Bethlehem is an official Green Church. Our church leaders signed a covenant in 2018 that we as a church affirm the importance of healing and defending God’s creation through our Worship, Learning and Teaching, Lifestyle, and Involvement.
We are now live!
With the glorious gift of God’s life-sustaining sun, we are now making our own electricity! Our solar power system is completed and supplying enough power for our entire campus. We will be saving about $1,500 per month on electricity. Thank you to everyone who bought panels or supported this worthwhile project in any way. We only have 10 panels left for “sale” for a donation of $1,000 each, or a donation of any amount is greatly appreciated. God is surely pleased with us for being good stewards of his creation.
Our Mission as a Green Team
With God’s help, to be God’s messengers to the congregation through ongoing conversation of how our lives come from, flow through, and are interconnected with creation; and to implement change for the betterment of our church, our community, and our world. We have developed this special Recycling flier.
The team meets the first Friday of each month at 2:00 to evaluate their goals and activities, and plan opportunities for the congregation and others to participate in caring for God‘s creation. If you are interested in attending, please contact Ann Marie Smith.
Our Goals as a Green Team
1. To educate, encourage, inspire, and commit to being Christian Caretakers of Creation.
2. Guide the Ministries of the Church and congregation through education to embrace an earth-friendly focus in church-planned programs/activities and at home.
3. Reduce the carbon footprint of the Church by assessing its use of energy, lighting, water, and other resources, and by reducing usage and improving efficiency.
4. Encourage recycling at church and at home. Providing recycling containers in classrooms, workroom and kitchen with signs to collect clean paper and cardboard, plastic and glass bottles, and cans. Also collecting Kroger Flexible Plastics and ink cartridges. Educating members about all aspects of recycling.
5. Offer special events during the year highlighting the beauty of God’s creation and ways to be better caretakers of it, such as document shredding and electronics recycling.
6. Educate the congregation by contributing ideas and information regularly to the Church newsletter, and by leading classes and other educational events.
Kroger Flexible Plastics Recycling Program:
In the three years we have been collecting Kroger Flexible Plastics we have recycled nearly 50 lbs. of Kroger flexible plastics. With the points we earn from TerraCycle, we have planted 13 trees, saved 10 acres of rain forest, helped reduce waste and tax dollars in the consumer product industry, and kept 46 lbs. of CO2 out of the atmosphere.
Our collection box is on the rack in the hall near room 112. The only plastics we can accept are flexible plastics with the brands Kroger, Simple Truth, or Private Selection. All other flexible plastic bags, wraps and films should be recycled in the bins outside Kroger or Food Lion.Please do not bring to our collection box anything that does not display one of the accepted brands.
Thank you for your participation in our program.
2025 Accomplishments
In 2025 we accomplished our big, audacious goal of erecting a solar array that produces enough power to cover the average cost of our electricity. The array stands at the top of the hill behind the church.
We are designing a pollinator garden to plant behind the array, facing the church. Eventually we plan to add more pollinator gardens to other areas around the arrays.
We held our annual Document Shredding event with Electronics Recycling again this year. We shredded 5100 lbs. of paper, equivalent to 43 trees saved, and took 2540 lbs. of assorted electronics to the Bedford Co. Recycling Center.
We maintained the Harvest Table on Sunday mornings mid-March – mid-Oct.
Recycled 20.2 lbs. of Kroger Flexible Plastics enabling us to plant 8 more trees and save 3 more acres of rain forest. So far, in the three years we have been collecting Kroger Flexible Plastics, we have recycled 48 lbs, resulting in 13 trees planted in American forests, 10 acres of rain forest saved, and 46 lbs. of CO2 kept out of the atmosphere!
Collected and recycled several boxes of ink cartridges that had been brought in to be recycled.
Our Glorious Gifts Christmas mission offering this year was a Family Solar Kit through Heifer Int. The gift enables families to have power for lighting, well or irrigation system, phone and radio charging, and equipment such as chicken hatchery or refrigeration for crops. $1000 was donated for this gift.
2024 Accomplishments
Recycled 26lbs. of Kroger, Simple Truth and Private Selection brand Flexible Plastics, enabling us to plant 4 trees through the Arbor Day Society, protect 2 acres of rain forest, and keep 22lbs. CO2 out of the atmosphere.
Provided the Harvest Table on Sunday mornings for home gardeners to bring in excess produce from their gardens to share with others.
Held SML Creation Care Celebration – Environmental Fair, Electronics Recycling Collection and Document Shredding. Visitors met with 14 local organizations set up in the church parking lot. We collected 2560lbs of electronics that we took to the County Recycling Center and had a document shredding truck that shredded 6500lbs of paper.
Participated in the Christmas mission project, Glorious Gifts, Too with a Dream Basket from Heifer International. The gift consists of a goat, heifer, sheep, rabbits and flock of chicks, along with training and education in their care. Over $900 was donated to support the gift selection.
Received the Sustaining Green Church at District Conference. Install an array of Solar Panels that will reduce the church electricity usage significantly.
2023 Green Team Accomplishments:
Once again, Bethlehem has earned the “Sustaining Green Church Award” from the VA Conference of the UMC. Some of the highlights of our activities in 2023 include:
- having Pat Watkins visit for Earth Day Sunday,
- installing the final three smart thermostats, which save the church electricity,
- receiving the 2022 Sustaining Green Church Ward at Annual Conference,
- having the Crazy Crayon Recycling Drive,
- recycling Kroger Flexible Plastics,
- leading a WW class and showing the Pope’s movie, “The Letter, A Message for Our Earth”,
- maintaining the Harvest Table,
- sponsoring the Blessing of the Animals,
- offering Earth Baskets as a Glorious Gifts mission selection.
2022 Accomplishments
Converted the final group of fluorescent fixtures to LED – approximately 152 fixtures, about 575 bulbs converted and recycled. We are saving electricity and money with these energy efficient bulbs.
Calculated the church’s carbon footprint. Found that we kept about 8 tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere by all our recycling. Our greatest energy use is for transportation. Carpooling, making fewer trips, and converting to hybrid or electric cars is recommended.
Offered a program by church member, John Wohlgemuth, on using the sun’s energy to alleviate climate change.
Took two field trips to the home of Bill and Arlene Pecoraro. Bill educated us about Purple Martins and Honeybees.
Lead a Sunday School class entitled A Hopeful Earth: Faith, Science and the Message of Jesus.
Held our annual Shredding Event in April
Maintained the Harvest Table of members’ produce give-away throughout the growing season.
Offered Solar Well through Heifer, Int. as a Glorious Gifts Christmas mission opportunity. Were able to provide several wells in places in the world where clean water is scarce.
2021 Accomplishments
During three workdays we converted most of the fluorescent fixtures in the church to LED.
Informed the congregation about National Energy Hour and encouraged them to turn off all lights and other energy users in the house for one hour on a March evening. Gave nice list of suggested activities people could do while their lights were turned off.
Advocated for Plastic-Free July, not using single-use plastics during July.
Set up a Christmas display of earth friendly Christmas gift alternative ideas.
Held an educational program about the value of honeybees to the environment.
Archives starting 2015.