Dearest Members of St. John's:

I want to thank you all for your time and prayerful consideration during our October stewardship campaign. Our Minister of Finance, Angie Steins, and the stewardship committee did a fantastic job. What is really exciting is that we’ll continue reflecting on stewardship in the new year during Being SJLC. We have an incredible community here at St. John's, with many diverse skills. What are your hidden talents that can contribute to our mission? What is a mission area that you aspire to participate in? What St. John’s tasks are you currently doing that you would like to take a break from? Our community is evolving constantly, what needs should be addressed that we are missing? These are all questions we will tackle in 2019.

Part of assessing our mission focus is to manage our treasure – specifically the St. John’s campus – to best support the needs of both the congregation and our mission communities.  There are three areas that St. John’s leadership and staff have been focusing on, and we’d like to share this with you all at the December congregational meeting:

• The sanctuary ceiling: There are noticeable stains on the ceiling caused by roof problems. The roof was repaired last year so now we need to address that damage. Thankfully, it will be a repair and paint job rather than a much larger replace drywall job. This work will give us a chance to upgrade lighting both in the balcony and below the balcony. This work will likely displace services from the sanctuary for 1-2 Sundays.
• The organ: Exposed organ pipes must be removed temporarily to protect them from dust and debris. We have long wanted to complete the organ with two additional registers (sections of pipes) and this work can be done when the organ is reassembled after the ceiling work. There may be several months the organ is inoperable, but our wonderful music director Susan Gobien has plans to make the transition as seamless as possible.
• The Fellowship Hall: This area of our campus is really important for many of our missions and is in serious need of repair and update. The windows and HVAC systems need to be replaced, asbestos in tiles and grout needs to be removed, and the finishings need to be upgraded. While the exterior footprint will not change, moving the rear entrance, removing the stage, and removing the wall between the stage and the dining room should make the space much more open. The result we hope will be a more efficient and welcoming area for all of St John’s members to enjoy.

For all three areas we are in the process of collecting estimates and assessing cost v. benefit. Please know that nothing is finalized, particularly with the Fellowship Hall, until we as a congregation get a chance to discuss plans and hear what you have to say.

God has richly blessed St. John's, and I look forward to using our blessings to better our community and the world around us.

Sincerely, Your Servant, Elisabeth