Please help our small church repair our ceiling

St. James Episcopal Church in Pulaski, New York is reaching out to the community for help with time, talent and resources. In the past eighteen months we have had two failures of the ancient horsehair plaster in the church’s ceiling, making worship in the sanctuary unsafe. The cost to remove the 170 year old ceiling and replace it with sheetrock is $120,000. We are a small congregation with a love for our community and its people, but this cost is largely beyond our means. St. James has been a staple in the local community for almost 175 years. The building was consecrated in February 1850. Since that time, St. James has had a tremendous impact on the lives of hundreds (if not thousands) of people. We have provided Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for over 30 years at no cost to those who seek a hot meal, place to gather and sense of community. Additionally, last fall we implemented the “No Empty Plate” meal ministry on the last Thursday of each month for anyone. This program is also free and funded totally by outside donations.

However, to continue to serve the community, we need to ensure that St. James remains a safe and welcoming place for people to gather.

Our needs are many... as such, we are in the early stages of deciding what we, as a parish, can do to save on costs. We have a history of doing most of the work ourselves with help from the community members. But this project is signi�icantly different in that the ceiling is upwards of 25 feet high and too dangerous for us to undertake. It must be contracted. We have approximately $35,000 in reserve that can be used for the project, and we hope to be able to raise another $35,000 through a parish-wide capital fund drive and the support of community friends and businesses, and a GoFundMe page. While we are exploring potential grants, they are usually small and often exclude churches. A variety of fund raising events are just now being planned. The remaining $50,000 of the project will require a low interest loan from our Diocese. The smaller we can make that loan, the more affordable it becomes for us. We thank you in advance for all your past support and for whatever you might be able to do to help us meet this challenge.