Our Table, God’s Table

Decatur, Alabama

ST. JOHN’S E p i s c o p a l C h u r c h

Autumn 2016

Our Table, God’s Table Capital Campaign Prayer

Father God, we give You thanks and praise for this glorious opportunity to be a part of Your Kingdom’s expansion.

We ask for the Holy Spirit to guide and direct our efforts for success so that our table may truly be Your table. We ask this in the loving Name of your Son, Jesus.

Amen.

Dear Friends:

On a quiet morning, sitting in my office, I can hear the sound of children laughing and playing across the street at Banks-Caddell Elementary School. That laughter is infectious. It makes me stop what I am doing to listen. It makes me smile. It softens my heart. It invites me to wonder: how many of those children know that St. John’s is a church that cares about them, that is making an investment in their future, and that loves them as fellow children of God?

Over the past few years, St. John’s has worked hard to deepen our relationship with our neighborhood school and many other agencies and partners in our community. Not long ago, those children looked across the street at “the scary church,” as one child put it. Now, because of Homework Helpers, the community garden, Backpacks for Food, trips to the McDowell Environmental Center, choir concerts, and ESL classes for the parents of those students, many in our neighborhood think of us as true partners in God’s kingdom. We cannot stop there. For the sake of God’s kingdom, we must do more.

Our church is greatly limited by its facilities. We are unable to welcome and accommodate anyone with mobility challenges. Our restrooms are inadequate both in number and accessibility. Our kitchen and parish hall inhibit our ability to be “the church that feeds people.” We lack a reception area, and navigation throughout the building is difficult. Our administrative space requires staff members to share offices and, in one case, to work in a re-purposed closet. Because of all of that, we cannot grow—not only in the number of people who call St. John’s home but, more importantly, in our ministry in this community.

This capital campaign is designed to make St. John’s a church that can welcome anyone and everyone to the table. We cannot begin an after-school program or an adult daycare until handicapped accessibility is secured. We cannot feed the community until our kitchen and parish hall are upgraded. We cannot open our church to community events like a concert series until someone in a wheelchair or with a walker can get into the nave with ease. We may not know exactly what ministries are next for St. John’s, but we do know that we cannot adequately minister to our own parishioners or the people in this community until we improve our facilities.

We need your participation—everyone’s participation! We estimate that it will take $3,300,000 to complete this project. Thankfully, with funds already raised and the pledge of a generous, anonymous donor, we have already raised $1,300,000, leaving us with $2,000,000 to raise. That is a lofty goal, but it is one that we can meet. Whether you can pledge $100 a year for three years or $100,000 a year for three years, please consider supporting this effort. And join us in prayer as we all work together to make sure St. John’s can grow in its impact in our community and participation in God’s kingdom. May all that we do be for God’s glory!

Yours faithfully,

From Our Rector

1891 1892 1940 1948 1955

Gothic frame building facing Jackson Street

was built on the present site

Church was turned to face east and

chancel and nave extended

Church tower built New parish hall

constructed

1980’s 1988 2000 2006

Campaign to renovate church interior, Sunday

school rooms, flower guild room, women’s restroom,

infrastructure; add amphitheater and balcony

New organ installed; kitchen, Sunday school

rooms, office space and library expanded;

McKimmon Garden and cloister built,

columbarium added

Bell hung in tower and St. Mary’s

Chapel built

Baugh-Wiley Hospital purchased and made available

for non-profits

A Brief Look at the Past

When the completion of the second of three proposed phases of the 2006-2009 campaign incurred substantial debt for the parish, the vestry decided to postpone additional projects such as handicapped access and renovation of offices. Through the generosity of an anonymous parishioner, however, the last remaining indebtedness from the capital projects was paid off in 2015.

Since the beginning, St. John’s has on numerous occasions raised capital funds to sustain its mission of inviting others to God’s table.

St. John’s admitted to the Diocese of

Alabama

Today at St. John’s

Pledge Income Other Income Total Income2008 $478,557.45 $70,950.20 $549,507.65 2012 $579,016.57 $91,116.21 $670,132.78 2016 Budget $728,407.00 $69,200.00 $797,607.00

$-

$100,000.00

$200,000.00

$300,000.00

$400,000.00

$500,000.00

$600,000.00

$700,000.00

$800,000.00

$900,000.00

Income Overview 2008-2016

Over the last five years, St. John’s has experienced robust growth on all fronts. Attendance is up, with new faces appearing almost every time the church meets. At the annual parish meeting, the parish hall overflowed with parishioners having to wait for others to finish eating before they could find a place to sit and eat. The children’s program is thriving under a full-time children’s director. Youth have gained spiritual depth and stability, as well as growth in numbers, under a full-time youth director. Through visits by the Rector and Associate Rector, and through lay Eucharistic visitors and flower deliverers who bring Communion and altar flowers to the homebound, pastoral care for the sick and the elderly has grown and stabilized. And through the guidance and encouragement of both clergy and vestry, St. John’s is discovering new fronts for outreach, partnering with a local elementary school to provide regular tutoring, offering meals at the Committee on Church Cooperation, giving away beans and rice each month, establishing and maintaining the community garden, providing space for a twice-weekly ESL class, giving financial grants to a number of local nonprofits, encouraging parishioners to volunteer with local organizations and serve on their boards. Through outreach projects and our parish gatherings,

St. John’s is a church that feeds people—breakfast each Sunday morning, breakfast at the Tuesday morning men’s Bible study, suppers on many Wednesday evenings, meals for bereaved families, receptions to celebrate major parish events. And St. John’s has grown in stewardship; it is now free of all debt and on a stable financial footing.

While such growth is wonderful—the church living into its mission to glorify God and serve others—it is also pushing us beyond current physical facilities. Our familiar and beautiful spaces at St. John’s are a means to ministry, and many of them are in need of renovation and expansion if we are to continue to invite more and more people to join us at our table, God’s table.

First, we must make our facilities handicapped accessible. We have a large number of older members who get around with difficulty. People on walkers and in wheelchairs should not have to take a long, circuitous route to the nave—up the switch-back ramp at the Gordon Street entry, through church offices or the library, through the parish hall, down the long hallway by the flower guild room, and into the church. Through our new capital campaign, an additional entry to the church, facing Gordon Drive—with a porte-cochere for drop off—and an elevator at the Jackson Street entry to the parish hall will give direct access to the church.

We need additional, larger, handicapped-accessible rest-rooms. It is unconscionable that in the twenty-first century St. John’s has no handicapped-accessible restroom on the ground floor and no way for handicapped parishioners or visitors to get to the basement. For regular church functions and especially for crowded receptions and visitations, we need larger, updated restrooms.

St. John’s Needs

Office space at St. John’s needs to be renovated and expanded. St. John’s has grown over the last five years in no small part because its staff has grown: Rector, Associate Rector, Financial Administrator, Director of Children’s Ministries, Director of Youth Ministries, and Director of Communications. Current space is inadequate for the work of six people; the office of one staff member is a re-purposed closet. Also, current office walls are so thin that they do not provide appropriate privacy for pastoral counseling.

Ministries for both children and youth at St. John’s need larger dedicated space. Youth need space to relax and play—ping pong, maybe—as well as study and learn. And all the children in Children’s Chapel should have a place to sit. We have committed staff to these programs. If we want them to grow, we have to give them space.

As the church that feeds people, St. John’s needs a new, commercial-grade kitchen. Cooks should not have to lean chairs against the oven doors to keep them shut. An area for serving food and cleaning up should be separate from the food-prep area for convenience and sanitation. And the parish hall should have the capacity to seat all parishioners comfortably—at annual meetings, at Wednesday suppers, or anytime the church gathers—and also provide appropriate space for mid-sized groups.

St. John’s Plan

Exterior perspective - Gordon Drive

Recognizing the limitations of our facilities and seeking new opportunities to expand our mission, the vestry selected Barganier Davis Sims Architects Associated to translate our vision for a better St. John’s into a viable building plan. We have been very intentional about this process.

Every feature of our plan has been designed in direct response to present needs expressed by parishioners through years of envisioning which culminated in a series of parish meetings facilitated by BDS last spring.

Proposed Main Floor Key features of the proposed main floor include:

• Dry access and improved handicapped access to both the church and the parish hall via a porte-cochere and cloister and side narthex on the Gordon Drive side of the campus.

• Four handicapped accessible restrooms including two larger ones off the main corridor.

• Professionally designed commercial kitchen with dedicated servery and separate drop-off area for dirty dishes that will aid sanitation and not disrupt programs and activities.

• Expanded parish hall will be 40% larger (current kitchen becomes extension of parish hall).

• Parish hall will be designed to accommodate mid-sized meetings and gatherings and feature more attractive appointments, audio/visual equipment and better lighting.

• Larger office space with two additional offices to better accommodate our staff of six and the ability to expand if necesary.

• A redesigned foyer entrance to improve access to the church and parish hall through a straight north/south corridor.

• New, improved flower guild room.

• Dedicated priest vesting room.

Proposed Lower Floor Key features of the proposed lower floor include:

• Two additional accessible restrooms on the north side.

• Dedicated youth space that opens to a new courtyard.

• Larger choir room and music library under the new kitchen.

• New multi-use space with exterior access.

• New Children’s Chapel located under the administrative area.

• Handicapped ramp on the Jackson Street entrance

• New elevator near the Jackson Street entrance.

• Designated handicapped parking on the north side of the campus.

Space for Everyone

Summary of Project Costs Cost of Construction $2,600,000Architectural Costs & Fees $ 230,000Estimated Fundraising Costs $ 100,000Furnishings, A/V Equipment, Landscaping & Contingency Costs $ 370,000 Total Project Estimate $3,300,000Less: Anonymous Lead Gift and Other Funds on Hand ($1,300,000)

Net Campaign Need $2,000,000

Advance Gifts Needed to Raise $2,000,000

St. John’s is thriving. After months of listening, weeks of intense planning, and a generous gift that eliminated our debt and provided a jump start to this effort, we are ready to launch our next capital campaign. Over the last century and a quarter, when such needs arose, parishioners responded with generosity and sacrifice. Now, in a new time and with pressing needs, we must claim that tradition and make it our own. As a sacramental church, we acknowledge that physical structures and actions embody and convey spiritual grace—they sustain spiritual life, growth, and ministry. The proposed capital campaign will enable us by word and deed to proclaim the unconditional love of God in our community and the world so that all might gather at God’s table with us.

Memorial Opportunities & Designations

Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $250,000Parish Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200,000New Cloister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $150,000New Narthex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100,000 Office Expansion and Renovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100,000Elevator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000Flower Guild Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000EYC Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000 Choir Rehearsal Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,000 Children’s Chapel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000 Multi-Purpose Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000 Downstairs Courtyard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000Balcony Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000Reception Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000 Porte Cochere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50,000Priest Vesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30,000 Sacristy Renovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30,000 Music Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30,000 McKimmon Garden Fence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30,000

There is perhaps no more meaningful way in which to perpetuate the names of those we love and honor than to estalish a living and permanent tribute to them and to the glory of God. Gifts so designated may be given in memory of departed loved ones as memorials or as living tributes in honor of those held in high regard.

If you wish to translate your gift into such an enduring memorial or living tribute or thanksgiving gift, please study the possibilities as presented. A reservation may be made for a desired unit, provided it has not already been committed. Other memorial opportunities are welcome as well.

Where appropriate, a suitable plaque may be commissioned to designate the memorial. This will be done in consultation with the vestry and rector.

Planning Your GiftCapital giving differs from annual giving in several ways:

• It invests its return in permanent properties; • It takes place only when necessary;• It spreads payments over a longer period;• It is in response to a need of an urgent nature;• It seeks larger amounts than annual budgets can cover; • It requires a planned, sacrificial and inspirational effort,

and often involves the giving of real estate, securities, life insurance or other tangible assets; and

• It is over and above your ordinary sacrificial offering and giving.

Therefore, customary giving habits will not produce the results necessary to ensure a successful Our Table, God’s Table capital campaign.

Per week for156 weeks

Per month for36 months

Per Quarter for12 Quarters

Per year forthree years

For a totalgift of

$320.50 $1,389 $4,167 $16,667 $50,000$256.40 $1,111 $3,333 $13,000 $40,000$192.30 $833 $2,500 $10,000 $30,000$160.25 $694 $2,083 $8,333 $25,000$128.20 $556 $1,667 $6,667 $20,000

$96.15 $417 $1,250 $5,000 $15,000$76.90 $333 $1,000 $4,000 $12,000$64.10 $278 $833 $3,333 $10,000$57.70 $250 $750 $3,000 $9,000$48.00 $208 $625 $2,500 $7,500$38.45 $167 $500 $2,000 $6,000$32.05 $139 $417 $1,667 $5,000$28.85 $125 $375 $1,500 $4,500$23.00 $100 $300 $1,200 $3,600$19.25 $83 $250 $1,000 $3,000$16.00 $69 $208 $833 $2,500$12.80 $56 $167 $667 $2,000

$9.60 $42 $125 $500 $1,500$6.40 $28 $83 $333 $1,000$5.70 $25 $75 $300 $900$4.80 $21 $63 $250 $750$3.20 $14 $42 $167 $500

Giving over Three Years

St. John’s Campaign Committee

St. John’s

St. John’s ClergyThe Rev. Evan D. Garner, RectorThe Rev. J. Seth Olson, Associate Rector

2016 Vestry Members Class of 2016 Joe Propst; Julia Roth; Carol Sartain, Senior Warden; Julie Sneed; Grant Thompson

Class of 2017 Squee Bailey; Harry Moore; David Rice; Steve Sandlin, Junior Warden; Kathy Slaton

Class of 2018 Alana Haughaboo; Mary McKimmon; Billy Middleton; Pat Price; Karen SmithMartha FreemanMartha Freeman, ClerkKathy Stoner, Interim ClerkKen Schuppert, ChancellorBobby Straub, Treasurer

Bobby Greene, Chairman June & Steven Hall, Advance GiftsCarol Sartain, Leadership GiftsLuke Slaton, Pacesetter GiftsBunny & Bingham Edwards, Parish TeamsKristen & Joe Propst, Parish TeamsKathy Slaton, Stewardship CoordinatorLucy McCain, Prayer SupportDodie Hall, CommunicationsElise Hannah, Kickoff DinnerVickie Reed, TreasurerEvan Garner, RectorSeth Olson, Associate Rector

Episcopal Church 202 Gordon Drive, SE Decatur, AL256.353.9615