Dear Parishioners of Saint John’s,
As you are all abundantly aware, since arriving in Tampa to serve as Saint John’s Rector, the Vestry, Staff, Clergy, and I have been working to develop and implement a plan to restore our sacred spaces. I am so happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel regarding the restoration of the Church, and I know you are also thrilled to see this season at Saint John’s approaching its end. While we are still worshipping in the Parish Hall, the time is coming that we will be back in the church, and what a triumphal return it will be! I am very pleased that so many of you have been incredibly positive and dug deep to give to the Restoring Sacred Spaces Campaign to make this effort a reality. Thank you!
As I think about the reentry into the Church and what we will do moving forward, I am incredibly excited. We have spent three years, and really more than that as there was a two-year search before I was called to be the Rector, looking inward. Saint John’s has spent much time, talent, and treasure figuring out what our future will look like. It is now time for us to adjust our gaze and begin to look outward into our community, especially after the two hurricanes we have just experienced, and move forward in mission.
We have named the 2025 pledge drive “Moving Forward in Mission” because our goals this year are to continue to form our parishioners in the name of Jesus, begin to focus more of our efforts on outreach to our community, and, of course, to continue to engage with and make new members from all around Tampa. We need your help to make this vision a reality. Do you know of a way Saint John’s can serve the city of Tampa? If you do, please see me, and let’s work together to bring the light of Jesus into our community. Do you feel called to serve in some capacity at Saint John’s, perhaps as a Sunday School teacher, a lay reader, or a Eucharistic Minister, to pray Morning Prayer at Canterbury Towers, or to go on a mission trip? There are so many ways to serve, and we hope to add more ways and places for us to serve in the year ahead.
To accomplish these goals, we first must establish a budget, and to do that, we need to know your commitment to Saint John’s this coming year. Please give generously so that we can give generously back to our community, to our parishioners in need, to our young people’s formation, and especially to those in Tampa who we are called to minister to in Jesus’ name. Click here to see the options for giving. Let’s make 2025 the year we begin Moving Forward in Mission.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Christian Wood +