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The Renewal Campaign at St. John’s Presbyterian Church is a journey of faith and stewardship designed to prepare our congregation and facilities for the generations to come. Rooted in remembering God’s faithfulness, reimagining our mission for today’s community, and responding with action, the campaign seeks to both revitalize our historic sanctuary and reimagine our ministries for a changing world.
By repairing and modernizing our worship space, investing in outreach to families and young adults, and strengthening leadership for growth, Renewal ensures that St. John’s remains a welcoming, vibrant, and faithful witness of God’s grace in the heart of West Los Angeles.
We Respond
By serving our broader community in new and exciting ways
We Reimagine
our Ministries
With staff gifted in outreach & serving our greater West LA community
We Revitalize
our Worship Space
By making needed repairs to our sanctuary to better serve visitors and our church family
In this season at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, we recognize a need for RENEWAL, for “growing young” in our multigenerational congregation, and reaching out to our community more than ever to share the love of Jesus with our neighbors. St. John’s is more than our sanctuary, the Moreton Bay fig tree, our large green space. St. John’s is a compassionate and diverse community, which God has placed in the middle of West Los Angeles for His purpose, to bear witness of His astounding grace extended to each one of us.
“This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’”
Jeremiah 33: 2-3
Behind every step of Renewal are real people whose lives are being changed by God’s grace. These stories show how our community is growing in faith, finding hope, and experiencing the love of Christ in powerful ways. Come see how Renewal is already making a difference and be inspired for what is still to come.
The Vision Before Us
GOAL
$1Million
Over and above regular giving now through December 2027.
The committee has hit the ground running this past year. With early donations of close to $300,000, we are already taking action on the highest priority items of our Renewal needs. These early items have included
New Sanctuary Roof
As our top capital project priority, the main sanctuary roof was in dire need of being replaced, especially before the rainy season. In consulting with roofers, we also added a ridge vent to hopefully prevent further condensation and “vapor creep”, which was the cause of the visible mold growth on our sanctuary ceiling. This project was completed in September 2025.
Search Committee for a new Director of Children and Family Ministries (DCFM).
We have also allocated two years of Renewal funds to be used in addition to our general funds so that we can afford to hire a full-time DCFM. This search committee is underway and already in the process of interviews. We see this position as mission critical to grow our children and family ministries by identifying someone who is gifted in outreach and supporting whole families.
Hiring a Communications Director, Ruby Reyes and her company, Sound Mind Media Co
The Renewal Committee has set aside funds to support our new communication director for the next two years. She has already been hard at work redesigning a new website that better reflects who we are and all the many ways we are serving our Lord Jesus Christ. She will also be reinvigorating our social media presence and producing the St. John’s Newsletter.
The committee has calculated that our remaining Renewal Campaign needs are $700,000, for a total goal of $1 million. The following is a brief description of the Renewal Campaign plans
Reimagining our Ministries
In addition to the new Communications Director and DCFM, the Renewal Campaign has been working closely with Pastor Steve in his plans to eventually retire from St. John’s as head pastor. With this upcoming transition, the Renewal Campaign is setting aside funding for a one-year transition that would support a Co-Pastor to work alongside Pastor Steve, until the baton is fully passed to this new pastor. This is outside the box from the typical way these transitions occur in the Presbytery, which usually involve an interim pastor for a period of time and often leads to a significant decline in membership. To prevent this from occurring, the Renewal Campaign would like to create a smoother transition, one that allows for continued growth of our church, as we begin our journey with a new pastor. The Renewal Campaign will highlight for the pastor search committee the priority of identifying a new pastor who is gifted in outreach and growing our church into the future.
Revitalizing our Worship Space
The Renewal Campaign Committee has also identified the most dire needs of our worship space and ways we can become a more inviting place to worship God and serve our community. The following are the priority areas
Church Exterior
We will shore up our existing lights so that they are functional and lighting up the front of the church, facing National Boulevard. We will also improve our signage and lighting so that visitors can more easily find us.
Narthex (Church Lobby)
We plan to renovate this entry way to our sanctuary so that it is an inviting space to prepare for worship.
Nave (Main hall of church) and Chancel
One priority is to clean the mold on the ceiling and repaint (not disturbing or redoing the actual ceiling). We also plan to replace the flooring, paint the walls, and fix or replace our pews.
Restrooms and plumbing
Our bathrooms are in much need of revitalizing, following multiple floodings that have ruined the floors. We also need to fix the source of the problems, the plumbing, so that our restrooms are safe and healthy.
Wood and brick repairs
Finally, there are several urgent repairs that need to be made to ensure the safety of our building.
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”
Malachi 3:10
WAYS TO GIVE
Renewal is not about equal gifts, but equal sacrifice. Every gift matters.
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FULFILL YOUR PLEDGE
The Renewal
Journey Ahead
October 12
Kickoff Sunday
October 19
Renewal & Generosity Sunday
October 26
Renewal & Obedience Sunday
November 23
Pledge Sunday
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21
11000 National Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Telephone: +1 (310) 477-2513