LIVE OAK, Calif. (AP) – United Methodist Church has long looked to the heavens for strength, now it's depending on the heavens for power.
The $8 million Live Oak church will be Santa Cruz County's first to go “green,” including solar power panels disguised as roof tiles and skylights to let in the light. Construction could begin this summer with completion in a year.
“The building itself could be a witness to our values of sustainability and good resource management,” pastor Michael Love said, noting a self-sufficient church fits perfectly with the core values of the Methodist community.
“It's our responsibility to be stewards and caretakers of natural resources,” he said.
The 17th Avenue church will be home for three congregations that merged in May 2003, including the flock from the landmark Grace United Methodist church that was gutted by fire in 2000.
The church parking lot will be paved with an asphalt concrete that absorbs water, draining it into the ground below. Some of the stained-glass windows from the old church will be reused, and the furnaces will be higher efficiency.
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