September 2, 2025
Dearest Beloved Community,
May this message find you rested, restored, and nourished as our summer makes the gentle transition to autumn and all its harvests.
With our change in season, there will also be a change in how often you hear from yours, truly as the Capital Campaign shifts from planning mode to action. So much of our summer meetings have been surrounding the joy of pooling our resources to build the foundation for our important work, and I am so thrilled to be one of many to bring that joy to you!
Many diligent and wise members of our parish have come together over the past few months to discern the best way to translate the enthusiasm recorded by the Feasibility Study into actionable projects. I’m here today to share a short summary of what our leaders have chosen, in part to whet the appetite as well as keep our beloved community appraised:
A building reserve fund is a top priority in this year’s Capital Campaign, in order to ensure the health and welfare of our spiritual home so that it may serve the St. John’s community and its partners for decades to come.
Renovations to the Fireside Building come next, as our beloved meeting room needs some TLC and updates to best cater to our needs!
Catering kitchen renovations and a new gathering space adjacent to the kitchen are also on our project list, as hospitality is one of our priorities at St. John’s and an up-to-code kitchen with space to host meals and more is part of that mission.
Upgrading our gym storage to a community lounge will also be on the list of projects, transforming our former locker room and catch-all overflow into a multi-functional space for community meetings that still accommodates our need for storage.
Refreshing our Reception and building ADA-compliant restrooms are our final project, ensuring that we at St. John the Evangelist can welcome all as members of the Church of the Open Door.
Finally, we have a stretch goal: building a bridge fund to offset any potential budget constraints during this exciting time. This would help our community to support and preserve our incredible staff members for the next two years, preserving vital ministries within our church and out in our community.
More details – including the complete breakdown on how our fundraising efforts will apply to each project – will be available soon. In the interest of transparency, however, I am pleased to announce that the fundraising number without our stretch goal is $2,755,000. Our final number that includes our stretch goal is $2,964,512.
This will not be the final time we discuss our project goals! The Capital Campaign team will be hosting a number of forums and events, and publishing communications, on this vital work that we’ll be doing together. It is my hope that you’ll join us so that we can continue to inquire, hope, and dream about all we can accomplish together to raise up the foundations of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church for many generations.
In faith and gratitude,
Allison Brown, Capital Campaign Communications Chair
June 4, 2025
Dear Friends in Christ,
We are excited to announce that the vestry of St. John’s has approved us moving forward with a capital campaign. We look forward to the opportunities this campaign offers us as we strengthen the usefulness of our building as a resource to serve our members, partners, and the community beyond our walls.
How did we get here? Through a lot of listening:
- Earlier this spring, St. John’s released a fundraising feasibility study report after deep listening and surveying our whole faith community, with findings about a range of important capital improvement projects and the necessary funds to accomplish each. That report was prepared and presented by our consultants at the Vandersall Collective and included valuable feedback from so many of you about what in those projects was energizing, and where we might need to refine the scope of our future work even further.
- In March, the vestry took the feasibility report on retreat. Guided by prayer and deep listening to one another and the Holy Spirit, and led by your crucial feedback, we began the process of discerning next steps. Following the retreat, the vestry met for a special voting session and approved the feasible projects outlined in the report, as well as the goal amount identified by our feasibility study and a stretch goal.
- At the same time, our vestry voted to retain the services of the Vandersall Collective, who have guided us successfully and faithfully thus far, as well as continuing to refine our architectural plans with the leadership of OPN Architects, who have also been with us throughout this journey.
- After Easter, we began the process of recruiting a fabulous team of leaders to help spearhead the five essential areas needed to make a capital campaign successful: Advanced Gifts, Congregational Gifts, Spiritual Emphasis, Communication, and Events. We look forward to introducing you to the St. John’s Capital Campaign Core Team in the coming week.
In addition to this fabulous team of leaders, our Core Team will be supported by our consultants, Mieke Vandersall and Tim Anderson; myself, your rector, Jered Weber-Johnson; and campaign coordinator, Abigael (Abby) Johnson. In the coming weeks, this team of leaders will grow with additional committee members within each emphasis area.
There are many details to come (timelines, deeper understanding of projects we are raising funds for, and much more). This is our promise to you: we will communicate clearly and transparently on our plans and progress, and we will invite you to participate in this campaign in any and all ways that are possible for you. Each and every one of us is necessary to our success. Success is far more than raising the money possible to care for our building, it is also growing in faith and in closeness to each other, God, and our neighbors.
We are so excited to invite your support for this campaign. Together we will seek to show forth our service to others, welcome all people into this community of faith, and be built up in the knowledge and love of God.
Faithfully,
The Very Rev. Jered Weber-Johnson
Projects and Timeline
Dear Beloved Community,
Below, I wish to share with you a shared list of targeted projects we’ll be fundraising for in the Capital Campaign, as well as a timeline overview of special events connected to the Campaign this fall. These are taken from our Capital Campaign dispatches sent in September 2025, and it is my wish that this will serve as a helpful reference as we prepare to go forward together in this special season.
In peace,
Allison Brown, Communications Chair
Designated Projects
Our project targets for the Capital Campaign are as follows:
- A building reserve fund is a top priority in this year’s Capital Campaign, in order to ensure the health and welfare of our spiritual home so that it may serve the St. John’s community and its partners for decades to come.
- Renovations to the Fireside Building come next, as our beloved meeting room needs some TLC and updates to best cater to our needs!
- Catering kitchen renovations and a new gathering space adjacent to the kitchen are also on our project list, as hospitality is one of our priorities at St. John’s and an up-to-code kitchen with space to host meals and more is part of that mission.
- Upgrading our gym storage to a community lounge will also be on the list of projects, transforming our former locker room and catch-all overflow into a multi-functional space for community meetings that still accommodates our need for storage.
- Refreshing our Reception and building ADA-compliant restrooms are our final project, ensuring that we at St. John the Evangelist can welcome all as members of the Church of the Open Door.
Additionally, we have a stretch goal: building a bridge fund to offset any potential budget constraints during this exciting time. This would help our community to support and preserve our incredible staff members for the next two years, preserving vital ministries within our church and out in our community.
More details – including the complete breakdown on how our fundraising efforts will apply to each project – will be available soon. In the interest of transparency, however, I am pleased to announce that the fundraising number without our stretch goal is $2,755,000. Our final number that includes our stretch goal is $2,964,512.
Capital Campaign Timeline
- Mid-September: In a few weeks, our soft launch of the Capital Campaign will begin as members of the Advanced Gifts team invite initial fundraising conversations with parishioners just like you! (Fun fact: the ‘advanced’ in Advanced Gifts simply means early on the schedule, nothing more or less.)
- September: September is also when you receive an invitation to our awesome Kick-Off Brunch.
- October 12, 19, and 26: In the month of October, we’ll be holding a very special series of Faith Forums in the 9am hour about the relationship between fundraising and our community. Each Sunday will focus on Stewardship, the projects and process of the Capital Campaign, as well as our Annual Campaign to support St. John’s.
- November 9: After the 10am service, we are thrilled to celebrate together at our Campaign’s Kick-Off Event! This brunch is going to be catered by Chowgirls Catering. But this event is more than just food: it’s also a celebration of St. John’s accomplishments thus far and how we’ve built the foundation to support our future for generations to come. This also marks the beginning of the congregational gifts phase, where we invite all members of our community to pledge towards both the capital and annual campaigns.
- November and December: If you thought our soft launch was full of activity, wait until you see our plans for post-kickoff! Our team is currently planning multiple campaign events if you would like to learn more about the campaign or to make a pledge. We’ll not only be building up towards our fundraising goal, but also community, fun, and conviviality.
- January 2026: All good things must come to an end, and that includes our Capital Campaign! In January, we’ll have a closing party where you can receive a full report on the success of the Campaign and how we’ll use our hard work to repair the breach and serve our communities in light and love.
