Gather Together

The St. John’s community is coming together to ensure that our beautiful and historic church remains a vibrant and welcoming space for worship, music, theater, childcare, and gathering together in all our varied and diverse community groups. We need your help!

St. John’s is a historic landmark:

  • St. John’s Episcopal Church has played a vital role in Sumner Hill, Jamaica Plain community since it was built in 1882.

  • Our Gothic Revival church, designed by local architect Harris M. Stephenson (1845-1909), is both a beautiful building and a place for community gatherings.

  • St. John’s is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Sumner Hill Historic District and has a Preservation Restriction held by the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

    St. John’s Capital Campaign:

  • We have launched a Capital Campaign to fund our preservation and restoration work and we aim to raise a minimum of $600,000.

  • Over the past two years, we raised $239,000 from grant funding through the City of Boston’s Community Preservation Act Fund, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and the Henderson Foundation.

  • The parish has contributed significant funds through a combination of appreciation from St. John’s small endowment and a loan from the Episcopal Dioceses of Massachusetts for this important work.  

  • We now turn our efforts to raising funds from parishioners, friends of the parish, those who use our building and the broader community with a goal of raising an additional $180,000.

Restoration work has already begun:

Our restoration work also includes making our sanctuary a more welcoming and comfortable space for all who enter, whether for a church service, a concert, a theatrical production, or a community meeting, including:

  • The re-installation of the George B. Proctor Memorial Window in March 2023;

  • The repair of the aging tower door on Roanoke Street, to ensure that the entrance to our sanctuary is truly welcoming to all who wish to enter; and

  • Long-awaited improvements to the church interior, such as plastering, painting, seating and flooring repairs (among others!)