The Church is the People of God sharing in Jesus’ ministry of preaching, teaching and healing.
T (212) 288-5082
Email: info@sjbny.org
Eglise St. Jean Baptist
Rectory Address: 184 E 76th St, New York, NY 10021
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
It has been quite a while since I’ve spoken to you about construction projects for the church; but the time has come again. The major project that we’re addressing now is the re-building of the church stairs.
You probably didn’t know, but we’ve been working quietly for the past year. We’ve repaired or replaced the top steps that were shifting and cracking. This was easy to repair – not cheap but easy. We then waterproofed them from the outside. The difficult part of this project is rectifying the situation that caused the stairs to crack in the first place.
Below the stairs, running along the entire Lexington Avenue façade, there are a series of steel beams supporting the three sets of stairs. They’re embedded in concrete that has been cracking and flaking. Preliminary probes confirmed our speculation that the steel support beams had deteriorated due to slow water seepage causing the stairs to shift and allowed water to drip into the basement. These beams need to be, first of all, shored up for safety. Then, they need to be totally exposed, removed, replaced, waterproofed and recovered with cement.
This is a very costly project. Francisco Francisco, our Facilities Manager, and I have been working with the contractor to find a way to split up the job into several manageable phases. This will help with the cash flow as the project proceeds. We’re planning to begin the work shortly, and hope to raise enough funds to be able to conclude the work in the Fall. The project can be divided in three parts costing $40,000, $35,000 and $73,000. The total cost is $148,000. We have sufficient funds on hand to begin part one.
A second project that will be VERY noticeable, and will get the attention of the entire neighborhood, will be the re-lighting of the church’s exterior. The building was illuminated in 1991. At the time, the major restoration of the church’s exterior was under way but our parishioners were beginning to tire of my speaking of the next step, and the next step, and the next step. Fund-raising for the project began in 1987! Work was performed as donations came in. It was now 1991 and there was still approximately $2,000,000 of serious repair work yet to be completed. We felt that we all needed a break to reenergize.
It was serendipitous that I met a lighting designer from Prague at an event for the New York State Landmarks Commission, Alex Staffa. I invited him to see St. Jean’s. He was very impressed by the building. As we spoke about a possible illumination I became convinced that this project could reignite donor interest in the grand project of restoring the building. I asked him to give us a proposal. We had just enough left in our kitty to pay for it. The parish council gave the permission to go for it, and we did. It was a wow moment the night the crowd that had gathered to witness the lighting poured out of the church onto Lexington Avenue to wait for the switch to be thrown. It was a good investment. Donations began to flow again – many of the them coming from first-time donors. We were able to finish the entire restoration project by 1997.
Today, about a third of the lights are out, and a number of those are due to fixtures that aren’t functioning. The church is still lit, and people still comment on the light, but the lighting infrastructure needs to be refreshed.
On a tip from a parishioner, I met with the lighting engineer who lit the dome of St. Bartholomew’s on Park Avenue. He made a survey of our present system. I agreed with his assessment that the 1991 fixtures needed to be replaced with new, highly efficient, LED fixtures. (Take note of the new ceiling lights inside the church. We recently replaced the 60 or so lighting fixtures with 20 LED fixtures. The ceiling is singing a new song!)
The engineer gave me a proposal to replace all the fixtures. The job involves, of course, lifts and cranes that are expensive. The initial proposal for the job is $183,000. That’s a lot. But…the parishioner who introduced me to the lighting engineer pledged a $100,000 matching grant towards the project. We’re also trying to tap into a Con Ed grant program that assists institutions working to upgrade the efficiency of their lighting systems.
That’s where we are today. The stair project is first and foremost, not very thrilling, completely unseen, but absolutely essential. The re-lighting of the church will be very visible, attracting renewed attention and hopefully, new parishioners. Once again, I’m reaching out to you and your generosity. Please help the cause if you can. You may donate at the church office or place a check in any of the collection boxes in the church. Just write PROJECTS in the note space at the bottom left side of your check. Thank you for your support, your prayer and your participation.
Fr. John A. Kamas, SSS
Pastor
WEEKDAY SCHEDULE
Church opens at 7:00 AM
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 8:00 AM until 11:30 AM
Confessions from 11:30 AM until 11:50 AM
MASS at 12:00 PM
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
Church Opens at 11:00 AM
Confessions from 11:30 AM until 11:50 AM
MASS at 12:00 PM
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament until 4:45 PM
Confessions from 4:30 PM until 4:50 PM
Anticipated Sunday MASS at 5:00
SUNDAY SCHEDULE
Church Opens at 8:30 AM
MASS at 9:00 AM
HIGH MASS at 11:00 AM
EVENING PRAYER at 3:15 PM
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament From Noon until 3:45 PM
MASS at 4:00 PM
Church Closes at 5:30 PM
SATURDAY, May 27
12:00 Humberta Delgado
& Francisca Tapia Martinez
5:00 Patrick Fahey
SUNDAY, May 28
PENTECOST SUNDAY
9:00 Gaetano Iorlano
11:00 Rocco S. Boccia
4:00 Mikey Acciardi
MONDAY, May 29
THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH
12:00 Maria Cibellis Iorlano
TUESDAY, May 30
12:00 For the Parishioners & For All Enrolled In the St. Anne’s Shrine
WEDNESDAY, May 31
THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
12:00 Rosemary Gelshenen
THURSDAY, June 1
SAINT JUSTIN
12:00 Russell Battaglia
FRIDAY, June 2
12:00 Gerardo Iorlando
SATURDAY, June 3
SAINT CHARLES LWANGA & COMPANIONS
12:00 Felicia Iorlano
5:00 Dionisia & Maximo Ramos