September 2026 Renovation Update

Consecration Plans

Consecration of the St. Mardarije Spiritual & Cultural Center is on November 14, 2026, beginning with a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at 10 am, and the building consecration and flag raising ceremony after the Liturgy.

Tours will be offered after the consecration. Refreshments will be offered and souvenirs will be available for purchase.

A mass choir is being assembled!

If you would like to sing responses at the Liturgy, please respond to this email with a subject of Mass chorus and which voice you sing. The responses will be mostly Mokranjac in Slavonic.

September Donations

$796,998.51 was received in grants and donations in September!

Across the entire campaign, there have been 1,145 donors, and many have given multiple times.

THANK YOU to ALL our donors!

Funds Are Still Needed!

Over $859K has been drawn against the construction line of credit to pay the last of the construction costs. Fundraising efforts will continue to pay off the credit line.

We have already secured around $300K for the repayment of the $859K debt.

Furniture, furnishings and kitchen supplies still need to be purchased.

Please pray for this project, help share the updates and consider donating.

Listed below are donors that gave $5,000 or more in September.

Project Appeal Status

This project was shared to parish boards in the Midwest Diocese. Parishes in the Eastern and Western Dioceses are getting updates as well.

To date, 23 parishes have contributed to this project.

• Holy Apostle and Evangelist St. Luke SOC — Leander, TX
• Holy Resurrection SOC (Palmer Sq.) — Chicago, IL
• St. Archangel Michael SOC — Huntsville, AL
• St. Archangel Michael SOC — Lansing, IL
• St. Basil SOC — Lake Forest, IL
• St. Elijah SOC — Merrillville, IN
• St. George SOC — Joliet, IL
• St. George SOC — Schererville, IN
• St. George SOC — Lenexa, KS
• St. George SOC (Braun Rd.) — Racine, WI
• St. John the Baptist SOC — Bellwood, IL
• St. John the Baptist SOC — San Francisco, CA
• St. Lazarus SOC — Detroit, MI
• St. Nicholas SOC — Indianapolis, IN
• St. Nicholas SOC — Omaha, NE
• St. Nikola SOC — Lyons, IL
• St. Petka SOC — Nashville, TN
• St. Petka Vratnica SOC — Troy, MI
• St. Sava SOC — Boston, MA
• St. Sava SOC — Houston, TX
• St. Sava SOC — Milwaukee, WI
• St. Stefan Decanski SOC — Chicago, IL
• St. Stefan Decanski SOC — Warren, MI

Complete the Build

Work on the building and the basketball court is complete. The second layer of asphalt was laid. The remaining tasks include:

1. Connect to Gurnee Water and Sewer — task is in progress
2. Secure Occupancy Permit — applied for permit in September

Just under $6.4 million has been spent on this project to date. Here are the spending category totals:

Zelle Donation Option

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