February 9, 2024

St. Mark's Church, Upland, will repair water damage to its library building and classrooms caused by last year's heavy rainfall with the help of a One Body & Spirit Annual Appeal grant. Photo: Keith Yamamoto

One Body & One Spirit Appeal grant will help Upland parish repair water damage

The rainy weather of this past week brings to mind last year’s unusually heavy storms, which exposed structural problems at several churches of the Diocese of Los Angeles.

One of those is St. Mark’s Church in Upland, where the two-level hillside campus suffered serious damage from leaks in the concrete structure leading to part of its education buildings, site of the former St. Mark’s School. The parish carries building insurance, but their claim was denied due to pre-existing structural and design issues.

The library has been used for support groups, the St. Mark’s handbell choir and school classrooms. St. Mark’s school facilities are under consideration as a site for a San Bernardino Head Start program, which would help the congregation sustain itself, but considerable investment in the property will be necessary to make it suitable for leasing. 

"We at St. Mark’s Church in Upland are honored to have been selected by the special committee with approval by the Corporation of the Diocese for a One Body & One Spirit grant of $5,000,” says the Very Rev. Keith Yamamoto, rector of St. Mark’s and dean of Deanery 6. 

“These funds are needed for the remediation and water damage repair to our library building and classrooms. St. Mark’s is grateful for the consideration and assistance provided by the Diocese of Los Angeles during this time of great need across our diocesan faith communities, programs, and institutions."

The annual appeal grant will be used to repair some of the damage to the 35-year-old building and prevent further leakage. The parish is fundraising to make more extensive repairs in the future. This grant will help them on the way.

Launched as an emergency appeal during COVID, the Annual Appeal isn’t just for emergencies anymore. It’s for anything a church or institution needs that isn’t covered by the budget. Every dollar received goes back out the door in a grant. Since 2020, the Corporation of the Diocese has made 70 grants to 56 congregations, institutions, and ministries.

Application deadline for the next grant cycle is May 1, 2024, for awards to be made in June. Details are here.

Thank you for your support of the One Body & One Spirit Annual Appeal – and for making a donation today by clicking the button above.

Please join the 233 donors who, to date, have raised $336,111.86 in 405 gifts to the 2022-24 Annual Appeal, through which the Corporation of the Diocese makes grants to congregations and institutions seeking to meet unbudgeted expenses. Click here to make a gift or download a grant application packet.

Your support of the diocesan One Body & One Spirit Annual Appeal directly assists congregations working to meet unforeseen, unbudgeted expenses – from repairing a roof to sheltering unhoused neighbors – or any aspect of the corporate life of your church or institution.

Congregations seeking Annual Appeal grants are encouraged to review the application and FAQ information available via the “donate” link below.

To all donors, thank you! And to all who are considering a gift, please follow the link to contribute today.

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