Lord of Lords Ministries was Awarded for the 2023 Michigan Battle of the Buildings Competition in the Place of Worship Category
This year we celebrated 10 years of the Michigan Energy Summit and 10 years of amazing projects and energy efficiency initiatives! Over the past 10 years, we have had a total of 149 winners from 75 different organizations, representing 264 Michigan cities. Since the program's inception in 2014, our competitors have redirected over $100 million of utility costs back to their bottom line and avoided almost 550,000 metric tons of CO2e. Over 272 million square feet of Michigan commercial real estate competed against each other in 2023 in this biggest loser-styled energy competition. The 2023 Michigan Battle of the Buildings competitors saved $7.4 million in energy costs and avoided 47,178 metric tons of CO2e which is equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 55,514 acres of US forests in one year! This year we had 11 industry-specific category winners. We are so excited to announce Lord of Lords Ministries as the 2023 Michigan Battle of the Buildings winner in the Place of Worship Category!
Lord of Lords Ministries is a 2,400 square foot church located on the Eastside of Detroit. They purchased two vacant buildings with the intention to be a community hub, using energy-efficient and upgraded equipment. They are the first Black church in Detroit and the third in Michigan to go solar. They were not aware of this until after the installation of the panels.
In 2019, they began teaching their congregation about environmental stewardship. They have worked hard to reduce energy consumption and to uphold their stewardship. Their projects, which led to a 39.22% reduction in 2023, included repairing their roof, fixing 12 leaks, upgrading three thermostats, and unplugging cords and lights before leaving the building. Their reduction is attributed to upgraded equipment and behavior change, the latter sometimes being the hardest to achieve. In December of 2023, they installed 8 solar lights in the parking lot and 26 solar panels on site to produce clean energy for the building.
They have been recognized by the Detroit 2030 District and the City of Detroit Green Task Force for their House of Worship contribution to environmental stewardship. The Detroit 2030 District helped to train and implement their Energy Star Portfolio Manager. Other partners they uplifted were D2 for the solar consultation, Homeland Solar for the installation and legal information, and Michigan Interfaith Power and Light for overseeing their sustainability projects. They were all key contributors to the Green Team’s success.
Lord of Lord’s mission is to enhance the lives of low-income individuals, families, and communities by exposing them to education and resources. When asked what it means to be a winner in the Michigan Battle of the Buildings competition, Dr. Calvin Glass, Pastor, stated “to be a winner in this competition informs us that the journey to a cleaner, safer, and just society is reachable and we are being noticed for our efforts to change the climate narrative.” Dr. Glass also stated that “the challenge for the faith community to build a safer, healthier, and just world lies in our ability to reeducate ourselves and our congregations on the importance of cultivating the earth and caring for our bodies.” He also uplifted two bible verses.
Genesis 2:15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (NIV).
1 Cor. 6:19 says, “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (NIV).
In the future, Dr. Glass would like to see charging stations for EVs and backup batteries for the solar panels. We were excited to celebrate Lord of Lord’s accomplishments in energy efficiency at our annual Michigan Energy Summit on May 8, 2024 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they were awarded in the Place of Worship category! You can find more information on the projects at Lord of Lords Ministries below:
GLREA featured Lord of Lords during their monthly Detroit Solar Story: Detroit Solar Story Lord of Lords (youtube.com)
Inflation Reduction Act funding helps a Detroit church upgrade to solar power