Redeemer Family,

I’m writing to you from our Parish House at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, September 23, where your Vestry has just concluded a thoughtful, prayerful, and very exciting meeting.

I’ll give you the headline and then a bit more detail.

Your Vestry has unanimously voted to close on 1801 Park Avenue!

Now, for more details:

Who is on the Vestry this year? Scroll to the bottom of this page.
Here is a summary of the decision timeline that led to putting 1801 Park Ave. under contract back in July.
The 90-day due diligence period gave us time to conduct structural and environmental studies of the building, as well as time to work with an architect and contractor to assess the potential costs of a renovation. All of the due diligence studies came back with what we expected to find. There were no surprises.
After working with our contractor and architect, we determined that the total cost of renovating the building is within the scope of our feasibility study.
At tonight’s meeting, the Vestry received a thorough briefing of the feasibility study, the decision-making process, the search team’s recommendations, the due diligence findings, and the projected costs of the project.
After carefully reviewing all the information, asking many good questions, and spending time praying together, each member of the Vestry took a few minutes to describe to the group what they sensed would be a wise decision for our parish.
As each Vestry member spoke, I was deeply encouraged by their caution, thoughtfulness, faith, and insight.
After each member shared, a vote was taken, and it was unanimous. All of us have a deep sense of alignment, unity, and confidence that this is the property that God has, in his kindness, chosen to provide for our parish.

Next Steps

After we close on the building (likely in late October/early November), the next steps are to replace the roof (which is leaking) and demo/gut the interior of the building. This will prevent any further water damage and prepare the property for renovation.
We will continue to work with our architect and contractor to develop real plans for the renovation and, as soon as we have digital renderings, they will be shown to the parish!

FAQ’s

Q: Will there be a capital campaign?
A: Yes, likely during Lent of 2026.
Q: When can we tour the building?
A: We aren’t currently able to offer tours of the property, however we plan to provide more visuals of the building over the coming months and will continue to keep you updated during the renovation process.
Q: When do you anticipate Redeemer might move into the building and begin holding worship services?
A: There is a long road ahead of us and so we have signed a 2-year lease with Tikvat Israel that will run through fall of 2027. It will likely be at least 2-3 years until we can occupy, so nothing is changing anytime soon!
Q: What about parking for 1801 Park Ave.?
A: From what we can tell, the parking situation there is actually slightly better than what we currently have at 2715 Grove Ave. There is street parking available on both the left and right sides of Monument Ave. on Sundays (double what there normally is the rest of the week). And One Monument Garage is two blocks from 1801 Park Ave. The other day, I tested it out by parking at the garage and measuring the distance: it took me exactly 3 minutes and 58 seconds to walk the 392 steps.
Q: Are historic tax credits available for this project?
A: We believe so and are exploring that option.
Q: To whom should I direct my questions about 1801 Park Ave.?
A: For now, you are welcome to direct them to me by emailing dan@redeemerrva.org.

Redeemer family, this is a tremendously important milestone in the life of our parish, but I would stop far short of saying it’s the most important. A building is merely an asset for us, as the body of Christ, to use in pursuing Gospel Formation for Missional Presence. Will this building help us do the work together of being formed and shaped by the gospel of Jesus? We believe so. Will this building help us be a parish that is missionally present to our neighbors and city? We believe it will.

Let’s give this exactly the appropriate amount of celebration it is due, no more, no less.

Tonight, for me and the Vestry, that looked like prayer and champagne toasts with lots of laughter and good cheer!

I invite you to join us in celebrating God’s provision, raise a toast to our King, and together we’ll take the next steps into the future.

In the Father’s love,