NEW ORLEANS (AP) Six years after Hurricane Katrina forced a small Lakeview church to rebuild from scratch, its members have done so in a way few other congregations have matched, creating an ambitious, environmentally green building that embodies the congregation's very theology.

The members of Community Church Unitarian Universalist of New Orleans have a tight, bright church of 4,200 square feet designed from day one to consume as little fossil-fuel energy as possible.

And now comes something like a certificate of success: March's electricity bill totaled $48.83.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the Lakeview congregation's new home is the first house of worship of its kind in the country.

The Unitarian Universalist rebuilders in Lakeview are the spiritual and ethical heirs of Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and the 19th century New England Transcendentalists.

Famously liberal and pluralistic, big-tent Unitarian Universalism describes itself as a creedless religion devoted to seven broad ethical principles. Generally, the denomination celebrates human dignity, equality, peace, social justice, democracy, the right to conscience and each individual's search for truth.

An old joke Unitarian Universalists tell on themselves: "Why did the Unitarian Universalist cross the road?"

"To support the chicken in its search for its own path."

But another unifying principal and the underpinning for the Lakeview church is "respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."

"We have in this congregation people who want to walk the way they talk," said the Rev. Jim VanderWeele, the pastor of Community Church since 2002.

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Unitarian church rebuilds with "green" building

BAYOU LA BATRE, Alabama -On Wintzell Avenue, a main thoroughfare of this waterfront town, a historic church is temporarily without a steeple. About 40 feet long, gleaming white, the steeple lies in the grass, stretching over the yard of the parsonage.

I have the largest yard ornament in Bayou La Batre, said the Rev. Clint Landry, pastor of First Baptist of Bayou La Batre, standing next to the steeple on a bright May afternoon.

Taken down after a fire that nearly consumed the church, the steeple holds fascination for all.

Children peer around it Its not a play toy, Landry tells kids and folks stop their cars to take its picture.

Its a unique thing to see, Landry agreed, walking around its perimeter. You dont realize how big it is until its on the ground.

It makes a statement, said Jerrie Ackridge, 70, the churchs historian.

When we pass by the church my great-grandbaby says, Oh, the church is broke.

To her husband, Neil Akridge, 75, whose grandfather helped build the church, it symbolizes faith, too.

That the entire church, built of heart pine in the 1890s, didnt explode into flames is nothing short, he said, of miraculous.

It was leap day, Wednesday, Feb. 29, a quiet afternoon with no one in the church, when an electrical fire erupted.

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Church steeple on his lawn, Bayou La Batre pastor tells of fire that almost destroyed historic church

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - News) today reported net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 of $95.8 million or $0.66 per share, compared to last years reported net income of $83.6 million or $0.58 per share. This reflects an earnings per share increase of 13.8%.

First Quarter Review

Reported net sales for the first quarter increased 7.5% to $690.6 million. Organic sales increased 8.4% driven by 10.5% volume growth offset by 2.1% unfavorable product mix and pricing. Organic sales exclude the impact of an acquisition and foreign exchange rate changes, but includes an estimated 1.4% effect of sales resulting from a timing shift in customer orders from the first quarter of 2012 to the fourth quarter of 2011, in anticipation of the January 2012 U.S. information system upgrade. The Company believes such sales would have occurred in the first quarter of 2012 were it not for the timing shift.

James R. Craigie, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, We are very pleased with our first quarter business results in what continues to be a difficult economic environment. The organic sales increase of 8.4% reflects strong volume growth. While category consumption continues to be weak in the U.S., we increased market share on five of our eight power brands in the quarter.

Consumer Domestic net sales were $510.6 million, a $39.5 million increase or 8.4% above the prior year first quarter sales. First quarter organic sales increased by 10.1%, primarily due to higher sales of ARM & HAMMER liquid laundry detergent. Other products that contributed to volume growth were XTRA liquid laundry detergent, ARM & HAMMER cat litter, and the introduction of ARM & HAMMER CRYSTAL BURST power pack laundry detergent. These increases were partially offset by lower sales of ARM & HAMMER SPINBRUSH battery-operated toothbrushes, TROJAN condoms and ORAJEL oral analgesic products. Volume growth contributed approximately 13.4% to sales, partially offset by the 3.3% unfavorable product mix and pricing. Organic sales reflect an estimated 1.7% effect of including sales resulting from a timing shift in customer orders in anticipation of the January 2012 U.S. information system upgrade.

Consumer International net sales were $121.4 million, an $11.8 million increase or 10.7% above the prior year first quarter sales. Organic sales increased by 7.2%, primarily due to increased sales in Canada, Australia, and France, as well as increased U.S. exports. Volume growth contributed approximately 8.7% to sales, partially offset by 1.5% unfavorable product mix and pricing. Organic sales exclude a 5.0% benefit from an acquisition and the 1.5% effect of unfavorable foreign exchange rate changes.

Specialty Products net sales were $58.6 million, a $3.0 million decrease or 4.9% below the prior year first quarter sales. Organic sales were lower by 2.5% due to softness in end markets. Lower volumes of 8.1%, were partially offset by favorable pricing of 5.6%. The positive pricing is primarily due to a pass-through of raw material increases to customers. Organic sales reflect an estimated 1.6% effect of including sales resulting from a timing shift in customer orders in anticipation of the January 2012 information system upgrade, and excludes the 0.8% effect of unfavorable foreign exchange rate changes.

Gross margin contracted to 43.8% in the first quarter compared to 44.9% in the same quarter last year. The decrease is principally due to unfavorable product mix. The unfavorable product mix reflects a 14.4% increase in net sales of lower margin consumer domestic household products compared to a 2.6% decline in net sales of higher margin consumer domestic personal care products. Gross margin is also effected by start-up costs related to the Companys new California manufacturing and distribution facility, which is scheduled to begin commercial production of liquid laundry detergent and cat litter products in May 2012 and be fully operational in July 2012. Although commodity costs were higher in the quarter, the increases were largely offset by the effect of cost reduction programs. First quarter gross margin was 50 basis points higher than the fourth quarter of 2011. We expect full year gross margin to increase to the lower end of our 25-50 basis point annual target, which reflects the impact of product mix.

Marketing expense was $68.0 million in the first quarter, a slight decrease of $1.2 million or 1.7% in comparison with the prior year first quarter. Marketing expense as a percentage of net sales was 9.8% in the quarter, a decrease of 100 basis points compared to the prior year first quarter due to timing. We expect marketing support to be approximately 13% of net sales for the full year, which is consistent with the prior year.

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Church & Dwight Reports First Quarter 2012 Results

After 19 years, Keystone Evangelical Free Church in Paradise is about to undertake its first building project.

To commemorate the occasion, the church held a ground-breaking ceremony last week at the site across from the current facility at 6 Pequea Drive.

Although it was a cold, rainy morning, 200 members of the congregation attended the ceremony that included a special worship service, a few words from guest speakers. Members of the congregation even pitched in to pull a plow through the ground to signify the beginning of the project.

Senior pastor Keith Rohrer said a blueprint of the new building was painted on the ground and church members engaged in a "prayer walk" around the outline.

Rohrer said construction of the 33,000-square-foot facility will begin this month and is expected to be finished in January 2013.

The new facility will include a auditorium that will seat 600 people, education rooms, a fellowship hall and kitchen. Offices and much of the youth ministry, which has been a centerpiece of Keystone's work, will remain at the present church.

S.E. Smoker Inc. of Strasburg is the firm that has been chosen to design and build the church, which is expected to cost $3.7 million.

So far, more than $1 million has been pledged by the congregation of about 400 people.

Keystone has come a long way since its humble beginnings when members met in a bar at a banquet facility, Rohrer said. Two years later, a congregation of about 110 people took over the building formerly home to Paradise Baptist Church.

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Paradise church breaks ground on new project

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. --

A year has come and gone since the deadly tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa, but scars of the storms destruction are still visible.

Central Church of Christ is hoping new construction will help repair their wounds.

The entire church was damaged during the storm, but that didn't keep the congregation from pitching in.

Longtime member Bert English said, The whole twelve months we've still been involved in helping those who are less fortunate that we are. We individually have homes. So many people around us here did not have homes. And so to some degree we're still helping people even now, a year later.

English has been a member of the church for more than fifty-years. Despite being grateful for being able to meet at the Alabama Fire College, he said he's excited to have their building back.

Members of the church are hoping that the first phase, which will go right about here, will be completed within a year.

The new building will be in the same place as the old one. But it doesn't take a pile of bricks to make the place a church.

Campus Minister Trae Durden said, We've actually grown during this time without a building. So we're really looking forward to having a building again. Hopefully all the different aspects of our service to the community, I'm hoping that that will continue even after we have a building.

Some of the services still include helping other tornado victims recover a year later.

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Tuscaloosa church rebuilds after tornado

St. Johns Lutheran Church has received a grant to build a permanent prayer labyrinth and garden, and the church wants it to belong to the community.

"A labyrinth isnt a religious symbol, its a spiritual symbol," said project lead

Shawn McGuire. "There would be no reason to walk in the labyrinth if theres no connection to spirit/self. Whatever ones religion or beliefs, walking the labyrinth clears the mind and gives insight."

The project has been in the planning stages for months but construction will be completed this weekend. It will be made of Tennessee field stone and liriope to outline the paths and half inch brown pea gravel to line the paths.

The labyrinth will include plants mixed into the design, an attached community garden and adjacent meditation area that will make the project not only unique to Jacksonville but the region, according to McGuire.

Other aspects of the project include a "Luther Rose" mural by the meditation area and a prayer for the wall of meditation garden. The only unfinished part may be the fountain. Also a local gardener will be adding more colorful and specialty plants over the next few months.

Volunteers are needed to help with construction, even if by laying just one brick. Show up from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and Sunday. The church is at 1950 Silver St.

For more information, call McGuire at (904) 803-4103.

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This labyrinth will be inclusive, church says

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - When a tornado threatened his construction site on April 3, Kevin Drake knew just where to seek sanctuary: inside the unfinished home of Trinity United Methodist Church.

Turns out, the 75,000-square-foot building on West Green Oaks Boulevard near Pioneer Parkway was spared a direct hit, although the site was showered with debris from the twister that hit a nearby nursing home and neighborhood.

With a framework of insulating concrete forms, the church will offer refuge against not only worldly temptations but also howling winds able to withstand the equivalent of a 15-foot two-by-four hitting it at 100 mph, according to testing done by the Wind Science and Engineering Center at Texas Tech University.

"This is one of the safest sites in Arlington," said Drake, construction manager for Fort Worth-based FPI Builders. "I would think it would fare very well" in a tornado.

Projects like Trinity's raise public awareness of tornado-resistant construction techniques and may lead to greater acceptance of them, said Ernst Kiesling, a professor of civil engineering at Texas Tech and executive director of the National Storm Shelter Association.

The 17 tornadoes that hit North Texas that afternoon caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage but took no lives. At the very least, Kiesling said, the outbreak should be a wake-up call for the need for more storm shelters, whether public buildings or reinforced rooms in a home, he said.

Government incentives, like mitigation grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, can also help, but funding is usually scarce.

Tarrant County, for example, received $400,000 in 2010 for homeowners to use on tornado safe rooms, and that money is long gone.

"My bottom line is that the (property owner) is the key person who decides what is going to go in," Kiesling said. "Waiting on the government to create incentives or adopt new standards is an unsure and complicated path that can take a long time.

"It's like wanting to win the lottery without buying a ticket."At Trinity, the new buildings are being constructed with insulating concrete forms, a technology that originated in Europe after World War II and has been slowly catching on in this part of the U.S., said Ann Crocker, the church building committee member who suggested the material.

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Church to double as storm shelter

Pastor Scott Youngblood stands next to the cross that will be hoisted on top of the new United Methodist Church in west Arlington. The building is being described as "tornado-proof," due to considerable reinforcement and extensive use of metal.

By PATRICK M. WALKER

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

ARLINGTON -- When a tornado threatened his construction site on April 3, Kevin Drake knew just where to seek sanctuary: inside the unfinished home of Trinity United Methodist Church.

Turns out, the 75,000-square-foot building on West Green Oaks Boulevard near Pioneer Parkway was spared a direct hit, although the site was showered with debris from the twister that hit a nearby nursing home and neighborhood.

With a framework of insulating concrete forms, the church will offer refuge against not only worldly temptations but also howling winds -- able to withstand the equivalent of a 15-foot two-by-four hitting it at 100 mph, according to testing done by the Wind Science and Engineering Center at Texas Tech University.

"This is one of the safest sites in Arlington," said Drake, construction manager for Fort Worth-based FPI Builders. "I would think it would fare very well" in a tornado.

Projects like Trinity's raise public awareness of tornado-resistant construction techniques and may lead to greater acceptance of them, said Ernst Kiesling, a professor of civil engineering at Texas Tech and executive director of the National Storm Shelter Association.

The 17 tornadoes that hit North Texas that afternoon caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage but took no lives. At the very least, Kiesling said, the outbreak should be a wake-up call for the need for more storm shelters, whether public buildings or reinforced rooms in a home, he said.

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Sturdy Arlington church doubles as storm shelter

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Solar panels are not often talked about as an expression of religious conviction.

But as the debate over climate change heats up, the panels are going up at houses of worship across the country, regardless of denomination. Such renewable energy is seen as an expression of conservation, or of what religious leaders call environmental stewardship or earth ministry.

In Shaker Heights, a huge $500,000 high-tech solar array is under construction at the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland. Believed to be the largest church solar system in Ohio, the array will form a canopy over part of the parking lot at the back of the church.

The 380 panels have a generating capacity of more than 91,000 watts - enough to supply the yearly power needs of about 10 homes.

Installer Rob Martens said the system is also large enough to take care of about 80 percent of the church's annual power consumption. It will be tied into the Illuminating Co.'s distribution operation, and electricity will flow into the utility's lines when its output is not needed in the church, said Martens, who owns Bold Alternatives, a local solar company.

First Unitarian is paying nothing for the project, the Rev. Daniel Budd said. Nor will the church face monthly payments to buy the array.

Solar Action LLC, a second company of Martens', will own the system for 10 to 15 years. At that point, Martens will have it appraised and either donate or sell the system to the church.

For now, Solar Action will sell the power to the church at a price 2 cents per kilowatt-hour below whatever the Illuminating Co. is charging, Martens said. Those monthly power payments, plus a 30 percent federal tax credit that would not have been available to the church, will pay for the system, he said.

Martens expects to sell the solar credits associated with the power generated by the array to any utility that has not been able to buy or generate power with renewable technology. An Ohio law requires power companies to generate green power, buy green power or buy credits in place of the power.

Church administrator Doug Aubin said about $12,000 a year is spent on electricity for the 88,000-square-foot church - and that's after converting the lightning to compact fluorescent bulbs and more efficient linear or tubular fluorescent bulbs over the last six years.

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First Unitarian Church of Cleveland installs high-tech solar array

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) - A northeast Ohio church hopes the construction of a $1.3 million parish hall will help revive the declining neighborhood where 2 of its parishioners were killed in separate crimes.

The Vindicator newspaper (http://bit.ly/BYvtc ) reports the bishop and the mayor were on hand Tuesday as St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church in Youngstown broke ground for the project. The church became a focus of crime-fighting issues after two killings.

In 2010, a 75-year-old man was killed as he and his wife left the church. The suspect has been convicted and is awaiting sentencing in the killing, which prosecutors describe as a case of mistaken identity.

Months earlier, an 80-year-old parishioner had been killed in the church parking lot in a suspected robbery. The trial for that suspect has been delayed.

Information from: The Vindicator, http://www.vindy.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Ohio church hopes $1.3M project helps revive area