Dear St. John’s Parishioners:
How glorious it is to worship together in our beautiful church building once again! While our restoration work continues, we want to take this opportunity to celebrate the remarkable progress thus far and thank everyone for their faithfulness, patience, and generosity over the past 20 months.
The attached video and documents summarize our successfully completed projects. Work has begun and will continue this fall on the final phase, the bell tower restoration. The bell tower project involves rebuilding the interior structure as well as replacing the damaged louvers and windows, replacing the roof, creating easier access to the bell tower, and, finally, reinstalling the bell. We will sing hallelujah – and have a big celebration – when the bell rings from the tower once again!
We thank God for all who have given so generously of their time, talents, and treasure in support of our Restoring Sacred Spaces campaign to preserve our parish home. Current and past Vestry members, Buildings and Grounds Committee members, and, especially, Buildings and Grounds Committee Chair Paul Brokaw deserve our gratitude for their leadership, vision, and dedication. With more than 150 individuals and families contributing, our parish has come together to raise $2.1 million since the campaign began in early 2024. In addition, St. John’s School contributed $100,000, we received a $99,999 grant from Hillsborough County for the bell tower project, and Ellison Construction has made a significant in-kind contribution.
We gratefully acknowledge all who have contributed to date on the donor list attached below. We are also pleased to announce the creation of the Olive Tree Circle for those who have donated $25,000 or more. We will commemorate their lasting impact with a plaque installed in the nave once all projects and fundraising are complete. While we exceeded our initial $2 million fundraising goal, expected project costs now total $3.3 million, and we welcome additional contributions of any amount. We will utilize church reserves to fund the balance not covered by fundraising.
This is an exciting time in the history of St. John’s Church, and we invite you to come and see all that the Lord is doing in our midst.
Faithfully,
The Rev. Christian M. Wood, Rector
John H. McKay, Senior Warden
Andrew M. Brown, Junior Warden
Betsy Graham, RSS Campaign Coordinator
If you would like to give, you can use the link above, send your commitment to the Parish Office, or make a commitment on Realm (dropdown menu: Restoring Sacred Spaces). Fr. Chris would be happy to meet or speak with you if you have any questions or would like to discuss your gift with him.