Beloved St. John’s community,
In spring 2025, we concluded a two-year “Sustainable Mission” project to deeply explore our values and priorities as a community. We did this because we, like many churches coming out of the pandemic, had experienced a decrease in attendance and pledging, and we wanted to reground ourselves in our mission and purpose—as well as align our current resources with that purpose. I’m delighted to report that we identified six themes that are crucially important to our community, and we also determined the will of our community to stay in this building in this neighborhood—and be “all in” here.
During this project we determined we needed a capital campaign to address building repair needs and also upgrades that will better align our building, as an asset for mission, with current values and program needs. We are beginning to prepare for the capital campaign now. I have recruited a team chaired by Michael Morrow that includes Michael, myself, our deacon Rex McKee, Junior Warden Kari Rusch-Curl, Mary Beth Crandall (who will lead the efforts to upgrade our sanctuary), Allen Gooch (who will keep track of building repair needs), John Bellaimey (who will spearhead the fundraising), and Mark Lindberg (who will lead the efforts to incorporate planned and legacy giving into the campaign). As with our last several capital campaigns over the last three decades, we hope to continue our practice of raising an additional amount for charitable purposes as well.
We have hired two firms to assist us with the capital campaign: first, the Proximity Project (a group that is centrally involved with ECMN’s efforts to re-imagine its property as an asset for mission) will work with our team this fall to gather information about and prioritize our building improvement and repair needs, making sure we listen well to all of you in the process. Next, we have hired the Vandersall Collective to do a Feasibility Study with us to determine our community’s capacity and enthusiasm for the building improvements we believe will best support our mission. This work will occur between December 2025 – March 2026. Your voice will be important in the Feasibility Study process. Based on what we hear from you during the Feasibility Study, we will continue working with the Vandersall Collective to launch and successfully accomplish the fundraising campaign itself.
All of this work will be deeply rooted in our core mission—learning to embody love—and we believe will rejuvenate us, helping our physical space to better align with our values, purpose and identity as a community of faith. We will provide regular information about the process through e-news articles, community forums and other communication platforms, and we will seek your input throughout.
It is a sacred honor and immense gift to be serving St. John’s during this time. I believe with all my heart we will emerge from this process renewed and revitalized by the presence of God, the opportunity to make a difference through generosity, and through the expression of what we are all about in our physical spaces.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or to Michael Morrow with your questions and concerns at any time throughout this next phase of our spiritual journey together.
In Christ’s love,
Lisa
