February 23, 2024

Above: Finished drought-tolerant landscaping enhances the campus of St. Clement's by-the-Sea in San Clemente. The church, located at the southernmost tip of the Diocese of Los Angeles, was built in 1929. The original landscaping, pictured below, was some 3,500 square feet of well-kept but water-guzzling lawn and shrubbery irrigated by sprinklers. Photos courtesy of St. Clement's Church

Annual Appeal grant boosts St. Clement’s low-water landscaping project

Sometimes when an idea is suggested it’s instantly so obvious that the answer must be “Yes, right away.” The Holy Spirit is at work.

So it was last May at St. Clement’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in San Clemente. The Rev. Patrick Crerar, rector, recollects: “We wanted to be better stewards of creation, especially the God-given, precious resource of water. Something we all need for life. We prayed about being better stewards, and decided that our large lawn needed to go, replaced by drought-tolerant landscaping. Here was a way we could manifest those prayers into something that both saved a great deal of water and was simply beautiful. The enthusiastic response from our parishioners demonstrated how the Spirit was moving us all toward this holy work.” 

The response was an immediate “Yes.” Skilled volunteers immediately agreed to Crerar’s call to form a committee, and the project was off and running. The landscaping plan, designed in a Spanish Colonial Revival style to complement the architecture of the 1929 church, was approved by the vestry at its September meeting.

The vestry provided $12,500 in seed money, but the rest of the $45,000 cost would need to be secured by the committee. Parishioners stepped forward quickly and generously to provide most of the required funds. A $5,000 grant from the One Body and One Spirit Annual Appeal fund of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and rebates from the Municipal Water District of Orange Country completed the funding.

Committee members provided lots of sweat equity, managed the concrete and landscaping contractors, and were on the job every day of the eight-week implementation phase.

The project was completed in February 2024, nine months after the church said “Yes.” All watering has been converted to drip irrigation, with a dry creek bed and water basins to retain rain water. Parishioners agree the landscaping is beautiful, “much more beautiful that we could have imagined,” and complements the church architecture. Water usage is expected to drop by 40 percent. 

Judy Johnson, junior warden at the time of the project and vestry liaison to the committee, said, “This re-landscaping has been a real blessing for this church. We led with faith and obedience to conserving God’s resources. We have learned so much about drought-tolerant landscaping and how beautiful it can be. We are very grateful that we listened to this call to action.” 

Reporting by Judy Johnson

Barbara Fox, Judy Johnson, and Allison Driscoll of the re-landscaping committee at St. Clement's present their plan to the vestry for final approval. Other committee members were Patricia Corless, Debbie Hawblitzel and Matt Hawblitzel.

Launched as an emergency appeal during COVID, the Annual Appeal isn’t just for emergencies anymore. It’s for anything a church or institution needs that isn’t covered by the budget. Every dollar received goes back out the door in a grant. Since 2020, the Corporation of the Diocese has made 70 grants to 56 congregations, institutions, and ministries.

Application deadline for the next grant cycle is May 1, 2024, for awards to be made in June. Details are here.

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Please join the 238 donors who, to date, have raised $339,381 in 415 gifts to the 2022-24 Annual Appeal, through which the Corporation of the Diocese makes grants to congregations and institutions seeking to meet unbudgeted expenses. Click here to make a gift or download a grant application packet.

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