Service for Dedicating a Solar Panel Array
Opening Sentences
Psalm 36
Your steadfast love, O Lord,
extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgements are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
Prayer
God of the universe,
the heavens declare your glory.
You have come to be with us in Jesus Christ,
and by the power of the Holy Spirit
you are present with us now in the risen Christ.
We thank you for all the gifts
that have brought us to this day.
We give you thanks for this church,
planted on this land
and dedicated to your honor and glory.
Thank you for the work of many hands
that crafted this place,
for contributions of money and material,
labors of love and commitment.
Bless the work of our hands, O God,
that this place may offer your welcome
to many diverse people,
that all who seek you here
may know your presence in their lives.
By your grace and according to your will,
may the good news of Jesus Christ be truly proclaimed
and the sacraments rightly administered,
that the body of Christ may be nurtured here
and strengthened for Christ’s service in the world.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
We give thanks that:
- Our solar panels are expected to produce about 100,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually (That’s enough to power about 9–10 average US homes for a whole year—or run a refrigerator for over 1,100 years!)
- When operating at full power, the system has a total capacity of 74,340 watts (or about 74 kilowatts). (That’s like having 740 100-watt lightbulbs turned on simultaneously.)
- Before installing electric heat pumps, our annual electricity use was around 50,000 kilowatt-hours. (So the system produces about twice what we used to consume.)
- The panels produced 2,437 kilowatt-hours of clean energy in the first week alone. (That’s enough to do nearly 100 loads of laundry daily for a week.)
- Any extra electricity we don’t use gets returned to the power grid, and we earn credits on our electric bill.
- We’ll also receive payments for the clean energy generated through Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). (These are financial rewards for producing clean, renewable electricity.)
- Self-generated solar energy will drastically reduce BPC’s electric bill, reduce usage of fossil fuel generated electricity, and reduce demand on the grid infrastructure.
Prayer
God of light and life,
we give you thanks for the rising and setting of the sun,
a rhythm by which to live and work together
as many have done before us.
In the midst of uncertainty about what the future holds,
grant that the energy produced by the sun’s rhythm
might be a blessing to all who come after us.
Walk with us into a future in which we might honor you
by caring for your wondrous creation,
sustaining that which sustains us.
We give thanks for the generosity of members and friends
that made this project a reality.
We give thanks for those who labored long and hard
analyzing data, crunching numbers, raising funds,
and working to install these solar panels.
We give thanks for those who work in science and technology,
innovating for good stewardship of the earth.
Just as many hands came together for this project,
unite us in cooperation with each other
that we might continue the work of environmental justice,
convinced of our interdependence.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Time of Remembrance and Celebration
Time is observed for worshipers to name out loud or in another form (written or silent) memories from the process to this day or words of thanksgiving.
Doxology
OLD HUNDREDTH
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God, all creatures, here below.
Praise God, above, ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
May God bless you and keep you,
and be the light to shine upon you, now and forever.
Go from this place to continue the work of stewardship and care.
Thanks be to God! Alleluia! Amen.
