I’m a cradle United Methodist, born in a small town in the middle of Missouri. My whole family from grandparents to great aunts and uncles had our pew at the local UMC. While charging pew rent was a thing of the past, I dared anyone to take on any of my 6 or 7 aunts to take “our” pews! Never in my life did I imagine I’d one day be working for my church, let alone putting solar panels on our Conference Building more than 30 years later after sitting in my family’s pews.
Early in my career, I found myself on the finance side of things. Today, I work with Rev. Nate Berneking, Director of Finance and Administration for the Missouri Annual Conference (MOAC). We are fortunate to have him. Not only because of his sharp mind for numbers, but also because his first career as an attorney makes him uniquely equipped for the complexities of church administration. When Rev. Nate shared his vision to install solar panels on the MOAC office, I was immediately excited! I care deeply about creation care and want to leave the Earth better than I found it. But there was one problem: I am not an energy expert.
I spend most of my day in spreadsheets, helping local churches manage their resources. I knew solar was the right thing to do, but how could I be a good steward of the church’s financial assets if I didn’t understand the details of such an expensive and technical project? One thing I did know was that someone, somewhere, had the answers. I just had to find them.
I turned to my best tool: Google. I discovered a solar association in Missouri that listed vetted vendors, outlined a code of ethics, and connected to a nationwide network. I chose 3 vendors at random, requested bids, and started learning. Along the way I researched rebates and incentives and determined what I needed to do to qualify. It quickly became clear this wasn’t 1 big project; it was 20 smaller ones.
Eventually I got to the point where the Board of Trustees needed to be involved since they own our building. I had to convince them to hand me their checkbook and entrust me with attaching an expensive, unfamiliar system on our most valuable asset. This meant knowing my audience. The United Methodist Social Principles clearly support renewable energy and care for creation. But can our checkbook support solar? Would the Trustees trust me to handle the rebates? Even if I did everything right, would they trust the government to follow through?
By the grace of God, the answer was yes, we did it. (See New Year New Power and August 2025 Movement Café).
Along the way, I learned lessons that would have made it easier from the beginning. I hope these lessons will help others considering solar or who are already on the journey. There were bumps in the road I didn’t expect and moments of smooth sailing I didn’t see coming. In the end, this was not just a success story for MOAC; it’s also an invitation. The knowledge we’ve gained is meant to be shared with our whole community, so that others can see what’s possible when faith, stewardship, and determination come together.
Lindsay Ready, Staff Accountant
Missouri Conference of The United Methodist Church
lready@moumethodist.org
573.397.5060