WRITTEN BY JODI HERSEY
“Church does evolve. Church is not stuck in one place. Our mindset does not stay in the same place, because we are always learning and growing.”
– Pastor Rachel Dobbs
Usually, a 200-year-old church’s mission is to repair the steeple, fix a roof, or maintain the tower clock, but for the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church, it’s all about going green.
In 2022, the church formed a Green Team to look at ways to update the building and reduce the environmental impact it has on the community with a goal of achieving carbon neutrality. Some of those changes included adding a solar array to the roof and changing over from oil burning heat to heat pumps.
“Now we produce in excess of 40,000 kilowatt hours of what we’re consuming,” said Green Team member and church moderator George Barton.
It’s been a costly change that has taken time, money, and a whole lot of faith to implement. The Green Team and church staff spent months looking into funding, grant programs, and tax rebates in order to make these updates. It also approved an energy audit and raised funds within the congregation to make going green a reality.
“We came up with over $80,000 in three months from over 150 people in the congregation,” Barton said. “And it’s because we have a strong faith in this church that God is still speaking to us, and to never put a period where God intends a comma.”
Barton’s wife and fellow church member Jan said it’s been wonderful watching these environmental changes become a reality.
“It’s always pleasant when you have a thought and a belief and an idea of how things should go and they end up going that way,” she said.
The Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church’s efforts to go green are going so well it’s now looking at more ways to reduce its emissions.
“We’re considering getting rid of paper towels in the restrooms and getting electric dryers,” said George Barton. “We’re also looking at cutting the waste stream from our [weekly community] take-out meals by getting rid of all the plastics involved in that.”
Pastor Dobbs said being good stewards of the building and the church’s finances is paying off.
“Our energy costs are so small compared to what they were,” she said.
So now the group is moving forward in faith and relying on God to further their future endeavors to improve the environment.
“I think he’d say, ‘Keep going. What more can you do? How can you be a good neighbor? How can you share your resources,’” Dobbs said.
