Our Facilities

St John’s, on Palm Sunday 2012 celebrated our first service in the chapel at Magnolia Manor. Easter was a sunrise service in the front yard of the Peagler’s home.

The Joyner family provided an empty building on Forsyth St. for our first church home. The enthusiastic parishioners, under the leadership of Pete Warlick, went to work and the space was transformed into a beautiful chapel using used pews and other materials given as gifts.

As St John’s began to grow, a ten-acre lot was acquired on Southland Rd. The building committee considered a number of designs and settled on a carpenter gothic scheme consistent with churches in numerous small southern towns built in the 1850s. Many were designed by an English architect who saw a need for practical plans for building small churches quickly, affordably and with local materials and craftsmen to meet the rapid church growth of the United States in the 19th Century. “Upjohn’s Rural Architecture, published in 1852, contained detailed blueprints and directions for the construction of a church, chapel, rectory and schoolhouse.

The Church retained the services of a well-respected AIA Architect Chip Knuth to take our dream and design a classic Carpenter Gothic Church and School house for a Sunday school and Administrative building, and those are the buildings that stand today as a testament to God’s grace.

Chip worked closely with the vestry to create a home for St. John’s that was in keeping with Upjohn’s vision but also addressed the modern needs where the church building is not only used for a place of worship but as a sanctuary where one can connect with other parishioners in a welcoming social setting.  The vestry readily accepted he design rendered in Chip’s own hand perspective sketches, sketches that captured the concept that St. John’s was striving for. Chip employed the help of Marc Mosley, AIA, who created the final set of construction documents that Clyde Day, a master builder from Valdosta, Georgia, was able to use for the raising of the Parrish Hall and Administration Building.  Clyde’s craftsmanship shines through the church home that will continue to be a blessing for future generations that will gather at St. John’s for worship and fellowship.

The Grounds

St. John’s sits on just over eight acres on the northeast edge of Americus, Georgia. In the fall of 2017, we felt the need to share that space with the community by providing something that could be enjoyed by all. This led us to creating a public walking trail in a park-like setting and filling the space with trees and shrubs, a bird sanctuary, butterfly gardens and a beehive. Part of the space was developed in partnership with Perry Wellness Center as vegetable/fruit garden.

The Church grounds are heavy landscaped and we continue to add to the beauty each season. We have a beekeeper that assists us in honey production. All of the shrubs, trees, and flowers were selected to provide sanctuary for song birds, bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

The walking trail is a third of a mile long. Three trips around the trail equal a mile, representing the Father, Son & Holy Ghost. There are benches along the way for meditation and rest and we have posted the Stations of the Cross along the trail showing Jesus’ walk to the Crucifixion.

All are invited to enjoy this little corner of God’s creation.