Tuesday night at the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, five multi-faith congregational members of California Interfaith Power and Light were recognized in four different categories for their leadership and efforts to address global warming and energy conservation.

Among the four churches recognized was Metropolitan Community Church in the Valley of North Hollywood, which received the Green Oscar in the Advocacy category. Last year, MCC became the first church in Los Angeles to install solar panels on its roof, and the church also held several informational gatherings where people from the community could attend and learn more about solar power.

“With this recognition, our faith community lives with the green grace of God’s Spirit in the network of bio-interrelationships and hope that our example may inspire other faith communities to generate compassionate care for the Earth, altruism for life, and hope to counter the threats of catastrophic degradation and damage to the Earth," Rev. Bob Shore-Goss of MCC wrote to Patch in an email.

California Interfaith Power and Light is made up of 540 congregations of all faiths. Nationally, the Interfaith Power and Light network is active in 30 states, working with over 14,000 congregations.