Parish of All Saints’ Episcopal Church
209 West 27th Street, Austin, TX 78705-5716
(512) 476-3589 Website: www.allsaints-austin.org
ANNUAL REPORT
for the calendar year 2016
Annual Parish Meeting – 10:30 a.m., Sunday, January 22, 2017
U U U
PAROCHIAL POSITIONS
Rector
Associate Rector
Associate Rector
Assistant to the Rector
Executive Director of the Front Porch
Assistant Director of the Front Porch
University Missioner
Organist & Choirmaster
Office Administrator
Communications Director
Bookkeeper/Financial Administrator
Sexton/Facilities Director
Student Center Program Coordinator
The Rev. Michael K. Adams
The Rev. A. Phillips Nazro, Jr. (Died 10 July 2016)
The Rev. Cynthia Caruso
The Rev. Deacon Ed Woolery-Price
The Rev. Dr. Stephen Kinney
Riley Webb
The Rev. Beth Magill/The Rev. Eric Holloway
Gregory Eaton
Mona Myers
Jerry LaPorte
Anita Barrick
Marvin Jones
Hannah Pommersheim/Caleb Parker
THE VESTRY
Senior Warden
Junior Warden
Clerk
Treasurer
Chancellor
Trish Conradt
Steve Lemmon
Sandra Kelley
Scott Brookhart
Tom Pollan
Terms Expiring
1/2017
Trish Conradt
Stan Coppinger
Tracy Cornelius
Steve Lemmon
Terms Expiring
1/2018
Steven “Chip” Harris
Tim Irvine
Mac McEwrath
Jill Walker
Terms Expiring
1/2019
Amy Easterling
Brandon Janes
Pittman McGehee
Anne Province
Terms Expiring
1/2020
Angela Esomeju
Olga Garza
Betsy Sammon
Charles Stuart
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(2017 Budget, and 2016 Annual Parish Meeting Minutes are available upon request)
I. Parish Administration.......................................................................................3-13
Parish Statistical Report 3
Senior Warden’s Report 4
Junior Warden’s Report 5
Treasurer’s Report 5-6
Vestry Authorized Land Committee 6
Board of Trustees of the Endowment Fund 6-7
Outreach Ministries: 7-13
— Carolyn T. Smith Loaves & Fishes Ministry, Meals on Wheels, Micah 6 Austin,
Habitat for Humanity, El Buen Samaritano, Environmental Guild, and
Woman to Woman (Mentoring Ministry), Released Prisoner Mentoring Ministry,
Refugee Resettlement Services
II. Parish Groups and Organizations.................................................................13-26
Acolyte Guild 13-16
Altar Flower Ministry 16
Altar Guild 17
Choirs & Parish Music Program 17-18
Daughters of the King, St. Catherine’s Chapter 19
Jr. Daughters of the King 19-20
Grief Support Group 20
Justice Group 20
Heavenly Hosts 21
Lectors and Chalice Bearers 21
Men’s Group 22
Newcomer & Visitor Ministry (Greeters) 22
Pastoral Care at All Saints’ 23
— Grace Ministry, Saints On Call, Bridge Ministry.
Usher Corps Ministry 24
Book Group 24
St. Clare’s Guild & St. Monica’s Guild 25
Twenties & Thirties (TnT) 25
Women’s Group 26
III. Parish Christian Education Programs..........................................................27-28
Children’s Spiritual Formation 27
Episcopal Youth Community (The Window) 27
Adult Education 28
IV. Resident Organizations at All Saints’............................................................29-35
Parents’ Day Out 29
The Front Porch 29-31
All Saints’ Episcopal Day School 31-34
The Episcopal Student Center at the University of Texas 35
V. Appendix
Transfers In and Out 36 Confirmed/Received 36
I. PARISH ADMINISTRATION
PARISH STATISTICAL REPORT
OFFICIAL ACTS: 2014 2015 2016
Baptisms
Infants/Children 23 24 17
Adults 3 2 2
Total………………………………………26 26 18
Confirmations 13 20 13
Received 9 8 3
Total………………………………………22 28 19
Marriages 12 5 5
Burials 19 13 11
SERVICES:
Daily Offices and Others
Sundays 5 6 9
Other Days 106 99 99
Holy Eucharist
Sundays 231 229 204
Other Days 42 35 32
Private Communions 68 40 43
Total Attendance for all services………………………22,864 21,574 14,797
CONGREGATION:
Family Units 461 474 449
Single Units 338 342 138
Total Units (Households)…………………..……799 816 587
Baptized Members Last Report….………...….1377 1421 1469
Increases During Year:
Baptisms 26 26 18
Added by Confirmation 13 20 13
Received 9 8 3
Added by Transfer 23 21 12
Total Increases…………………………..+71 + 75 + 46
Decreases During Year:
Transferred Out 15 16 19
Database corrections & adjustments 0 0 0
Lost to Death 12 11 8
Total Decreases……...………………… - 27 - 27 - 27
Total Baptized Members………………………1421 1469 1488
SENIOR WARDEN’S REPORT
Outgoing Senior Warden reflects on past year
I have had the privilege of serving this past year as the Senior Warden on the All Saint’s Vestry, and I would like to make a few comments about 2016. First of all, I would like to thank Father Mike Adams for asking me to serve. I cannot tell you how humbled I was, and I vowed that I would do everything in my power to uphold and honor that sacred trust to work hard in service to All Saints’. Secondly, I would like to thank my fellow Vestry members and the incredible staff at All Saints’ for their support, blood, sweat and tears as we responded to the challenge of Father Mike’s four-month sabbatical.
Madre Cynthia did a wonderful job leading the parish in Mike’s absence, as did all of the other staff members, parishioners and other volunteers who pitched in to help. Though at times, it seemed like a long four months, I feel our confidence grew as we worked closely together finding answers to expected and unexpected challenges facing the parish.
It seems like we spent the better part of the past year focusing on challenging financial issues and not as much time devoted to growing our spiritual endeavors. When I realized this, I was very frustrated and felt our time should be spent doing just the reverse. Then I realized that All Saints’ is a million dollar business and as such, we must have a strong, transparent financial foundation. Without a solid financial foundation, All Saints’ could not offer all of the spiritual programs and services that we do today.
I am proud to say that this Vestry has overseen the first audit of some of the All Saints’ operating finances in at least eight years. Though it wasn’t as comprehensive an audit as I and the other Vestry members would have liked, it is a start of something that must be continued every single year without fail. Not all of the financial challenges have been addressed, but I hope the incoming Vestry will continue working hard to strengthen our financial foundation.
Another thing I am proud to have worked on in 2016, concerns the safety and emergency preparedness for All Saints’. The 84th Texas Legislature in 2015, passed two gun-related pieces of legislation allowing for the open-carrying of firearms and the carrying of concealed weapons on college campus. As the Vestry worked on policies relating to the open-carry legislation, it realized that most of the emergencies and threats at All Saints’ are not gun related especially when you consider the medical issues that arise during our services and having sconces (and an acolyte’s hair) catch on fire during services. Father Mike appointed a committee to work on an Emergency Action Plan, which is still a work in progress. Our plans are to have key people trained in how to respond appropriately in various emergency situations as they arise and to have actual drills in the Chapel so our parishioners will know what to expect and know what to do when the need arises. There will be more information coming about these efforts later this spring, but I feel the work of this committee will serve the All Saints’ family well and help keep everyone safe.
Finally, I want to thank all of the wonderful parishioners of All Saints’ for your time, treasure and talents that you unselfishly give day-after- day; week-after- week; and, year-after- year. You are the life blood of this congregation who cherish our Church’s historic past, who work hard to respond to our society’s fast-paced and ever-changing daily challenges and who look for spiritual comfort in the future we hope to build and leave for our children and grandchildren. Thank you for all that you do, for we are all “All Saints’.”
Respectfully submitted,
Trish Conradt
Sr. Warden
JUNIOR WARDEN’S REPORT
The Chapel plaster bubbling was determined to be related to leaks from the roof. The leaks were identified by Gregg Free and an engineer, and the South and West walls were repaired and repainted. Thanks to Gregg for working to identify these leaks. The Chapel plaster will undoubtedly re-crack in the future. The foundation in places is fundamentally unsound, and there are indications that there may be sub-grade seepage on the South side, particularly around the South Transept. This will need to be addressed at some point in the future, perhaps in connection with a renovation of the church facilities as a whole
We more aggressively trimmed the trees around the Chapel. This was for three reasons: First: The leaves from the trees clog up the Chapel rain gutters. This was one of the primary causes for the leaks. Second: The trees have grown over the years to the point that they block the sunlight, which illuminates the stained glass windows. Finally, while the trees still provide ample shade, we will have a better chance of having a healthy lawn.
We replaced the sofas in the Gregg House library. The new sofas have covers that can be removed and washed, and we purchased a back up set of covers to keep in reserve.
We compiled a list of possible upgrades to Gregg House and ball park estimates of their costs. These range from bathroom upgrades to adding a new conference room.
Routine maintenance and repairs were performed for Gregg House and the Chapel.
I am compiling, with Marvin and Mona’s help, a notebook on routine maintenance to be periodically performed.
I am compiling, for the Vestry, the Endowment, and the new Junior Warden, a schedule of expected repairs and replacements and a very rough estimate of the expected cost. This should aid in budgeting for these items.
I would like to stress how I believe Marvin has fully stepped into Mona’s prior role. Mona has imparted to Marvin her extensive knowledge of the facilities. I believe Marvin is doing a great job.
Respectfully submitted,
Steve Lemmon
Jr. Warden
2016 TREASURER’S REPORT
This January marks the end of my second year as Treasurer of All Saints’ Church. I am honored that you have again trusted me with this position. Thank you to those of you who gave through your pledges and other offerings this past year. My thanks also to the staff and volunteers who helped by keeping the costs of administering the church at an affordable level. We look forward to the continued success of the work in this part of God’s vineyard - in the words of Father Mike.
Our viability as a church is easily traced back to our All Saints’ community. When you, our members of this community, become involved with the programs and services of the church, you become willing owners and operators of the church, leading to our continuing successes.
As many of you may know, our past treasury year was one of correcting the books. We brought in a new bookkeeper, Anita Barrick, who was able to find a number of ways of managing our books better and helped us with greater understanding of managing our funds. We are very grateful to have Anita helping us. We have also bolstered our finance committee, by adding a financial oversight committee. This team has helped us set up policies and procedures and better ways of ensuring continued scrutiny of our books. In addition, we can proudly report that we have completed an audit of the books at All Saints. This is something that we have sorely needed and will be done on annual basis from here on out. We are on a very good path. We were also able to see regular pledging due to the use of the ACS online system. Thank you all for you support.
Please continue or begin pledging. Offer your time to the church in some way. Share your skills, your ideas, and your passions with this community, and we will continue to grow. Thanks for the great year! Let’s make 2017 even better! Give, Connect, Transform! All in for All Saints!
Faithfully submitted,
Scott Brookhart
All Saints’ Treasurer 2016
VESTRY AUTHORIZED LAND COMMITTEE
All Saints’ Episcopal Church was a beneficiary of the Estate of Elizabeth Simkins Masterson in 1952. The Land Committee handles the business affairs related to the remaining real properties in Brazoria and Montgomery Counties, including the administration of the oil and gas leases on mineral interests in those counties that have been retained by All Saints’. The only activity for the year 2016 was the lessee’s exercise of the option to extend the primary term of an Oil, Gas & Mineral Lease in Brazoria County, Texas, and the receipt of the consideration paid by the lessee for exercising the extension option.
Respectfully submitted, Bruce Bennett
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE O. V. BENNETT, JR. ENDOWMENT FUND OF ALL SAINTS’ EPISCOPAL CHURCH
On behalf of the Vestry of All Saints’ Episcopal Church, the Board of Trustees continued its management of the accounts and assets of the All Saints’ Endowment Fund (the “Endowment”).
The Endowment has served the Church well over the years and distributions from it have enriched the life of the congregation and have greatly aided the Church in its ministries. Numerous individuals have contributed to the Endowment since it was established in 1969 by Mr. O.V. Bennett, Jr., and it has received some generous bequests from estates. The Endowment currently has 23 individual funds that are invested collectively, with a total value in excess of $8.2 million dollars as of September 30, 2016. The assets are professionally managed and the Endowment has professional accounting services provided to it.
During 2016, the members of the Board consisted of the Rev. Mike Adams, Carolyn Ostrom, Blake Justice, Tony Choban, Terry Tottenham, Emily Davenport, and Senior Warden Trish Conradt. In addition, the Board benefitted from the advice and counsel of Chancellor Tom Pollan.
As of September 30, 2016, the Fund’s value totaled $8,234,000.16, which is a substantial increase from prior years. The Endowment received a major contribution in early 2016 as a result of the termination of a trust created by O.V. Bennett. For the period from January 1, 2016 through September 30, 2016, the Endowment distributed $321,341.93 in support of the church.
The Endowment has grown over the years through generous contributions and careful management. It has been a pleasure to watch that growth and observe the benefits to the congregation and the community. If you have any questions about the Endowment or about how you might be a benefactor to it, please feel free to talk to any of the committee members or me.
Faithfully submitted,
Carolyn Ostrom
Chair, Board of Trustees of the O.V. Bennett, Jr. Endowment Fund
OUTREACH MINISTRIES
The following are reports from some of our outreach areas.
Carolyn T. Smith Loaves & Fishes Ministry –
Coordinator: Amy Pro; Treasurer: Jim Enelow;
Volunteer Coordinator: Robin Edmonds
I. Description: The Carolyn T. Smith Loaves & Fishes Ministry is an All Saints’ Episcopal Church
sponsored program. We serve families and individuals in financial and spiritual need within our
community. This program operates in Kinsolving Hall every Tuesday morning. The financial
and spiritual purpose of this ministry is to recognize Christ in everyone who asks for assistance