When I became a priest, it was largely from a desire to help people grow closer to Jesus Christ. That’s what I love about this vocation and what brings me joy in it. While I knew that as a diocesan priest there would be a fair amount of administrative work involved, and even occasional fundraising, the latter is certainly not something I had ever looked forward to doing! That being said, I come to you with a real need for our parish. As you all know, due to the significant damage we received from Hurricane Ian, we are now in need of a new roof.

In truth though, we knew we were going to have to replace our roof in the near future anyway. So while the hurricane may have bumped up our timeline a bit, it actually means that we don’t need to raise nearly as much as we would have. That is an enormous blessing!

The meetings have already taken place with the insurance adjusters and the Diocese of Venice Building Department, the contracts have been signed with Crowther Roofing, and the work has begun removing our current roof (as you can see!). I am grateful that it has all happened as quickly as it has. Although I’ll be honest, there have been a few sleepless nights over this whole project and I expect more to come!

So, the cost. Our new dark green, metal barrel tile roof — with the addition of a cupola over the chapel — will cost nearly $1.4 million. The good news is that with the help of the insurance, we are only responsible for about half of the cost, which will be around $682,000. That is no small number of course and will need a sacrificial level of giving from all of us to attain. The total price may be somewhat smaller as we are still waiting to receive the final estimates on how much the insurance will provide on the replacement value of the chapel skylight.

With that, Bishop Dewane has given permission to open a capital campaign for the funds needed to pay for the roof. My hope is that this can be a meaningful and lasting expression of our parish community coming together to repair the sacred place that allows us to gather as a parish family, receive the Sacraments and worship the God who provides and gives us every good thing.

Incarnation is our church, and as your Pastor, I have the privilege to serve and steward it as best I can for as long as the Lord has me here. I am now asking you to seriously consider how you can give to support this campaign to replace our roof. You can give online through our parish donation page, make out a check and just note roof in the memo line, or donate through stocks/RMD’s, etc. No gift is too small! I would be happy to meet and discuss with you personally on how to best support this project.

May God bless you abundantly for your generosity!  

                                                                                             – Fr. Eric

P.S. Please remember that we are a non-profit entity,
which means that any donation is tax deductible.