By Journal Staff

MARQUETTE — St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Marquette has announced that it has been awarded a $135,000 matching grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places, a program of Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with National Trust for Historic Preservation.

“We are very excited to have received this grant to help us restore this historic landmark in Marquette,” Fred Cole of St. Paul’s Church said in a news release. “We are grateful for the Marquette founders who founded and built St. Paul’s over 150 years ago, and for all the people who helped nurture so many important community groups in Marquette over the decades. We hope to use these grant funds to help us be good stewards of this spiritual home so it can continue to serve the community for the next 150 years.”

In 2024, St. Paul’s applied for and received the matching grant from the NFSP. St. Paul’s was one of 24 congregations selected for this grant from among nearly 500 applicants of many faiths. The congregation is seeking to raise about $150,000 to match the NFSP grant and complete their building restoration projects as they celebrate the 150th anniversary of their sanctuary building. They plan to do so through donations from St. Paul’s congregation, the community, area businesses and foundations.

The NFSP grant will help St. Paul’s address urgent structural needs, ensuring its continued role as a gathering place for worship, outreach and community activities into the next 150 years.

The restoration projects include repairing damaged sandstone, tuck pointing the original hand cut sandstone blocks and applying water sealant to protect the building. The NFSP grant will also support the restoration of some of St. Paul’s stained glass windows that were not restored in 1999-2000.

“Through our 150 years of functioning, St. Paul’s has built into our DNA this mission: Gathered by Grace, Sent Forth to Serve,” St. Paul’s Revrend Marna Franson said in a news release. “Times have changed. Religious belonging has changed. But the human need to gather, ponder, belong and respond has not changed. We want to repair our building, not only to share it with the community, to house worthy functions and actors … we want to restore our building so that this communal DNA, planted within these walls, will access hope and vision for what today needs and what tomorrow demands.

“Planted in the historical district of Marquette, known for nurturing of socially astute enterprises, St. Paul’s aims to be here in sandstone and beauty to gather all of us by grace and release us to serve an ever transforming community.”

The preservation work will begin this summer, with the goal of completing the projects by fall 2026. St. Paul’s invites the community to join in supporting these efforts to preserve a treasured piece of Marquette’s history. To learn more about this program and this year’s grant recipients, visit fundforsacredplaces.org.

St. Paul’s is planning events this year to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its sanctuary building and the NFSP restoration grant. The first event will be the “Sounds in Sacred Spaces” benefit concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 30, featuring many local artists. Further announcements will be posted on St. Paul’s website at https://upepiscopal.org/churches/st-pauls-marquette/

Those looking to donate can write a check to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Note “Building Restoration” in the memo and send it to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 201 E. Ridge Street, Marquette, MI 49855. Online donations can be made at https://tithe.ly/give?c=5527881. For online donations, select “Building Restoration” from the menu.