Share the Light | Rev. John R. Peterson & St. John’s Vision for the Future

At the turn of a new century, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Tampa faced a defining choice: limit its growth or build for the generations that would follow. In the final year of his 21-year ministry as Rector, the Rev. John R. Peterson helped lead Share the Light, a $4.6 million ($9M in 2026) capital campaign created to expand the parish’s capacity for worship, education, ministry and service, including the growth of St. John’s Episcopal Parish Day School and its campus at Platt and Plant Avenues in South Tampa. The need was urgent. St. John’s had reached 105% of its available capacity. Its school served more than 400 students, classrooms and ministries were overflowing, and more than 140 children were seeking just 40 kindergarten openings. Yet Share the Light was about far more than buildings. After two decades of extraordinary growth, Rev. Peterson and the parish saw an opportunity to invest in people, strengthen St. John’s ministries and provide for generations they might never personally know. “What legacy do we leave?” Rev. Peterson asked. His answer was rooted in the same principles that had guided St. John’s for generations: faith, vision, stewardship and service to others. This archival film preserves the vision behind one of the defining initiatives of Rev. Peterson’s final year as Rector and a pivotal moment in the history of St. John’s. What one generation received, it chose to pass forward. Faith made visible. A future made possible. #StJohnsEpiscopal #TampaHistory #EpiscopalSchool #ShareTheLight #SouthTampa