That day will see the congregation return to their chapel church worship space following fifteen months of extensive refurbishment.

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“It has been a long process,” said the church’s Rector, the Reverend Canon Stephen Niland.

“We’re very grateful to be at the end of it all.”

Father (Fr) Stephen, who has led the spiritual life of St. John’s for six and a half years, said work needed to be done on the building following the discovery of termite damage.

“One of our parishioners actually put the heel of her shoe through the floor one Sunday morning.

“At that point I just made the decision to go ahead with a new floor, because it was clear we needed to do some significant repairs.”

That work has involved the complete replacement of the hardwood floor of the church along with the replastering and repainting of one of the interior walls of the heritage site.

Some external changes were also commenced to help prevent any recurrence of the damage, including drainage works and a new pest control system.

With all of this work started, and the church being out of commission while it progressed, some of the church members took it upon themselves to restore the wooden pews and some other church furniture as well.

During the refurbishment, the congregation held services in the Parish Ministry Centre at the rear of the building.

Doug Bell, a member of the St. John’s Parish Council, said the return to services in the chapel church is a cause for celebration.

“We want to acknowledge the hard work of everyone involved and are grateful that we’re back to our usual worship environment.

“It will be something of a homecoming.”

St. John’s has a long history in Raymond Terrace.

The parish was established in 1839 – 185 years ago.

St. John’s Church was originally built in 1862 – 162 years ago.

In addition to regular communion services on Sunday morning, Saturday evening, and Wednesday morning, the church today ministers to the local community through a number of programs and activities, including hosting meetings for AlAnon and operating a Parish Pantry, where emergency relief grocery packages are provided to struggling families on the recommendation of the Raymond Terrace Neighbourhood Centre.

Other pastoral services include both traditional and contemporary music ministries, weekly bible study groups, a Kinship Care group, a monthly grief support group, catering for funerals, and men’s and women’s fellowship groups.

The long period of refurbishment – fifteen months – has not disrupted these services.

Doug Bell said with work reaching its conclusion, the church can now begin to look at raising funds for the restoration of its 162-year-old organ.

The church will be officially re-hallowed on Sunday 18 August with a Choral Evensong at 4pm, followed by food and fellowship.

The church warmly invites all in the Raymond Terrace and surrounding communities to share in celebrating this event.

By Lindsay HALL