August 2026 Renovation Update

Consecration Plans

Consecration of the St. Mardarije Spiritual & Cultural Center is planned for November 14, 2026.

Plans include a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at 10 am, with the building consecration and flag raising ceremony after the Liturgy.

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

Flyers and details will be shared in the coming weeks.

August Donations

We received $51,744.08 in donations in August!

Across the entire campaign, there have been 1,112 donors, and many have given multiple times.

Yay for Colorado, our newest donor state.

THANK YOU to ALL our donors!

Funds Are Still Needed!

Closing on a construction loan was completed in early September, to retain contract resources and finish final tasks.

Fundraising efforts will continue to pay off any credit line, if it is used.

After the construction phase is completed, furniture and furnishings will be needed for the building, including tables, chairs, beds, mattresses, pots, pans, plates and other necessary items.

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

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

Project Appeal Status

This project has been presented to most 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. The newest donors are St. George SOC, Racine (Braun Rd.) and St. Petka "Vratnica", Troy, MI, shown in bold below.

• Holy Apostle and Evangelist St. Luke SOC — Leander, TX
• Holy Resurrection SOC — 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 — 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 is mostly complete. The remaining tasks include:

• Connect to Gurnee Water and Sewer
• Pave driveway and parking lots — to begin early September
• Complete playground and basketball court
• Secure Occupancy Permit

The latest Diocesan fundraiser collected over $437,000. Thank you to all who sent in donations in the blue envelope!

Please continue your generosity. We still remain short of the overall goal.

More than $5.2 million has been spent on this project to date. Here are the spending category totals:

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