, but no selfies taken:

* I will replace my gasoline-powered tools and yard equipment with ones using battery power.

* I will begin to compost my food waste.

* I will vote for elected officials who support clean energy.

* I will stop using single-use plastic water bottles in favor of reusable, refillable ones. 

* I will learn by reading more about climate change.
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CREATION CARE NEWS
​

July 20, 2023
 
On June 7, 2023, Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill passed our 1-Year Solar Anniversary, a year of public commitment to Creation Care and reducing our carbon emissions—letting our neighbors know we are true and faithful stewards of “this fragile earth, our island home” (from Eucharistic Prayer C – The Great Thanksgiving- The Book of Common Prayer). The bullets below highlight the key findings for Immanuel’s first complete year of solar generation.
 
Environmental Benefits:
  • Generated 64,750 kWh of clean sustainable electricity, coming in at 99.6% of the estimated generation figure our installer, SES, gave us for the first year of operation! 
  • Prevented sending over 100,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions into God’s atmosphere, equivalent to
    • Planting 760 new trees or
    • Supplying a year of carbon-emissions-free electricity for six houses (per U.S. Energy Information Administration, average annual electricity consumption for an American household in 2021 was 10,632 kWh)
  • Generated 73% of the electricity Zabriskie Chapel-Parish Hall’s needed for the year!
Cost Savings:
  • Because our panels generated 73 percent of the electricity the building needed, Immanuel only spent $4,118.33 – a savings of $5,596.29 over what we spent on electricity in 2021 ($9,714.62) and where building kWh consumption was similar for both years. [Note: That savings would be even greater had not Virginia’s average electricity rates increased 20% between December 2021 and December 2022, per U.S. Energy Information Agency, (mostly due to 2022 price spikes in methane gas and coal).]
  • Bonus – SREC Payments: In addition to electricity bill savings, by going solar, Immanuel receives approximately $3,150/year from the Virginia Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) program.  We have already received $2,091.00 for the solar electricity generated by our panels during the first nine months and expect an additional $1,100 for March/April/May ‘23 generation. When SREC earnings are applied to electricity bill savings, Immanuel’s actual cost for electricity for our first solar year is only $968.33.
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Let us celebrate and cut our carbon emissions wherever and whenever we can!!!  
​-- 
Julie Bruns
​July 21, 2021
Sacred Space - Memorial Garden
Our team continues to think about how to integrate sustainable practices into our planning and care for the grounds at our church. We are working with Chain Bridge Native Landscapes, a local company focused on integrating native plants and sustainable design, on several areas of our property that need new planting, especially to deal with rainwater management and erosion control. 

The newly-planted area behind Zabriskie Chapel features Packera aurea (Golden ragwort), Itea virginica (Virginia Sweetspire), native ferns, and rushes, to name a few.  A complete list of the garden plantings will soon be available.  We hope these plants inspire parishioners and visitors alike to consider incorporating native plants for use in home gardens.
PictureKevin Kirby, Buildings and Grounds, and Kathryn Jackson Haskin, Senior Warden, take a break after weeding the newly-planted area.

​As we go through this landscaping process, we are also considering the other areas on our property, most especially the Memorial Garden, and we hope to contract with this company for further discussion and planning throughout the summer and fall. We have been blessed to have strong parishioner support over many years to care for the gardens and other spaces on the property, and we look forward to engaging many in the parish in projects on the grounds through 2021 and beyond.​

May 20, 2021
​Good Samaritan Collection Bin
​New!  The City of Alexandria is committed to recovering resources sustainably and has launched a Reuse Map and Directory.  Reusing items is an effective way to save natural resources, protect the environment, and reduce costs.
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​Immanuel’s Good Samaritan collection bin for gently used clothing is now listed in the Alexandria Reuse Directory under “Donate or Drop Off.”  
​

Our bin is located just off the Zabriskie parking area.

​Trex Bench
Our Trex Bench has arrived and was assembled and placed in the Memorial Garden by Shawn Whitman.
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It is a powerful reminder that our parishioners and friends kept 500 pounds of plastic bags out of our local streams, rivers, and bellies of wildlife by donating the plastic bags and films to Immanuel’s Recycling Challenge. Our bench is the product responsibly created for us by Trex from our 500 pounds of plastic collected. And all of this was happening during the pandemic. 

We invite you to go sit on the new bench and take some time to reflect on the past year. Thank you to all who participated in the Recycling Challenge and for caring for God’s Creation in this way.

--Submitted by Denise Freeland 


Previous issue:
​January 21, 2021 Creation Care News

Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill

Episcopal/Anglican

ZABRISKIE CHAPEL
3606 Seminary Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22304
(703) 370-6555
​office@icoh.net


IMMANUEL CHAPEL
3737 Seminary Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22304


  • Home
  • ABOUT US
    • Accessibility and Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Clergy & Staff >
      • The Rev. J. Randolph Alexander, Jr.
      • The Rev. Susan Parsons
      • The Rev. Sarah Spurlock Biggs
      • Reggie Hayes
      • Dr. Jane Tavernier, D.M.A.
    • Vestry, Administration, Annual Report, Bylaws, and Living Wage Certification >
      • Previous Vestries
      • Annual Report
    • Parish Directory 2023
    • Virginia Theological Seminary
    • Valley Drive Cooperative Preschool
    • Scouts BSA Troop 131
    • Annual Pumpkin Sale >
      • Pumpkin Patch Volunteers
    • History >
      • 75th Anniversary
      • Coronavirus Response >
        • Community Reflections on the Pandemic
  • WORSHIP
    • Lectionary
    • Sermons
    • Worship service bulletins >
      • Service Bulletin Archive
    • Funerals, Committals, Memorials and Funds >
      • LeRissa Euorpa Martin
      • Walk to Zabriskie Memorial Garden
      • Memorial Garden
      • Bobbie Thomas Memorial Fund
    • Music at Immanuel
    • Lectors
  • GIVE
    • 2024 Every Member Pledge
    • Stewardship Minutes
    • FAQs & Proportional Giving Chart
    • 2024 Online Pledge Card
    • 2024 Downloadable Pledge Card
    • Ways to Give
    • Online Giving >
      • Legacy Online Giving
    • Altar Flower&Music Dedications
    • Christmas Flowers
    • Practical Matters & Faithful Giving
    • Tax Questions
    • Planned Giving
    • Trust Funds
    • Amazon Associates
    • Tithe.ly
  • SERVE
    • Outreach >
      • 2023 Christmas Families
    • Pastoral Care
    • Creation Care Ministry >
      • The Climate Crisis: Here's How YOU Can Help
      • Celebrating Trees
      • Immanuel's Solar Project >
        • Blessing of the Solar Panels
        • Solar Panel Project Updates
      • Water/Weed Volunteer
    • Senior Adult Ministry and Fellowship
    • Social Justice Ministry
  • LEARN
    • Children, Youth, and Families >
      • PYM & Shrine Mont Camps
    • Adult Education >
      • Breakfast Bible Study Brochure
      • Report on Retreat Survey
      • 2023 Advent Retreat
      • Forum Hour Videos
    • Benedictine Community
    • Lay Committee for Seminarians
  • CALENDAR
  • Newsletter-on-the-Hill
  • Almond Tree Quarterly & In Brief
  • Simple Gifts Newsletter
    • Simple Gifts Archive
  • Episcopal News Service
  • Subscribe