Dear friends in Christ,

In the spirit of transparency, I write to let you know of some of the troubles we have had with our rectory (the house owned by St. John’s) in recent months. We have not received rental income from the rectory since March of this year, and our tenants had not communicated with us or our property manager in that time. This has been both financially difficult and frustrating.

Sometime in the last few weeks, the tenants suddenly and unexpectedly left. We pray for their wellbeing, and give thanks that we will now be able to move forward with new tenants.

However, the bad news is that the rectory was left in very poor condition. The biggest problem is that there has been considerable damage caused by extensive smoking inside the house. We need to remove garbage, do a deep clean, and completely repaint the interior of the house, along with some other minor repairs. From what we know now, the cost of this will exceed $6,000, and unfortunately the damage deposit will only cover a small portion of this.

Therefore, if you are able, I invite you to make a special gift towards the repair and preparation of the rectory. This can be done by mail, e-transfer, or through the website. Please mark any gifts clearly that are for rectory repair.

I know this must be heartbreaking for many of you who put a lot of time and energy into getting the house ready a couple years ago. However, again, I give thanks that our previous situation is over and we can finally move forward. I also give thanks for the wisdom in parish council’s decision to bring on a property manager in the last year, without whom this would have been unimaginably more stressful and difficult.

I ask your prayers for parish council and myself. Yours in Christ,

CG+

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