St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is shaking up its capital fund drive with a benefit dinner and concert that will offer tunes spanning from Bach to Broadway.
Dick Grant, a renowned organist and member of St. Peter’s, will meld the past to the present in “An Evening with Dick Grant” on Nov. 11.
“Dick Grant has done some recitals in the past in the area years ago and is truly talented and gifted,” Craig Davidson, a junior warden at St. Peter’s, said. “He has a unique ability to both explain in detail about each piece he’s doing in a rapid and understandable way and yet he’s very entertaining.”
Guests will arrive at 6:30 p.m. and receive hors d’ oeuvres, beer and wine in the Wellington Garden and enjoy music from the Sentimental Journeymen, a Barbershop Chorus. A dinner of tossed salad, a beef tenderloin roast and more will be catered by Fred Johnson and Grant will perform after the meal.
The concert is the latest fundraiser in the church’s $325,000 goal capital fund drive and aims to assist in the continued renovations of the church. Father Tom Thoeni, St. Peter’s priest, said the church is at the end of its four phase renovation project and is close to reaching the initial goal.
St. Peter’s, who’s congregation formed in 1890, is one of the oldest churches in Plant City. In 1908, the group built a church downtown where city hall is now located. As the members began to outgrow the church a plan was formed to move to a larger location.
But the congregation refused to leave their building behind.
So in 1953, members physically moved the building down the street to where it lies today, making it the oldest congregation that is still worshiping in its original building. Though it was cut in half in the 1980s to make it a cruciform church and add room, the original sections are still standing strong.
“We are still worshipping in the same place as our forebears who went before us, and prayed before us and worshipped and celebrated and grieved in that same space,” Thoeni said. “Frankly I kind of think that’s part of our beauty. You walk in the space and you can feel the people who have gone before us.”
Thoeni said the congregation decided two years ago to start tackling some deferred maintenance issues. He said one thing he constantly hears around town is how beautiful St. Peter’s is and he wanted to make sure the church, a staple in the community, didn’t fall into disrepair.
St. Peter’s is a quiet force in Plant City, but has influenced change throughout the community for decades. The city’s Habitat for Humanity began in the church, as well as the local Meals on Wheels, which was started by members of its congregation.
Thoeni said the church has raised tens of thousands of dollars for Relay for Life and loves to immerse itself in wherever the local need is. They also make Thanksgiving baskets for underprivileged children in local schools.
“We’re preparing for the future,” Thoeni said. “A lot of what we’re doing now is setting us up for success and sustainability in the future so we can continue to best serve our community.”