This Sunday, a Bay Area church won’t just be blessing the congregation – they’ll be blessing 21 new solar panels as part of their commitment to caring for the environment.

Grace Episcopal Church in Martinez, Calif., wants to reduce strain on the grid with renewable energy, which helps in the fight against climate change because it lessens the need to rely on fossil fuel-burning power plants.

The Very Rev. Dr. Deborah White, who serves as rector of the church, points to “care for creation” as part of its mission statement.

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"Jesus said, 'Love one another.' And so our mission, as we see it, is to love one another in concrete way," White explained. "And so, it's important that we take care of all of God's creation."

The church worked with RE-volv Solar, which specializes in helping nonprofit organizations secure low-cost loans. That’s how they were able to fix the roof and install solar panels and a battery backup.

Donna Columbo, assistant warden at the church, said their new battery backup to the solar panels means they can also become the third emergency resiliency center in the city of Martinez.

"It's a first step to enable us to be a place of safety during an emergency where we can provide Wi-Fi, we can provide heating and cooling, and just a safe place to be," Columbo said.

Grace Episcopal is one of six churches being honored in October with the 2026 “California Cool Climate” award from the group California Interfaith Power and Light.