The Bishop’s Church Emergency Fund (BCEF) provides financial support for church buildings in the diocese needing repairs and renovation, usually with a special focus on emergency and unforeseen needs. Through the BCEF, you can support the critical needs identified by the Bishop.
The first BCEF call of 2026 is for rectory maintenance for St. John’s, Dover. You can donate online, or mail a check payable to Diocese of Newark with BCEF Call #1 in the memo line to: Diocese of Newark, Attn: BCEF, 94 E. Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Livingston, NJ 07039.
The Rev. Rod Perez-Vega has served as Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Dover for the past 13 years. He also serves as chaplain to a retirement community in nearby Hackettstown. Fr. Rod, as he is known to parishioners, is a graduate of The General Theological Seminary. He has also received extensive training as a chaplain enabling him to provide emotional and spiritual support to those living with chronic illnesses. “I felt the strong presence of the Holy Spirit during my first visit to the parish,” he recalls, adding that he also felt very much at home with the parish’s traditional ceremonial. St. John’s beautiful church building was consecrated in 1871 and is centrally located downtown near the train station.
Situated some 23 miles west of Newark, Dover is a multilingual community of around 18,000 residents. The ongoing arrival of immigrants during the last century, first from Puerto Rico and then from other Latin American countries, was such that by the 2010 census nearly 70% of the Dover population identified as Hispanic.
Fr. Rod describes a variety of approaches used over the years to welcome Spanish-speaking parishioners—from separate services in English and Spanish to utilizing both languages in a single service, from bulletins in each language to a single bulletin incorporating both English and Spanish. Sermons are often preached in both languages. St. John’s currently has a weekly Eucharist at 10 AM on Sunday with an average attendance of 17 worshippers.
St. John’s outreach ministries include support for North Porch, a diocesan program that offers care and supplies for young mothers and infants. The parish also hosts lunches twice a week in cooperation with the Morris County Nutrition Center. St. John’s additionally operates its own food pantry and clothes closet as well as providing meeting space for several 12-step programs. The church also serves as a Code Blue Warming Center to house homeless persons who would otherwise be outdoors during dangerously frigid nights. Though it is a small congregation, St. John’s manages to make a highly positive impact on the community.
Like many churches with aging buildings, St. John’s is challenged by a daunting number of maintenance projects, which include major repairs to the church’s roof and bell tower. Anticipating these expenses, the congregation began fundraising efforts which resulted in a maintenance fund totaling $26,000. All it took, however, was a single emergency this past summer to deplete this fund by nearly half.
On August 17, 2026, Fr. Rod discovered there was no hot water in the rectory where he and his family reside. Investigation by the company annually contracted for oil and furnace services revealed that the antiquated boiler was dangerously close to exploding, something which would have caused major flooding. The boiler was replaced over a two-day period at a cost of $11,980. Unfortunately, as proactive as the parish was in addressing the needed repairs to their property, the cost to replace the boiler and related expenses had significantly upended their good efforts.
Our hope in this first BCEF call of 2026 is to come as close as possible to replacing the money St. John’s needed to withdraw from their earlier savings to pay for the emergency expenses related to the rectory. We hope you will be generous in joining us in this effort to aid this highly deserving congregation.
God’s peace,
+Carlye J. Hughes
The Rt. Rev. Carlye J. Hughes
Bishop of Newark
