Euclid Ave. United Methodist Church Oak Park, IL
green energy + green building + energy efficiency
www.euclidumc.org
 Euclid Ave. United Methodist Church in Oak Park, IL will be the first of more than 400 United Methodist churches in northern Illinois to go geothermal.
Our church, Euclid Avenue United Methodist Church
believes that when we embrace diversity we embrace God.
We are African, Asian, Hispanic-Latino and Anglo American.
We are male and female, partnered and single, straight, gay,
lesbian and transgender. We include the entire economic
spectrum. Euclid welcomes believers with serious questions
and doubters on a meaning quest.
Our church's forty-year-old heating system is worn out and
must be replaced. In keeping with our commitment to be
faithful stewards of God's creation, the congregation voted to
replace the old boiler with a more efficient, earth-friendly
geothermal heating system. Our congregation has approved
a plan to conduct a capital campaign to raise the funds
necessary to complete this project. Those who came before
us in the more than 100 years of Euclid's history have given
us this holy ground -- this land and building -- that provides us
with shelter and a church home. It is now time for us to
continue the work of Sustaining Our Holy Ground for
ourselves, for future generations, and for all those with
whom we share this place.
Heating and cooling will be
provided by geothermal. We will have a permeable parking
lot. We have changed all lighting fixtures to energy efficiency
ones. We are also working on installing solar thermal to drive the system.
Of the over 400 churches in the Northern Illinois Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church we will be the FIRST church in this Conference to go geothermal.
We will be a model and educational site for all churches seeking to honor God’s creation by going GREEN. We have already received agreement from Faith in Place, the Oak Park Village Trustees, and our consultant and contractor to host workshops on green
energy and our model.
We are a full service facility. We host a school, Passion
Theatre that addresses social justice issues, community
groups that include several 12-step groups, an African
American Women’s Group, PADS Homeless Shelter,
Community Chorus, Book Study Group, Reconciling Task
Force Group, a Green Energy Task Force, Taize Service,
and Labyrinth walk.
We have a long history of standing for justice for all groups. For example, we:
• recently created a medical clinic in Sudan,
• provide shelter for homeless persons,
• have created a project called Darkest Before Dawn: A
Gay Cabaret to affirm LGBTQA
people,
• have started a environmentally friendly community
garden,
• work directly with people with AIDS In Zimbabwe,
• have advocated for non-union hotel workers,
• hold a yearly Fair Trade Market,
• compost our food waste,
• have served on a task force for affordable housing for
seniors and people with disabilities in our
neighborhood, and
• have created a Green Energy Community Task Force
in our community.
We have been recognized by the Illinois Green Energy Community Foundation with a grant for our project.
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