St. Paul's Foundation | St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Make a donation to the St. Paul's Foundation

The St. Paul’s Foundation was established in 1992 by the Vestry and is administered by trustees appointed by the Vestry. The Foundation is charged primarily with building and growing an endowment for the support, preservation, and restoration of our Benjamin Latrobe sanctuary, and the buildings and grounds of our church. The Foundation also supports and benefits the Church’s mission outside the parish.

The Foundation is a 501(c)3 corporation in the Commonwealth of Virginia and, as such, receives charitable gifts and bequests and makes long-term investments to provide for the future needs of our historic church. All contributions to the Foundation are tax-deductible.

An additional important role of the Foundation, as a separately chartered organization, is to apply for grants that are unavailable to the church itself. Also, some employers have matching gift programs for employees making donations to a qualifying nonprofit, which generally include the Foundation but would not include the church.

Previous Foundation Projects

Since its founding in 1992 the St. Paul’s Foundation has done much to improve the buildings and grounds of our historic church. The largest project has been the restoration of the stained glass windows in the sanctuary. Started in 2010, the goal of the years’ long process is total restoration for all of the stained glass windows in need of conservation. There are 34 beautiful stained glass windows in the sanctuary and as of June 2019, 25 have been restored. In 2012, the Catharine Wheel window, the rose window behind the altar, was restored through gifts made to the Foundation in honor of John Von Hemert, the 12th rector of St. Paul’s from 1971 to 1985. Windows have been restored through memorial gifts made by parish families and through funds directly from the Foundation. It is the fervent hope of the Foundation that St. Paul’s members will continue to contribute to the restoration of our stained glass windows and help preserve our spiritual heritage.

In 2013, the St. Paul’s Foundation received bequests from long-time parishioners that totaled over $2.8 million. The Foundation now has over $4 million in cash and investments. The Foundation will play a major role in supporting the current HVAC overhaul in Norton Hall and the sanctuary.

The St. Paul’s Foundation meets several times a year to discuss, monitor, and direct the investments and expenditures of the Foundation. The current trustees are as follows: John Siegel, President; Joe Thomas, Treasurer; Suzanne Brock, Secretary; Tim Adams, David Ayres, Tim Belevetz, John Keppler, Sarah Knutson, and Saint Pollard. They are joined by vestry liaison Larry Campbell and stewardship director Maria Halloran.

The Covenant Circle

Long-range planning through wills, charitable trusts, and estate planning is an important part of each person’s stewardship of his or her financial gifts from God. The Foundation encourages each and every parishioner to have a will and to consider other estate planning vehicles. Bequesting funds or establishing a charitable trust to benefit the Foundation or the church is as easy as making a gift to your college or other beloved charity.

The Covenant Circle of St. Paul’s Church recognizes those parishioners who notify the church in writing that they have provided for St. Paul’s Foundation or St. Paul’s Church in their will, estate plan, or charitable trust. The Covenant Circle currently has over 50 members from our parish family. We appreciate the thoughtful gifts these parishioners have made to ensure that the ministries of St. Paul’s will continue well into the future. If you have already made provisions for a bequest to St. Paul’s in your will or estate plan, please contact the parish office so that we may add you to this ever-growing list in thanksgiving.