ROANOKE RAPIDS - Maintaining churches and other buildings can be a challenge for any parish community. At St. John the Baptist, the parish hall is nearly 50 years old, and the church building dates back to the 1930s.
Father Marlon Mendieta’s arrival at St. John coincided with some ill-timed facility problems.
It was Christmas Eve when he got the phone call that a frozen pipe had burst in the parish hall, leaving nearly frozen water covering the entirety of the tile floor.
“Later that day, one of our heating units failed,” laughed Father Marlon, pastor. “That Christmas it was cold in the church and wet in the parish hall.”
Storm damage had exacerbated maintenance needs in recent years. A new roof was badly needed for the church. Father Marlon knew there were a lot of other facility needs at the parish. He also knew that his parishioners were generous and industrious and that together they could find a way to refresh St. John’s campus.
Thanks to a unique idea and generosity, the parish’s facilities improvement campaign was kickstarted with a Holy Cow! Raffle.
With the donation of one large cow from parishioner and farmer Matthew Sickelton and his family, the St. John parish sold more than 500 raffle tickets. There were two grand prizes up for grabs, each prize was half a side of beef that could be cut and processed any way the winners chose.
There were many other tasty top prizes, as well. By the end of the Holy Cow! Raffle drawing, which was streamed live for all ticket holders to see online, the parish had raised more than $11,000 for their building maintenance fund and had a lot of fun and good food along the way.
While the first building and maintenance priority was to initiate a roof replacement following recent storm damage, the revitalization efforts went further and faster than Father Marlon imagined.
“When they become aware of a need, our parishioners step up,” said Father. He pointed out a new handicapped ramp at the church entrance and a new roof for a storage building on the campus as examples of new repairs that happened through the hard work and generosity of St. John’s parishioners. And while maintaining historical structures will always be a priority, the effort has energized the parish to look ahead.
“The parish hall has been refreshed, but we’re looking at the whole campus and what could be next,” said Father Marlon. He’s working together with the parish to consider possible expansions to the hall and to parking for the church campus.
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