 |
Energy Stewardship and
Green Gardening
Georgetown Gospel Chapel
Seattle, WA
Georgetown Gospel Chapel is a small Full Gospel
congregation that sits in the heart of Seattle’s
most industrial area, in the middle of one of
the most economically and environmentally challenged
neighborhoods in the city. The neighborhood borders
an active Superfund site and contains several
toxic “brownfields,” and also sits
next to Boeing field.
The Chapel’s first memorial
garden, dedicated to a
neighbor
who lost her life
in a drug-related crime
Twenty years ago, the Chapel faced
a decision of whether or not to pay $2,000 to
repair their lawn’s sprinkler system. This
made little sense to the members as they considered
the pressing needs of the community, as well as
their own financial needs. They decided to tear
out the sprinkler system (and almost the entire
lawn) and turned the church property into a large
garden that could nourish the broader community.
|
|
The garden’s produce is free for the taking
and helps to supplement the diets of neighbors
who often must decide between paying rent, paying
for utilities, and buying food. The vegetable
gardens also serve as important habitat for birds
and wildlife seldom seen in this industrial core.
Inside the Chapel, members are responding
to a call to live more justly and equitably within
the global community: they’re lessening
their contribution to global warming through various
types of energy conservation. Every light in this
sanctuary contains an energy efficient compact
florescent light bulb. Changing from 100-watt
bulbs to 25-watt compact florescent bulbs reduced
the amount of energy they consume by 75 percent.
|