Two-fold sustainability at St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church
Glenda Eden
St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church

Solar panels on the roof of St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church in Ingleside began putting green energy into the provincial grid in mid-September. At the Sunday Service on Oct. 2 project partners surprised the congregation with a $5000 donation to put back in the community. From left David Arenburg, vice president of Canadian Solar Solutions, Marc Myers, Saturn Powers’ Eastern Ontario account manager, Daniel Saumure, Senior account manager with Canadian Solar Solutions and Reid McIntyre, Clerk of Session at St.Matthew’s with minister Harold Kouwenberg.
PHOTO CREDIT – Submitted Photo, Glenda Eden
Ingleside – Oct. 12, 2011 – Sustainability was not a concept lost on the congregation of St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church in Ingleside. With many churches struggling to cover maintenance and upkeep they welcomed an opportunity to help secure their own sustainability with a solar energy project under the Ontario MicroFit program.

Roof-mounted solar panels over the church sanctuary are now harvesting the sun and putting clean, renewable electric power into the provincial grid. Manufactured by Ottawa-based Canadian Solar Solutions, the panels were installed by Saturn Power of New Hamburg, Ontario, an integrator and developer of large and small-scale renewable energy technologies and projects across the province.

Saturn Power finished installation of the 10 kilowatt photovoltaic system, capable of producing approximately 13,000 kWh of electrical power a year in mid- August. The panels were officially connected to the provincial energy grid in mid-September.

Moved by St. Matthew’s sense of community, environmental consciousness and the kindness and generosity of the congregation, Saturn’s Eastern Ontario account manager Marc Myers went looking for some small way to show his gratitude.

And, not unlike the story of the loaves and fishes, a request for a modest token of appreciation grew into a sizable donation to the church from the project partners. “It’s surprising what can happen if you just ask,” says Myers.

Saturn Power and Canadian Solar Solutions each contributed $2,500 to help St. Matthew’s continue their work in the community. A cheque for the $5000 donation was presented to a somewhat surprised but grateful congregation by the project partners following the Sunday service on October 2.

How the gift will be used has yet to be determined but Reid McIntyre, Clerk of Session at St. Matthew’s, says the church has a couple of on-going projects including a dish-washer for the kitchen and a nursery for its young families.

“I’m also grateful to the congregation for being so supportive of this green energy project and accepting of the new innovation and technology”, adds McIntyre.

Also proud of the congregation’s initiative is Harold Kouwenberg, minister at St.Matthew’s. “This solar energy project makes such a positive statement to our community, demonstrates an attitude of sound environmental stewardship and returns a healthy dividend to the church,” he says. Still one of only a few Presbyterian churches to back a green energy program, Kouwenberg looks forward to sharing their experience and endorsing the program with other churches within the Presbytery. Churches are excellent candidates for roof-mounted solar panels, says Myers, not only structurally, for their large expansive roofs, but also for the sustainable revenue they generate. These projects offer a steady income over 20 years, less a five to six year pay back period. St. Matthew’s $62,000 investment should see yearly revenue of $9,000 to $11,000, he says.

As well as the financial rewards for installing the system, the church is also producing enough energy to power about two homes. This saves close to 10 tonnes of CO2 being produced, says Myers, and is particularly valuable on those hot summer days when it is needed most.

 “I’M SO GLAD I’M A PART OF THE FAMILY OF GOD”

Why Join a Church?
In defense of an old-fashioned idea.

We had a pretty exciting Sunday on September 19th. Nineteen Christians chose to make a commitment to our congregation by announcing their faith and aligning themselves with the congregation by formally becoming members of St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church. In addition to joining, Ana was baptized as a sign of her new-found faith, and of course, we had a fellowship feast after the service to cement the sense of celebration and joy.

The Lord laid some pretty powerful verses on my heart as I was preparing the message for this significant day. These portions of Scripture are impossible to read without experiencing a sense of the “powerfully palpable presence” of the Holy Spirit in those early days in the church. I’m speaking about Acts 2:41 – 47 in particular and Ephesians 3: 14 – 21 to sum up Paul’s feeling of joy, thanksgiving and
gratitude for the people of God.

Here’s the New International translation of these verses:

Acts 2:41-47

41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. 42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Ephesians 3:14-21

14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

There are four things I wanted to emphasize from these verses in Acts, particularly to recognize the benefit to joining with the congregation in solidarity and membership, elements  indispensable in any age if the Church is to do its work well.

There are responsibilities as well as benefits to becoming a part of the Family of God.

The first is denoted by the word, “TEACHING”. To be a Christian is, of course, much more than to believe a set of doctrinal propositions. A Christian is a person in whom Christ lives. It is a relationship with Jesus. It’s something we experience in our hearts and something which we “feel” inside. This condition, however, is an experience based on the truth God has revealed in the Bible. The better a person knows this truth, the more intelligent and effective a believer she is. That is why it is so important that the Church teach its members and so important that members continue the process of life- long learning.

Secondly, our attention is drawn to the “FELLOWSHIP” of believers.

Christians urgently need the company of others who know and love the Lord, especially when they are new converts. A Christian needs to be with other Christians, to talk with them and to worship and learn and work with them. Christian  fellowship, in which God’s people share their joys and sorrows, their successes and failures, and their insights in the Word, is vitally important to a believer’s healthy spiritual growth. Conversion is not an end, it is merely a beginning. “Salvation” is only the first step on that long road which is our Christian life.

Thirdly and interestingly, much of the strength of the early church may have been derived, in part, by “THE BREAKING OF BREAD”. This is unquestionably a reference to the Lord’s Supper but may also refer to fellowship around meal times. I believe, because of my own experience of joyful celebration with friends and family around the table, that there exists in this expression a reference to intimacy together with hospitality.

And lastly, we discover the early Christians spent a lot of time in “PRAYER TOGETHER”. I am assuming they prayed for each other, for the leaders of the church who may have been teaching and preaching in dangerous situations, and for the spreading of the good news and joyful growth of the church. I expect the fellowship of believers experienced much comfort and security because of their time of prayer.

Because God was so real to the early Christians, their praying together was natural and enjoyable.

It’s impossible, while reading the Acts of the Apostles, to escape the conclusion that the early Christians looked upon their meetings as of great mutual benefit to the people of God. There they were taught and trained, there they shared and worshiped, and there they prayed together. Then they went out into the marketplace, the highways and the byways, telling others about this wonderful new Way of life. They were overwhelmed by the sensation of the presence of the Lord. We are told –“Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe” (v.43). They sensed keenly the reality of God. Where Christians are filled with God’s Spirit, sinners are saved, lives are changed, prayer is effective, and missions flourish. These are modern “wonders and signs”.

The passage goes on to say true Christians ought never to be unpopular with their neighbours, because their goodness, their quality should be evident. The first century Christians enjoyed favour with all the people (v.47). They were a happy, friendly, helpful lot of people, and others instinctively took to them. So it will be for us when we emulate the believers of the early church.

These “Christ-like” characteristics of the believers during the first weeks and months after Pentecost contributed to the rapid growth of the early Church. “New members were added day by day”.

Even though, by definition, every Christian is a member of the Christian church, we emphasize church membership as an encouraging way to align yourself with other Christians who are working toward Christian maturity as you are. It is to declare oneself for the congregation as much as of the congregation. It is an encouragement to commitment and to accountability. Membership is in grateful response to what others have done for you and an affirmation of intent to do the same for others. When you publically join a congregation, you bear witness to a union that is already the case spiritually.

In conclusion I would point out that the church at 15 Memorial Square in Ingleside is, in itself a wonderful example of TEACHING, FELLOWSHIP, BREAKING BREAD & PRAYING TOGETHER.

Come join us to enjoy the true experience, Sundays at 10:30!