The sanctuary and graveyard are currently closed to visitors due to construction and renovations taking place as part of our Shine the Light capital campaign.

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Shine the Light Campaign Report

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Campaign Background: Our Shine the Light Campaign is St. Philip’s first capital campaign in twenty-five years. St. Philip’s is undertaking a significant effort to preserve our historic Gospel assets and equip our campus for God’s call to St. Philip’s to be a light to our community and the world. Our last campaign, the 5th Century Fund, allowed us to renovate the Parish House and church offices, two facilities vital to our current daily ministries and operations. Today, our Shine the Light Campaign envisions a complete restoration of all facilities at our campus.

Our church family uses close to 75% of the entire block bordered by Queen Street, Church Street, Cumberland Street, and State Street. What a blessing! We also have our own parking lot and use of the county parking garage for worship services (into perpetuity). In addition to the physical restoration of our historic campus, a portion of the Shine the Light funds is to go towards mission, and we announced in May our plans to establish a classical Christian school. We own the 15,000 square-foot building on the corner of State and Cumberland Streets, and our plan is to convert it from an income-producing property to another Gospel asset, as it will house the school and will also provide flexibility during our campus renovation. The Classical Christian School planning committee is diligently researching and preparing, and there will be much more to share this fall.

Campaign Update: To date, we have raised $15.916 million in pledges and contributions from 362 parishioner families. Pledge fulfilments, new pledges, and contributions are arriving every week. We currently are 97% complete on the historic campus restoration goal and are 74% complete on the total campaign. Fifty-two percent of our congregation has participated thus far. If you have not yet given or pledged, please prayerfully consider pledging now. We need everyone to join us.

This is a Spirit-led effort, fully supported in prayer by all involved. We did not hire professional fundraisers, and with the Holy Spirit’s leading, we rely on our own parishioners, vestry, and clergy. We have over one hundred volunteers assisting with this campaign, and the results are so encouraging. Thanks be to God for His provision!

Ministry and mission funding will continue to come from Annual Giving, so it is essential that we all continue our contributions to the Annual Fund. The Shine the Light Campaign is a once-in-a-century endeavor, and to be successful, we will need prayerful, sacrificial giving by our entire parish community.

Construction Update: Jim Stelling, our Construction Committee Chair, provided our campaign committee with an exciting restoration update. The contractors assembled scaffolding in the narthex earlier this summer, and our contractors and engineers are finalizing the scaffolding design and system for the church exterior. Before summer’s end, we will see scaffolding assembled on the steeple and the portico.  The church restoration will include work on both the interior and exterior for at least the next twelve months. 

Concurrently, our Parish House architect, Eddie Bellows, will finalize the Parish House addition design. Our current goal is to begin the Parish House addition and restoration July 2025, and we expect that work will take eighteen months, to the end of 2026.  We are spending considerable time planning for an interim on-campus relocation for all Parish Hall and preschool functions during this construction time. We will provide more details this fall once we complete and fully vet the plans.  The State Street property is a blessing and will certainly be a part of the solution. Once we complete the work on the sanctuary, the Parish House, and the State Street building, we will move to the Tea Garden and the church offices. 

We should all expect construction on our campus for the next three years. What a blessing that we can fully restore, renovate, and utilize our Gospel assets!

 

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About the Classical Christian School Plans