From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Monday, November 15, 2010:
It’s a sign of the times in religious circles — caulking and sealing parties.This new congregational activity will soon begin at Christ Lutheran Church and University Community Presbyterian Church.
Both houses of worship underwent sanctuary energy audits this past week, and as soon as they receive itemized reports, they will begin performing the simpler energy-saving tasks to reduce their energy consumption. Some larger projects might have to be contracted out.
“We found we were leaking like a sieve,” said the Rev. Susan Granata, pastor at Christ Lutheran.
Each church was motivated to take a closer look at its aging buildings for both stewardship and financial reasons.
“It was kind of a hard decision to have this audit. It was not inexpensive,” Granata said.
The financial drain of fuel and electricity costs became painfully apparent a couple years ago, when oil prices skyrocketed.