The United States (US) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created and manages the Energy Star program. You may know the brand when buying an appliance for your home, selecting the most efficient appliance possible. They also work with buildings, and specifically congregations! (As an aside, Natural Resources Canada created the EnerGuide program, which we sold to the US, and they rebranded it as Energy Star, and now we use both programs here in Canada). Although US- centric, their resources are really great tools to help Canadian congregations take on energy saving actions and activities. 

To start, we, at Faith & the Common Good (FCG) are the only Canadian faith-based organization to have co-branded with EPA, producing the amazingly helpful Energy Star Action Workbook. It even has Dundas United Cardigan, NS on the cover replacing windows! Paired with our DIY Energy Audit Walkthrough Guide, these two resources are an outstanding way to take energy savings action in your congregation.

Guest blog by Kathleen Davies, garden team member

Hope

It seems that every year at St. Cuthbert’s Leaside Anglican Church a new garden “springs up.”  As we began a second planting season under Covid restrictions, our gardening team needed a little inspiration. Motivated by Communities in Bloom Canada’s pronouncement that YELLOW is the garden colour of 2021, we created a HOPE planter.   It joyfully sits on St. Cuthbert’s front steps for all the community to see.  Our message of HOPE inspired more than our own gardeners…photos of our planter have been shared online and in community news!

Guest blog by Elaine McKee

In the hour when the Holy one, blessed be He, created the first man, He took him and let him pass before all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him: "See my works, how fine and excellent they are!
Now all that I have created, for you have I created. Think upon this and do not corrupt and desolate My world, for if you corrupt it, there is no one to set it right after you." 
~Ecclesiastes

One of the most beautiful experiences in religious services is the sound of a pipe organ filling a church, whether in a small wood framed, rural church, or a full size Casavant in a large Gothic, stone church. The sounds fill the building as well as one’s soul with joy. 

What people may not know is that many pipe organs have leather and wood parts, specifically in the stops in the pipes. This is merely an interesting detail until you think about what happens to those materials when temperatures drop – that is, they change in shape and size. These changes can impact the sound of the organ.

Guest blog by Sajeda Khan, Social Services Coordinator

The Faith & the Common Good community garden project is an amazing project. To begin, the excitement of sharing our sacred spaces was marvellous, especially for common ground.

The senior volunteers and gardeners were looking forward to spring and their favourite hobby is to plant plants, especially native plants and vegetables. 

We began with planting the native plants.

Monarda Fistulosa is a wild flower in the mint family, widespread and abundant. It is a native plant of North America. It’s also known as bee balm.

Echinacea Purpurea, commonly called purple coneflower, is a coarse, rough –hairy, herbaceous perennial that is native to most prairies.

Asclepias turnerosa, commonly called butterfly weed, is a tuberous rooted, Missouri native perennial which occurs in dry and rocky open woods, glades, prairies.

Dear Friends...

This is a short email-blast with two important updates. I am excited to share our 2020 Annual Report with you! The 2020 report is special: we celebrated a milestone, that is, twenty years of FCG. As well, we invite you to mark your calendars for our upcoming Annual General Meeting.

Wishing you a peaceful rest of the summer.

Michelle Singh, Executive Director

When we think about the year 2050 and our climate goals of being carbon neutral in all of our activities, including operating our buildings, we often have this utopian vision of space age buildings. That vision is not what 2050 will look like; not even close.