Our Why

20 years ago, St. Raphael Mission began with the gathering of a few of the faithful in a parishioner's living room to pray the Akathist to the Mother of God. Today, St. Raphael’s multi-ethnic congregation includes 126 parishioners who are living out the Church’s mission of worshipping God and sharing the good news of Jesus with people from all backgrounds.

In 2009, through the grace of God and the generosity of many donors, St. Raphael parish was able to make a large down payment to purchase its permanent home in a beautiful historic building on College Street. Now, the parish is ready to secure its future in Iowa City and leave a legacy for the next generation of Orthodox faithful and inquirers by retiring the mortgage, improving the church’s accessibility, and installing a kitchen in order to expand our food pantry and meal services. Together, meeting these three goals will firmly establish St. Raphael Church in Iowa City and allow the congregation to turn its energy outward to fulfill Christ's command that we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned. 

All three projects together will cost $326,450. We have raised $25,390 (cash, pledges, in-kind) so far! 

With your help, we can leave a lasting legacy for future generations of Orthodox faithful and inquirers. Donors may give outright, or have the option to fulfill their pledges over a three-year period, with the goal of having all pledges fulfilled and retiring the mortgage no later than December 31, 2024.

Pledge Form Coming Soon​

Mortgage

We bought the building for $476,000. Our first capital campaign raised $120,000 toward the down payment, and our original mortgage was in the amount of $356,000. Over the past twelve years, we have made a few large payments and refinanced to secure lower interest rates several times. The remaining principal balance on our mortgage is down to $174,000. If we pay it off by December 31, 2024, we will save at least $31,982.24 in interest! Every dollar donated toward the mortgage is equivalent to at least  $1.25 over the life of the loan. Critically, retiring the mortgage will free up $1621 per month in our operating budget to put toward outward-facing ministries. 

Kitchen

All of the food outreach we currently do, including our weekly hot meals, are prepared by parishioners in their own homes and brought to church in crock pots. For the thirteen years we have occupied the building, we have limped along with a utility sink, a hot plate, a microwave, and a refrigerator. We have marked out an underutilized section of the utility space in the lower level that is suitable to be outfitted as a residential kitchen (a commercial kitchen is significantly more expensive and requires venting through the roof of the building. Iowa City allows churches to have residential-grade kitchens as long as the food prepared will be given freely, not sold). This project will require us to hire a contractor or contractors to obtain required permits and to complete all plumbing, electrical, HVAC, drywall/painting, appliance installation, and finishing. Fortunately, we have already received in-kind donations of many of the needed items - refrigerator, stove, sinks, dishwasher, work tables, light fixtures, pots and pans, and some dishes, and we have handy parishioners willing to donate labor toward non-credentialed tasks, such as hanging drywall, installing flooring, and painting.

As in our own homes, the kitchen in a church is a central part of the community, allowing people from many backgrounds to come together around something that unites us all - food.  Installing a kitchen will allow St. Raphael Church to increase the frequency of offering hot meals, expand the range of items that can be offered, and give us the capacity to further process our garden produce into healthy meals. We plan to offer cooking classes, community meals featuring the cuisines of our parishioners' home countries, and make the kitchen available to other community groups who can benefit from it. 

Accessibility

Our beautiful historic building was constructed in a time that did not consider the needs of people with impaired mobility. Though we are not required by law to make our building accessible, we are morally obligated to make our building open and welcoming to everyone, not only the able-bodied. After exploring several options (chair lift, wheelchair lift, interior installation of an elevator), we determined that the best fit for our needs and existing space is to build an elevator shaft on the back of the building and cut doors into existing walls. We will engage an architect to design the shaft and ensure it meets the approval of the City's Historic Preservation Board. The project will require constructing the elevator shaft addition, relocating a large downspout, cutting and finishing door holes in existing walls, installing electrical and emergency phone, and adding a sidewalk that leads from the driveway to the entrance of the elevator shaft. 

Completing this upgrade will mean that people with mobility impairments will no longer need to try to traverse the stairs to worship, use the restroom, access our food pantry, or join us for a free meal in our fellowship hall. With this part of the campaign completed, people with a permanent or temporary disability will be able to fully participate in everything that St. Raphael’s has to offer.