Where Your Offerings Go: 2026 Ministries
Thank you for your continued generosity!

👉 Make a Donation to Support Our Ministry Today

Thank you for your generosity! Your financial gifts directly sustain the heartbeat of our community and fuel our mission to walk in love.

While it might not sound glamorous, the largest percentage of our collective giving goes toward the General Fund. This foundational fund makes the biggest impact on our church life, providing the space, tools, and hands needed to carry out Christ’s work in Elkhart and beyond.

👥 Sustaining Our Ministry Leadership & Staff

Our ministries depend on the dedicated people who keep our church vibrant, organized, and welcoming. The General Fund supports:

• Our Priest: Pastor Terri Peterson provides pastoral care, spiritual guidance, and sacramental leadership. (Contact: 574-295-1725 | pastorterri@icloud.com)

• Our Deacon: While Deacon Melissa’s position is unpaid, we provide a small stipend for her continuing education as she leads us in prayer and community service.

• Music Ministry: A highly specialized ministry essential to our worship. As Pastor Terri loves to say, “No one leaves humming the sermon!” Your gifts support our organist and keep our historic Casavant Organ shaking the rafters.

• Parish Secretary: The vital engine behind the scenes. This role ensures our day-to-day operations run smoothly, handles communications, and manages our parish mailing lists.

• Financial Secretary: Michelle Layher handles our complex financial needs, crunches numbers, runs vital reports for the Vestry, and manages staff payroll so we can focus on ministry.

• Housekeeper & Maintenance: Jim Wogoman pours his heart into keeping our sacred spaces clean, handling minor repairs, and volunteering his time as a jack-of-all-trades.

🏛️ Maintaining Our Sacred Space & Operations

To gather comfortably and minister effectively, we invest in the practical necessities of our historic home:

• Utilities & Equipment: Keeping the gas, electricity, phones, and internet running so our building is comfortable and fully operational for worship and community use.

• Communications & Tech: Maintaining our computer systems and two commercial printers to publish weekly bulletins, send letters, and produce The Tower newsletter for those without email.

• Altar Guild Supplies: Providing the essential elements of our sacred worship, including communion wafers, wine, candles, and altar linens.

• Building Upkeep: St. John’s gathers in a beautiful but aging historic structure. Generous member offerings and careful investments allow us to make critical, ongoing repairs.

⛪ Connected to the Wider Church: The Diocesan Assessment

We share a portion of our financial resources with the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana. In return, their 11-member staff supports St. John’s with crucial resources, including:

• Spiritual encouragement and stewardship guidance.

• Pastoral and legal support for our leadership.

• Youth programming and summer camps that help us share the Gospel with the next generation.

❤️ Providing Space for Outreach Ministries

By keeping our doors open and our utilities paid, your offerings create a launching pad for vital community ministries:

• ⁠St. John’s Food Pantry: Feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty for over 30 years. Neighbors are invited twice a month to shop for groceries for their families.

• The Giving Tree: Located right in our parking lot, faithful volunteers hang seasonal clothing here every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday for the homeless and those in need.

• Al-Anon: We proudly host and support those who love individuals struggling with addiction, opening our Common Room to their meetings every Wednesday at 10:00 AM.

• The Pastor’s Discretionary Fund: On the first Sunday of every month, worshippers are invited to give to this special fund. Pastor Terri uses these gifts to provide direct emergency assistance—such as partial rent, utility help, bus passes, gas money, or job uniforms—to individuals in crisis.

🌟 The Big Picture: Why it Matters

Every utility bill paid, every salary supported, and every candle purchased provides the foundation for everything else we do. Because of your faithfulness, from this place we are able to:

Gather for holy worship • Offer forgiveness and absolution • Share the Holy Eucharist • Celebrate weddings • Comfort families at funerals • Take communion to the sick and homebound • Support school children at Beardsley Primary Center • Fund education for young girls in Honduras • Create joyful Christmas pageants • Open our doors for Diocesan training • Walk in love together.

👉 Make a Donation to Support Our Ministry Today