St. John’s African Methodist Episcopal Church — Site of Planned Restoration
St. John’s African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Norfolk has been awarded a $522,000 grant to help restore its historic sanctuary, a building so damaged by water infiltration that the congregation has had to worship elsewhere for years. The funding comes as the church works toward an estimated $1 million restoration bill, with leaders hoping the repairs will let worshippers return to their original sanctuary by 2027.
The grant was awarded through Virginia’s Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Historic Preservation Grant Program, according to WAVY.com. The church also received a separate $163,000 award from the National Fund for Sacred Places, though that grant requires a matching contribution from the congregation, as reported by WTKR. Pastor Christian Savage told the station that, between the two grants and the remaining gap, “Altogether, it will probably take about a million dollars” to finish the job.
A Sanctuary Dating to 1888
St. John’s current sanctuary was built in 1888, per the same WTKR report, and the building’s problems are not new. Water infiltration had been an issue for years, but the station notes that “during the COVID pandemic, a lot of those problems accelerated,” ultimately damaging the structure enough that the congregation moved its services into another room. Since then, the church has kept its focus on one goal: getting back into its original sanctuary, with WTKR reporting the congregation’s eye has always been on a return home “sometime in 2027.”…