It was Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, shown at a South Church Wednesday Nite Live program in 2004 that jump started the church’s pursuit of ways to respond to global warming.
Several years later, South Church raised over $600,000 to fund what turned out to be five years of deep energy retrofitting that included all new insulation, new energy efficient windows, and an electric heat pump H-VAC system to replace our oil burners.
In 2012, Julie Marcus made a presentation to the congregation advocating for the installation of a 50kW solar array to power our new electric systems and achieve net-zero energy use. Steve Jones, Co-Chair of the Trustees, said the project was “a bold, public statement of our values, our stewardship of this historic building, as well as our concern for our children’s future.”
“This solar project is just one expression of our faith community’s deep care for God’s creation,” said Caroline Meyers at the June 2013 dedication of the solar array. She continued, “In addition to the financial and environmental benefits, I was deeply moved by the congregation’s concern that we move toward a more socially just form of energy generation.”
The Green Team was formed during these years and, with a great deal of input from Julie Marcus, Steve Jones, and Lee Bridegam, the church began the quest for the UCC Green Congregation Awards. Eventually we earned all three award levels, one of only 4 churches in the state at that time. Today those certificates hang over the bulletin board in the Kenseth Room.
In June of 2018 South Church was one of four buildings in Amherst to be included on the town tour of zero-energy buildings, examples that led to the town’s adoption of Amherst’s own zero energy bylaw.
Beginning in December, 2022, South Church picked up the 11th Hour climate action that was spreading across the country. The Belmont UU was our inspiration to ring bells every 11th day of each month at the 11th hour, for 11 minutes to mark that the world was teetering at the 11th hour of climate catastrophe. During the first year, we moved from church to synagogue, covering many houses of worship in the area, finally deciding to ring each month at Grace Episcopal Church with its intown location. This action continues and all are welcome to join us.
Upon Vanessa Cardinale’s resignation from her position as pastor, she and her family donated a serviceberry bush which we planted in the fall of 2023. This was the beginning of our effort to bring native pollinators to the Meadow.
In 2024, as part of our 200th anniversary celebration, a Meadow committee was formed. We received some contributions allowing us to plant native spicebushes and three crabapple trees to be interspersed with the present mix of old apple trees, shrubs, brambles, and grasses. We learned that the biodiversity crisis is as dangerous as the looming threat of climate collapse but it too can be addressed both in our Meadow and in our own yards. More serviceberry trees were added in 2025.
Little did we know that in 2025 we would have a book discussion on Robin Wall Kimmerer’s new book, The Serviceberry, during which we would learn much more about this plant native to North America. After church on the following Sunday, April 27th, the congregation made their way, shovels and watering cans in hand, to plant two more serviceberry bushes along with a 3rd spicebush, all purchased from Nusami Farm Nursery Native Plant Trust.
Throughout these years, the church has emailed a weekly list of events that included a Green eblast. The eblast is also included in each Sunday’s bulletin and focuses on information and actions that we can take as a church and/or as an individual to help alleviate the ever-increasing global emergency. In addition, we encourage all to sign on to receive the national UCC’s environmental news and monthly Pollinator program, inspired by our Environmental Justice Minister, Brooks Berndt.
On September 21, 2025 we celebrated Sun Day, a day of action celebrating solar and wind power and the movement to leave fossil fuels in the ground. Jim Antal, our UCC Green leader, encouraged all houses of worship to build, rally, sing, and come together in our local communities to get laws changed and work done.