We are very excited to formally announce the kick-off of the capital campaign to fund the renovation and building of our new Priests’ Residence on the grounds of St. William’s Parish.
Many of you may not be aware that the building that was once used as our rectory has not been in a sufficient condition to serve as a permanent home for our Pastor for almost twenty years. Our parish has had to rent a place for the Pastor to live, which takes him away from the church campus.
Working with the Parish Leadership teams, the Diocese of Savannah, and Bishop Parkes, the decision was made to completely renovate and build a new residence for priests to live in on our campus. This new facility will support the needs of our clergy today and well into the future for years to come.
Importantly, the residence will be large enough to house 3-5 priests. The facility will have three one-bedroom suites plus two additional bedrooms and baths. The three suites are for our pastor as well as two priests from the diocese who have retired from active ministry. These retired priests will be able to assist our pastor with coverage for clerical duties such that we are not left without a priest due to vacation or other circumstances that cause our pastor to be away from the parish.
You may realize that the Savannah diocese is a large diocese, but most of the areas are still somewhat mission areas. Therefore, we at St. William are responsible for raising the money to construct this new facility. The project is estimated to cost $1.5 million. As many of you know, construction costs have increased in our area fairly dramatically over the last few years. We have recently begun contacting some parishioners to ensure that we had enough support to begin the project. Fortunately, we have had some enthusiastic responses, and we have raised commitments for over 50% of the total costs in hand.
We are beginning our formal campaign to raise the additional $750,000 we will need to finish the project. We would like to finalize our fundraising for the project over the next 90 days. Where do you come in? We would ask that you prayerfully consider a gift for this capital campaign. This is a gift and an investment for the continued success of our St. William’s.
We ask that you please return this Capital Campaign – Rectory Renovation Donation Form with your contribution by December 1st, 2024. Online contributions may be made securely through our OSV online giving link here, or by using the below QR Code. Gifts of stock, donor advised funds, IRA contributions, etc., may be made through your financial advisor.
Thank you for your consideration,
Capital Campaign Committee
David Hanna, Chair
Jack Markley
Burt Davitte
Photos and update from site meeting Friday, October 18:
- Plumbing rough-in inspection passed 10/18
- In process of backfilling trenches
- Termite pre-treatment scheduled for later today or Monday 10/21
- Concrete for trenches scheduled for week of 10/21
- Interior framing to continue once trenches are filled.
Here are some photos and updates from October 25 Site meeting:
- Sanitary sewer trenches are being filled with concrete
- New interior walls are being framed
- Concrete for larger slab scheduled for next week
- Demo of cmu walls and ceiling scheduled to begin next week.
