October 28thCreation Care Project Report – A new kind of Peace Lamp
The doors first opened on an October day in 2007, and the Peace Lamp of the Foothills Guest house first carried in to bring light and warmth into that home for the first time. For those unfamiliar, Foothills, through a collective project and vision, operated a guest house from 2007 to 2022 that served as a place for folks to stay while they cared for family in the nearby Foothills Hospital and Children’s Hospital. There were always members of the community serving as hosts to the many guests that came and went. They helped with number of small housekeeping tasks and made sure those guest felt supported in the difficult time of caring for sick loved ones. And all the while, each host would carry with them the peace lamp whenever they took up a period of hosting, a symbol of Christ’s love and light that they brought with them into the home.
And yes, the long story short is, it was decided to bring that ministry to a close in 2022. It had been a great blessing and welcomed and embraced many people over the years. The house was sold, and the funds from that sale were set aside to be used in ways that aligned with the mission and vision that the guest house had lived out for so many years. Thus began an ongoing process of discerning and visioning here at Foothills on how we can use those resources in ways that carry forward the mission of the guest house, carrying forward the peace lamp, the love and light of Jesus in our neighbourhood.
Some large chunks of those resources have already been allocated, like contributions to Camp Valaqua, and to local Calgary Foodbank projects (to name just a few). But the question has continued to remain, how can we as Foothills continue to carry forward the light, the love, the warmth of Christ in our neighbourhood and city? Well, what if we were literally lighting up and warming the homes of our neighbours??? The excitement of this possibility is where the Foothills Solar Project began.
Science intermission: Based on findings from a Government of Canada analysis conducted in 2020, Alberta is estimated to have the second highest “Photovoltaic potential” (layman’s terms: Solar energy potential) of all provinces next to Saskatchewan. But can you guess how much of our current electricity comes from solar? Gov of Canada data suggests that in 2021 only 0.6 percent of Alberta’s electricity was generated by Solar (and only ~12.6 percent of our electricity is generated by renewable/low environmental impact means). Now it is not likely that even with such high solar potential, that all of Alberta’s electricity needs could be covered by in-province solar. BUT, this data does suggest, at the very least, that our province’s high solar potential remains widely-speaking: untaped.
Foothills had already explored some ways of using some of the resources from the guest house sale in ways that cared for creation. We attempted to undergo an energy audit and get feedback on what areas of greatest impact could be addressed/be most impactful to our building’s environmental footprint. This ended up with some complications with the specific company we enlisted, but despite that, we were still eager to explore what we could do to embody and continue to carry the peace lamp even without the guest house.
This past spring (2025), our board began looking into quotes for Solar to be installed on our building. We found an option we liked from a company that seemed like good partners. And so, it was brought to the congregation in the early summer, where it was unanimously decided to go forward with installing a 56-panel system on our south facing sanctuary roof. And in August the sleek panels were installed, and the sun began powering our church building. Creation’s light powering our lightbulbs, our coffee machines, the sound system, everything. And not just our building, in optimal conditions, the system produces more power than our building actually uses. And so right away we began sending power to the grid, helping to not just power ourselves, but power our neighborhood and city.
The panels are a witness to our neighbours; that we as a community have been willing to actively work towards a vision of God’s good creation that is cared for by living in synergy with the created order. As is said in Matthew’s gospel; No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. (Matthew 5:15, NRSVA). And so, we are celebrating this as one of the many ways our community is using what we have to care for and live in greater harmony with the created world.
It is true, the funds and resources from the sale of the Guest House did make the undertaking of this project an easier thing to get behind. It’s not lost on our community that it was a privilege to have the financial ability to quickly move forward on this project. However, the not-so-secret secret is this: this project will pay itself off. “Okay ya in like 50 years or something, right?” Actually, our estimates have it paying off in approximately 10 years! Not all that long if you think about it.
So, we carry forward the peace lamp, and all it symbolizes in a new way, more obscure perhaps, but God’s light is shining through us all the same. Creator-God’s good creation helping take care of the needs of our building and those of our community. And doing so that cause less harm, and celebrates that created goodness even more!
