Treasurer's Letter on the Capital Campaign

Dear St. John’s Family and Friends,
After months of planning and preparing, I am delighted to announce the start of our capital campaign - - Renewing Our Heritage, Restoring for Mission. Our building has served us so well for many, many years, but the time has come for us to prepare the building for future decades of service to our community. You will find the goals of the campaign ambitious but achievable. Please take some time to read the enclosed materials and consider your pledge.

Think of how much these doors and walls mean to you. Think of all the people who've walked through these doors and what they are searching for within these walls:

a place to worship
a place to grieve and be comforted
a place to receive financial or emotional help
a place to create--music, quilts, and fresh ideas
a place to question and rage
a place to find quiet and peace
a place to rest for the night

Searching for a place to get married and to call our home church, Peter and I walked through the doors of St. John's for the first time on a snowy January morning. The friendly faces and warm greetings in deep winter made an impression on us. Even more than the hospitality, though, we walked away with a sense of the deep-rooted mission of St. John's that day, a day the congregation celebrated its 147th anniversary. The service made mention of the fact that more people sleep in the building on any given night than attend a Sunday service. Rarely have I seen a community living the gospel's call to serve our neighbors more sincerely. That day I knew St. John's was, for me and many people, home.
Many others have come through these doors following in the footsteps of generations of family before them. Entire family trees have flourished within these walls, always meeting the needs of our neighbors and those less fortunate along the way. Together, this is our heritage.
These doors and these walls have quietly played host to our service. And now they need our help. As you consider your pledge, please remember the nearly countless ways that the people inside these walls have served the community. It is time to reinvest in the physical church so that we may continue our mission. By sharing our physical space with our partners in ministry, we can more effectively and efficiently carry out our mission to be a servant in the heart of the city.
In asking I know this gift will be above and beyond what you already do to carryout St. John's mission. I ask that you thoughtfully and prayerfully consider what you can afford to give to Renew Our Heritage and Restore for Mission.

In Peace,

Jill Ness, Treasurer