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Job loss and how to help are issues that have increasingly dominated the conversation in some faith communities.

The state of the economy and its effect on those in the pews are overwhelming some faith congregations as large numbers of brethren out of work or who have lost their benefits and need to lean on someone else for the first time in their lives.

Because of that, TriadCareers and the HR Group, with input from local clergy, are putting on a free workshop, “Building Job Networks in Faith Communities.” The workshop, for faith leaders and congregational volunteers, is designed to inform, guide and educate area clergy about creating congregational job networking programs.

The program is 9-11 a.m. Tuesday at Temple Emanuel, 1129 Jefferson Road. Register for this workshop by Monday at www.triadcareers.com by clicking on the “events” tab.

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Imagine your congregation’s story on the shelves of the local library.

In Greensboro, the library staff is working on a project to increase the collection of local church/faith community histories.

Helen Snow, the North Carolina collection librarian, has sent letters out asking these groups for copies of any written histories they have. What she’s collected varies from brief summaries to full-length books, which can be catalogued for the shelves.

“If the church or other faith community members have never written their history, we encourage them to start,” suggests Snow, who has already received 16 books and 18 shorter histories.

Snow is worried that some congregations might have been missed or that, in some cases, the letter might not have reached the right person in the congregation.

If you want to participate, have questions or simply want to make sure someone from the congregation has responded, e-mail Snow at helen.snow@greensboro-nc.gov or call 373-2706.

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If your congregation is looking for ways to become a “green church” — with an eye on cost savings — perhaps an energy audit is worth pursuing.

The NC Interfaith Power and Light, a program of the Raleigh-based N.C. Council of Churches, has been providing energy efficiency workshops and basic energy audits for congregations since 2007.

The group’s most commonly utilized program is the group’s Congregational Energy Efficiency Workshop and Audit, which is approximately two hours long and includes a presentation followed by a walk-through of the facility to find easy and inexpensive improvements which can result in significant energy savings.

Generally, these are offered at no cost, although a congregation would need to enter data ahead of time into the group’s carbon footprint calculator at www.coolcongregations

.org for reporting purposes, according to Jill Rios, the program’s director.

The calculator estimates a congregation’s carbon footprint, and can be done without an audit.

The Web site also sponsors a cash prize for congregations with the lowest carbon footprints.

Interested in more information about the audit?

Contact info@ncipl.org, or visit the Web site at www.ncipl.org.

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com