‘Being good stewards of the Earth’

PARSIPPANY  Last month, St. Peter the Apostle Parish here followed up on a bright idea that will help the faith community save money and the environment — replacing most of the older light blubs in its church and school with new, energy efficient blubs. Yet, the project also became part of the faith community’s response to the message of Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical, “Laudato Si” — that everyone bears a responsibility to protect the Earth and care for our fellow man.

In November, Thomas Burns, a member of St. Peter’s finance committee and a mechanical engineer, headed up the replacement of 250 energy inefficient four-foot incandescent and fluorescent light blubs with energy saving LED blubs in All Saints Academy, located on the parish campus. Meanwhile, Deacon Peter Cistaro of St. Peter’s led the replacement of nearly 40 bulbs in the church and parish hall.

The project — which was in the works, before Pope Francis promulgated “Laudato Si” in May of 2015 — cost St. Peter’s $7,000. The job in All Saints actually cost $28,000, but a N.J. State energy grant paid for 70 percent of the work. The replacement of blubs in the church cost the parish $7,000 outright, because it was not eligible for state funds. Contractors did not have to replace the lighting fixtures, which dramatically reduced the cost of the project. St. Peter’s expects to save $800 per month on electricity, Burns said.

“This has become part of St. Peter’s response at the local level to Pope Francis’ letter. We now have better lighting, we will use less energy and we will save money. It’s now a better atmosphere for education and worship,” said Msgr. Herbert Tillyer, St. Peter’s pastor, who noted that the parish received rebate funds for the project from the Diocesan “Partners in Faith” Capital and Endowment Campaign. “With this, the spiritual and the practical came together, making a little difference — but a difference,” the pastor said.

Last year, St. Peter’s began planning for the replacement of incandescent and fluorescent blubs in All Saints. At the time, Donnelly Energy — a company, which has worked with other entities around the Diocese — proposed conducting an “energy assessment” at the school and taking a quick look at the church. Contractors replaced lights and changed the ballasts — devices that control the amount of current entering the lights — in the school’s classrooms, administrative offices, bathrooms and gym — and even in the exit signs. In the past, the old blubs gave All Saints up to three years of life. As they age, they would change color and become dimmer. The new blubs in the school promise 15 years of life with more wattage and 80-percent less energy use — about eight times the life of the old bulbs, Burns said.

Around the same time as the All Saints project, some bulbs needed to be replaced in St. Peter Church, which required renting a lift to reach the fixtures over the pews. So the parish decided to replace all old blubs in the worship area and parish hall. The LED blubs in the church promise 25 years of life, because the building only is used 20 hours per week, unlike the school, which is used up to 12 hours per day, Burns said.

“The teachers in All Saints love the new lighting. They say that it’s fantastic — it’s brighter,” said Burns, who added St. Peter’s might embark on more lighting replacement projects in the future, perhaps in the rectory, convent or the rest of the church.

St. Peter’s also conserves its resources by continuing to use its Advent candles from previous years. “While the candles are shorter, they are still usable. It would be wasteful to discard them and buy new ones,” said Deacon Cistaro, who also serves as chairman of the St. Peter’s Finance Committee and as director of the Diocesan Permanent Diaconate.

In October, Father Yojaneider Garcia Ramirez, one of St. Peter’s parochial vicars, gave a presentation in Spanish about the letter to about 30 people. “I explained the document and its most important ideas. The people were interested to understand the document,” he said.

Also, Father Ramirez belongs to an ad-hoc committee formed at St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization at Bayley-Ellard, Madison, which is charged with formulating a Diocesan response to “Laudato Si.” It has been researching possible ways to promote meaningful local action in such possible areas as ecology, environmental education and social justice. The group hopes to develop plan of action document to be presented to Bishop Serratelli, who originally suggested the initiative, said Father Paul Manning, St. Paul’s executive director and diocesan vicar for evangelization, who facilitates its meetings.

Happy with the results, Burns noted that St. Peter’s light-replacement project “is synergistic with what Pope Francis has been saying. We want to be a part of that — being good stewards of the Earth.”