IMPORTANT: The deadline for MCCN’s grants is moving from October 31 to June 30. The next opportunity to apply is in June
2018.
Mennonite Creation Care Network’s second year of grant-making again attracted congregations interested in solar energy. This year, Walnut Hill Mennonite Church, Goshen, IN, was awarded $7000 and Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship, Goshen, IN, will receive $5,000.
About 70 people gather at Walnut Hill on Sunday mornings. Pastor Ben Bouwman describes the congregation as a group that takes peace and justice seriously and is working to bring this emphasis to their neighborhood through a peace camp for children.
Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship is a mid-sized congregation presently nurturing many young children. The church also has a significant population of college students when school is in session. They are part of the Interfaith Hospitality Network’s ministry to homeless families. Berkey will install their panels in a “barn raising” style. The congregation is fortunate to have an engineer in the congregation who is able to lend the necessary expertise to direct the operation.
Both congregations are rushing to beat 2018 changes in net metering laws in their state that make the rate at which the local power company pays for excess power less favorable.