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St. John's Episcopal Church
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Rector’s ReportThe Rev’d Albert R. Rodriguez †A Personal Note: In the Ordination Rite for an Episcopal priest, I made the following promises as a pastor, in addition to proclaiming my obedience to the doctrines, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church: o Proclaim by word and deed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to fashion one’s life in accordance with its precepts. o Teach that the Holy Scriptures are the true Word of God and contain all that is necessary for salvation o Love and serve the people among whom you work, including providing sensitive pastoral care, and to build up the family of God. o Declare God’s forgiveness to penitent sinners and to pronounce God’s blessings. o Administer the Sacraments, especially Baptism, and the celebration of the Eucharist. o Persevere in prayer, both public and private, and through the mediation of Jesus Christ, increase in the sanctification of God’s grace provided by the Holy Spirit. Parish annual reports do not ordinarily report on how well a priest is adhering to these promises and carrying these functions. I am hopeful, however, that parishioners will give me some feedback, from time to time, on how they perceive my role as pastor and rector. Of course, there are always differences of opinion from the parishioners, but I am always ready to listen and to take note. I pray to God that I am somewhat in the ballpark as it comes to these promises and functions as priest in the church of God. I have routinely taken advantage of this annual report space to express my appreciation to the many people who are integrally involved in the Vestry, Choir, Altar Guild, and parish ministries, etc. activities. This year, however, I will wait until the parish Annual Meeting on Sunday, January 20 to more amply and formally thank the parish leadership, staff and volunteers, and the many people who keep St. John’s going and thriving. Ø The parish has grown during 2007 in many respects, but it has also stood still in some other areas. The growth examples:
Ø A profile of St. John’s has been put together to see where we are as a parish. Here are some summary details:
OFFICERS REPORTS Senior WardenKevin W. FlegalFor me it is hard to sum up 2007 in the life of St. John’s. As always, we have been blessed with the Seminarians and their families that come to St. John’s and become a part of our family. We hosted a number of special events: Harvest Fair, Halloween and several concerts, Rally Day, and for the first time a play ‘Rosita’s Day of the Dead’ in our church proper. We carried on with the day-to-day life of this church community. Our weekly services received an expansion with the addition of a Spanish language service. Our ministries continued throughout the year with regular meetings and helping others. We received a joint blessing in a renegotiated mortgage to help us meet our obligation and fulfill our responsibility of paying for our beautiful church. We have passed through a lot this last year as a congregation. We still have some challenges to meet together in our joint financial responsibilities. We are still on the path to be a beacon for the corner of Parkfield and Braker as we still strive to meet our obligations. I believe that it is the right place for us to be at this time. We continually meet the challenges before us, rejoice in the blessings we have received, continue to grow and overcome the obstacles we encounter, and always to give thanks to God for the many blessings still flowing to us.
JUNIOR WARDENBill BeareIn 2007 the Junior Warden Ministry continued its 2006 major shift on how the property and buildings that comprise our Church are handled. Our Plant has evolved from a small pastoral size plant to a transitional size plant and in many aspects it has features of a program size plant as far as buildings go. We continued the dividing up of the plant and grounds into sub areas with an “Assistant Junior Warden” over an area. They are and were: The Main church (David Peterson), The Administration Building along with the Youth Annex (Clara Daniels). The Purchasing Person (Margaret Beare) who is responsible for supplies and over seeing the Mowing Crew. Mike Davis is in charge of the Landscaping around the buildings. We also must thank John Goodrich, Annette Van Dover, John Lamphear, John Gorden, Roger Hall, Bob Stewart, Fr. Al and especially Marvin Rasmussen who became Electrical, Sound and Lighting Specialist during the year.
The Minor Maintenance line item exceeded its budget for the year. With a larger plant to care for the expenses increase proportionately. The other major reason was the series of burglaries we had at the beginning of the year and the need to upgrade our security system. We really could use more volunteers to help the new Junior Warden in 2008. Unfortunately the Operating Budget for 2008 will not allow us the luxury of hiring a full time Sexton or Grounds Keeper. We end the year in good shape with only a few problem areas.
TREASURER’S REPORT Annette VanDoverWe began 2007 with an average Sunday attendance of 143.6 and an average weekly offering of $4,638.92. We ended the year with average attendance of 144.3 and the average weekly offering of $4,309.48. The Operating Fund received total receipts of $193,230.71 and made disbursements of $188,488.67 in 2007, for an increase in the general account of $4,742.04. The General Fund Operating account shows a balance of $23,465.78 on the year-end balance sheet. To get a true picture of what is left in the Operating account, one has to deduct the $4,699.03 prepaid expenses, also reflected on the balance sheet. Bottom line, the Operating Fund has $18,766.75 available. In August of 2007, the property and liability insurance on the buildings was paid in full. 1/12 of the amount was added to the August expenses, and 11/12’s of the amount was placed in prepaid expenses. Each month another 1/12 of the amount is added to the monthly expense, reducing the total left in prepaid expenses. This is done to even out the monthly church budget. Other expenses that are handled in this manner are the clergy pension expense — invoiced quarterly, the lease on the copy machine, and the church’s yellow page ad. The Building Fund shows a total of $45,669.38. Throughout the year we have used the building fund to pay for the interest payments on the loan paid to the bank, plus a pay down of $27,906.43 on the principal of the loan. The Building Fund Expense of $7,152.64 reflects the cost of refinancing our loan from Amegy Bank. We received a $200,000.00 loan from the Crump Foundation at a 2 percent interest rate. The balance of the original Amegy loan was refinanced with Frost Bank with better interest terms and a longer pay-off, reducing the monthly outflow. Our interest bearing checking account at Compass Bank shows an end-of year balance of $100,974.08. We plan to transfer the account with Amegy Bank in Houston (current value - $10,294.31) to Frost Bank after we have determined what financial instrument would be best for St. John’s. This account was required as part of our original loan agreement. The loan principle due to Frost Bank is $312,536.78 and to the Crump Foundation is $190,000.00. Contribution Statements for income tax purposes were put in the mail on January 14. Still to do before the end of January are to file the necessary 2007 federal reporting forms and the Parochial Report forms for 2007.
Finance Committee Kevin W. Flegal The Finance Committee is a standing committee whose membership is stipulated in our By Laws and we met at regular intervals during the year in order to keep abreast of the budget and other items and ideas that could affect St. John’s. One major concern this year was the Mortgage and the Committee met and obtained a proposal from Frost Bank which gave substantially better terms and lower payout in order to place us in a better financial condition. We met numerous times, to prepare the annual budget for the next year to present to the Vestry for their action. Much deliberation was placed in these meetings as we have both the annual operating budget expenses as well as the mortgage expenses. These are the obligations that must be met without fail. We also met several times to perform quarterly reviews on how the Vestry passed budget was progressing and as such make recommendations for any mid-course corrections to the Vestry for their action. We also advised the Treasurer’s Office to go ahead and begin online banking options as this would be not only a time and money saver but also with the security involved would provided an audit trail for later review.
AUDIT CommitteeJamie Burns & Kevin W. Flegal The Audit Committee is a standing committee, which meets regularly to ensure that the procedures under which the annual audits are completed at St. John’s are current and incorporate the best practices and standards to place St. John’s in the best and most secure position. Several changes were made this year in order to come in line with transparency and accountability standards provided by the Diocese’s at the annual Financial Workshop. Plus from the same workshop, at the Diocese strong recommendation, we set down the rules to include in our annual audit an audit of the Rector’s Discretionary Fund (here to for never a requirement). We also met several times to guide and assist the Annual Audit Team, which is empowered each year for six months, to conduct the actual audit of our books and records.
Capital CampaignsMarvin Rasmussen, Capital Campaign Monitor St. John’s has embarked upon two special fund raising campaigns for the building of the new church and the remodeling of the parish hall/administration building. The first capital funds campaign, titled “The Vision is Now”, was held in the fall of 2001 with pledges to be paid over the three year period from 2002 through 2004. The second campaign, titled “The Vision is Here!” was held in the fall of 2004 with pledges to be paid over the three-year period from 2005 through 2007. The response to these two campaigns has been outstanding, as can be seen in the following table:
* Total number of unique givers; most pledged to both campaigns.
These results are, in a word, AWESOME!!!! They are a true credit to the faithfulness and dedication of those members of our congregation. Thank you! In addition, both campaigns had collections that were above projections until the final month, which meant that it was not necessary to hold the “mid-life kicker” campaigns our consultants had warned us would be needed. Also, these may not be the final figures if the first campaign is a guide. Even after the close of the first campaign, we have continued to receive collections toward unpaid first campaign pledges. $12,567.22 of the above amount collected (4.3 percent of the amount pledged) has been received in the years of 2005 through 2007. It is, of course, impossible to predict how much, if any, of the second campaign pledges will be received in 2008 and future years, but it seem reasonable to expect that there will be some.
MINISTRY LEADERS REPORTS
CHILDREN’S CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Margaret Beare Director of Children’s Christian Education. We made a format change for Children’s Christian Education for the school year 2007 to 2008. We combined our Christian Education program with our Children’s Chapel and adopted a new program known as Godly Play. We moved the time to begin at 10:00 am on Sundays to coordinate with the start of our main Church service. This is all being done in an attempt to increase the response from our members to bring their children to experience Christian Education. We have made some progress, but are still falling short in the numbers of families that we are reaching. We have provided programs for about 20 children under the age of 12. We are still looking for those who are not participating to see what we can offer that will make these classes more appealing and get more of our family to attend.
Children’s ChapelAmy AlemanChildren’s Chapel is offered to all children between the ages of three through fifth grade. We currently offer one storytelling circle for the children. Children and youth of all ages join us in special projects. The foundation of our ministry is Godly Play – which is based in the Montessori philosophy of engaging the children in hands-on, child-centered activities as a portal to learning. The central underpinning of Godly Play is respect — for one another, for ourselves, and for our sacred space. We are very excited about the growth in Children’s Chapel this year. If you look out the windows on any given Sunday, right about the time you exchange the peace, you can see how we have grown from a core of 3 - 5 children to a boisterous group of 10 – 15 children as we process to the church for communion. St. John’s has continued to invest in this program for our kids — through leadership training, through dedicated space, and through support of our activities. LEADERSHIP AND TRAINING: All of the leaders for the ministry have attended at least one Godly Play training presented by the Diocese. The structure of Godly Play, and the role that storytelling plays, is essential to the success of the program. Godly Play assumes that children have everything they need to understand and appreciate the richness, and the complexity and even the ambiguity of our faith stories without being taught to do so. The leadership training gives our volunteer staff the tools to make the children’s chapel a place where children can approach these stories on their own terms. In addition to the Godly Play training, all of the children’s chapel staff has attended the Diocese’s required “Safeguarding God’s Children” class. Amy Aleman has been trained by the Diocese to provide this training both as a St. John’s resource, and as a Diocesan resource. During the year, we were very sad to lose the leadership of Mary Anne O’Brien and Cathy Boyd; but are very pleased to have Gigi Jacobson join the core team of Claudie Cantu, Margaret Beare, and Amy Aleman. PHYSICAL SPACE. Another critical component of Godly Play is that the children take ownership of their own space and their own materials. This year, St. John’s honored this foundation by providing a dedicated space for children’s chapel. Through donation, we purchased shelving for the wonderful story boxes lent by Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Houston. Through additional donation, we purchased a rug for our story circle and the art supplies that the children use to work with the sacred stories each week. It has made a huge difference to have this wonderful space to use. WHAT WE DO. Each week, we come together in circle, get ourselves centered and ready, and then participate in a sacred story. We use storyboards and manipulatives to bring the stories to life. The stories often tell us something about our church life – for example, about why we change altar colors. Sometimes they are parables, like the parable of the good shepherd. And, sometimes, they are the sacred stories of the Old and New Testament – the stories of God’s people. This semester, we focused on OT stories: the stories of Abraham and Moses; stories of the exodus of the People into Egypt, their exile and return; the stories of Noah and Jonah. And a series on the Prophets, including a story on Elijah that had the kids so absorbed that I think they actually saw the fiery chariot head up to heaven. Each week, following story, the children have an opportunity to wonder about the story, and then to work with the story through art projects, or by writing, or by retelling the story themselves. During this portion of our time together each child chooses his or her own form of expression. Then we “feast.” The feast is not a snack in the truest sense of the word. Instead, it represents our coming together to honor our time with God and one another. During feast, we often talk about things for which we were grateful during that week. We have announcements about special things or concerns in the upcoming week. And, then we have a dismissal before processing with a song to the big church for communion. If this all seems uncommonly familiar to you — it is no accident. Godly Play deliberately echoes the structure of our worship — and in doing so, prepares the children to transition into the liturgy of the “big” church. SPECIAL ACTIVITIES. We had a number of special activities this year, including a lesson by Vicki Flegal on how we set God’s table, and a lesson on communion with Cathy Boyd. On Rally Day, the kids celebrated the fiesta with a piñata. And, participated in a Christmas Pageant that celebrated Luke’s version of the nativity story. A successful component of children’s chapel this year was own version of Vacation Bible School, held on five successive Sundays during the summer. During VBS, the children created their own circle of the church year calendar on which they mark the change of church seasons. Cathy Boyd came in and taught them some new worship songs while she played her guitar. They created puppets and – with the help of Chris Battle, Sarah Williams, Tegan Jacobson and Linley Duke – created their own puppet show. They had a “faith detective” day in which they searched for clues that, once found, made up all the parts of a bible story. And, they finished up VBS with a “field day” complete with medals for all the participants. SPECIAL THANKS. We are grateful to the support St. John’s provides in the way of training and dedicated space. We are grateful to the folks who donate materials, or, like Roger Hall and David Petersen, fix our broken or missing pieces, or finish our unfinished bookcases. We are grateful to the parents who support the program by bringing their children each week. We are grateful for the creativity of the volunteer staff who support this important ministry – in particular, to Claudie Cantu, Gigi Jacobson, Margaret Beare, and Amy Aleman. Mostly, though, we are grateful to the children – who enrich our church life. It isn’t every week that magic happens in that chapel. Sometimes we quarrel, or we are fidgety, or the story is just not as interesting as others; but, I tell you when it happens – when God becomes evident in that place – those children teach us things that we never knew, or have long forgotten, about what those stories really mean.
ST. JOHN’S PRAISE SERVICE John WilliamsThe praise service continued at St. John’s for another year. The praise service has been a meaningful and often uplifting worship service for its attendants. It has also been a very good small group ministry, giving persons who enjoy Christian-based folk, blues and rock music, and a more informal worship setting, the opportunity for fellowship and a different way to give praise to God. Enthusiasm for the service and its future potential remains among the participants. The particular style, focus and objectives of the service, has been the subject of ongoing dialog and debate. The nature and time slot of the praise service have tended to isolate it from the mainstream. Having so many services on Sunday has also caused the new Spanish language service to be held at a time that does not promote opportunities for interaction and fellowship among all church members. Moreover, the praise service has not been successful to date as a tool for evangelism. Although a handful of newcomers have gravitated to the service, the size of the congregation at the Praise Service has remained about the same over time and has mainly consisted of praise band members, their friends and their families. There have been discussions among the participants in the service about possible strategies for promoting the service and the music ministry in general, but thus far these discussions have not led to concrete plans and actions. It is respectfully submitted that the congregation and church leaders should regroup and re-evaluate the future course of the praise service within an overall discussion of the church’s approach to evangelism and new member ministry. The objective should be how best to go forward with an overall evangelism, church growth and new member ministry that is intentional, effective and lasting.
Visitors/NewcomersSheri Rasmussen At St. John’s church, we want to make visitor’s feel welcome and comfortable, and have created a truly coordinated effort to achieve this goal. All members of St. John’s are encouraged to make visitor’s feel welcome and answer any questions they may have. First an usher will greet each visitor as they arrive, and provide a bulletin containing the entire spoken service to provide ease of use for those unfamiliar with the service. A guide explaining how to use the prayer book or hymnal is available if this individual would like to find out more about the service. After the service the Daughters of the King provide visitors with a gift bag containing sweets, a note welcoming them to St. John’s and a copy of the latest newsletter. We encourage them to sign the guest register. Fr. Al remains in the Narthex after the service to greet all newcomers and make them feel at home. Each week an office volunteer records the name and address from the guest register and prepares a note for Fr. Al to review and send, thanking them for attending services at St. John’s. We add them to the newsletter mailing for several months to ensure that they are apprised of church activities.
Communication Committee Katherine Lilly The Communication Committee was assembled from the results of the Focus Group Meeting in 2005. The committee has focused on the following communications areas over the past year: · Currently providing information packets to newcomers and visitors. · Currently working on communication protocol that will be used to advertise various events to the surrounding community. · Received a proposal on re-branding the website and current communication materials. · Presented the re-branding Proposal / Business Case to the vestry. St. John’s Web SiteMarvin Rasmussen, Webmaster During 2007, the St. John’s Web Site (www.austinstjohns.org) remained a tool for both evangelistic and internal communications by providing information via the Internet for visitors, guests, and members. The web site has basic information about St. John’s such as: the church address, phone number, regularly scheduled service times, maps to the church, mission statement, etc., which are expected to be of primary interest to visitors and guests. Weekly updates include the Sunday service bulletin cover, announcements, scripture readings, and next week’s calendar of events. Monthly updates include The Good News newsletter, monthly calendar of events, and ministry service calendar; the newsletter and calendars are now available as downloadable PDF files as well as being viewable on-line (“PDF” is a popular file format that allows more consistent viewing and printing). In addition, there are brief descriptions of the services and activities of the adult Christian education, EYC, and Children’s chapel. Unfortunately, the most interesting information, pictures and descriptions of the activities and events of and within the parish, has been lacking due to an absence of submissions. Also, the overall appearance and layout of the web site has not been changed in the last five years and is showing its age. The Communications committee is currently looking into the possibility of updating the web site design (along with the rest of the church’s publications), but additional efforts are needed to keep the site’s content fresh and timely. Please help keep our web site interesting, current, and correct – send information for publication, corrections, and suggestions to the church office.
OUTREACH MINISTRIESThe following is a synopsis of the year’s activities: North Central Caregivers – an annual donation is provided as well as the choir participates in the benefit choral concert. Some members of St. John’s serve an active role as drivers for the elderly, work as a volunteer in the Caregiver office or do both. Sadie Stewart, Coordinator Nursing Home Ministry - As part of the Outreach Ministries at St. John’s, we have established a relationship with Oakcrest Manor Nursing Home, an assisted living facility for persons with physical and/or mental disabilities who have few resources in terms of family and financial support. On the fourth Monday of each month a group of parishioners go to the nursing home and assist the residents in playing bingo. Afterwards, drinks and refreshments are served. Our goal is to bring Christ’s love to these less fortunate individuals, by sharing our time and attention with them. We also host an annual Christmas party for the residents. Mark Hartwell, Coordinator Christmas Giving Tree: Thanks to the entire congregation for another wonderful year of giving. We sponsored 5 families with 23 individuals at Christmas. The families were amazed and very appreciative of our generosity. Especial thanks for everyone's generosity in the last week when we took on the additional family that called the church. Thanks to Edna Hunter for her assistance in delivering the gifts. We look forward to sponsoring a few more people next year as we continue to grow our church and our outreach. Karoline Gebert, Coordinator St. John’s Community Center food pantry and used clothes closet. The St. John’s Community Center Ministry continues on its 21st year on a successful tract under the new Director Ms. Mona Allen. In January we had our Rummage Sale in conjunction with Resurrection Episcopal Church and the Austin Area Volunteers service club. We made around fourteen hundred dollars to buy food for the Food Pantry. We again help feed about 10,000 people with 80 thousand pounds worth of food. At Thanksgiving and Christmas we feed about 250 people mostly seniors for each of the holidays. The Round Rock Sertoma and the VFW also helped us at Christmas. A number of Parishioners helped with food and money to buy food and we thank them so much. Bill Beare, Liaison National Outreach: In 2007 St. John’s continued to support the Rosebud Lakota Reservation in South Dakota with donations from parishioners and with the interest from the Permanent Endowment Fund. In June we sent $300 to the Bishop of South Dakota. The Rosebud Reservation is the poorest per capita area in the U.S. and has the highest percentage of Episcopalians in the Church. Thanks to everyone who donated.
PASTORAL CARE MINISTRYNora JacksonI want to thank all of the members of the Pastoral Care Committee. Everyone has done a great job of ministering to our parishioners in need of a visit or Holy Communion this year. The current members are Nora Jackson, Bill Beare, Margaret Beare, Sadie Stewart, Ermine Smith, Fr. Al, Judy Ingram, Sandy Ward, Jamie Burns and Katherine Lilly. We received the names of 23 individuals who needed the ministry of the Pastoral Care Committee during 2007. Of these, 11 were in temporary need and no longer need visits. Sadly, 2 people passed away. At this time we have 10 care recipients. All of our recipients are very appreciative of the Pastoral Care Committee and enjoy the visits and the opportunity to receive Holy Communion. Cards are sent to all parish members for birthdays and anniversaries, as well as just a monthly hello card to one of our care recipients. We have had a great year and would love for more people to join us. Also, if you are in need of a care call or would like to be a Pastoral Care recipient, please contact Nora Jackson.
AREAS OF MINISTRIES REPORTS ACOLYTES Karoline GebertThe St. John’s Acolyte Corps has continued without too many changes this year. It is anticipated that several new kids will be training and joining in 2008. A formal training session will be determined soon in addition to the anticipated attendance at the Acolyte Festival held at All Saints’ Episcopal Church.The current acolyte corps consists of Will Cox, Jackson Duke, Linley Duke, Genny Gebert, Jeffrey Harry, Lyndsay Harry, Devereux Havlick, Nathan Havlick, Chays Laremore, Sarah Riley, Ryan Swanson, and Sydney Swanson.We are instituting a point system for the acolytes. They will receive 1 point if they are on time when they are scheduled to serve. 2 points are awarded for acolytes who substitute when the scheduled acolyte is unavailable. There is a ½ point reduction for acolytes who fail to show for their scheduled assignment. Each acolyte that collects 15 points will receive a special incentive gift. We strongly encourage all youth to be timely for their scheduled serving.
ALTAR GUILDGinger Kirchhof, Altar Guild DirectressAltar Guild members are responsible for preparing for each of the weekly services along with any special celebrations or other events that occur. Membership is open to all men and women as well as youth in training. Contact any Altar Guild member or Fr. Al with any questions you have about this ministry. We are always ready to add to our small group. We prepare for the healing and Holy Eucharist services on Wednesday along with Saturday services and each of the four Sunday services. Wednesday healing services are held in the chapel. The Spanish language service, formerly monthly, became a weekly service starting in November. Seasonal banners are new this year. We thank Fr. Al for hanging these behind the Altar. A floral design was added to the Rose Hanging. This will be used one Sunday in Lent and on Rose Sunday during Advent. David Petersen arranged for the top surface of the Tabernacle to be refinished in Gold leaf. It has the Cross resting on it and houses the reserve sacraments behind the Altar. I especially want to thank the Altar Guild members for their dedicated service. Leading this group would be a tremendous challenge without their energy and devotion. Bill Cox, Fr. Al, Marvin Rasmussen, David Petersen, Roger Hall and others have helped in a number of ways as changes were made and problems solved. Under Fr. Al's guidance, we continue to make small adjustments to different types of services to better meet the needs of the Parish. As 2007 closes, we transition my role as directress to Sheri Rasmussen. I have had the honor of leading this very devoted and skilled group of volunteers for three years. I will remain on the Altar Guild but only as a team member. I want to emphasize that my role would have been impossible without these devoted team members working behind the scenes every week.
CHOIR REPORTPhilip RileyThe St. John's Choir had a busy year, providing musical leadership for services and supporting other occasions. As always, the choir utilized a wide variety of musical styles and made good use of the talents of the members. A men's Gospel quartet was organized to provide music for services and special occasions.
Special occasions included a concert by the Huston-Tillotson University Choir in May, a parish talent show in June, the mid-summer hymn sing and supper, participation in the North Austin Caregivers Concert in December, the annual Christmas Caroling adventure, and support for the nursing home Christmas party. We look forward to expanding our musical offerings and being of greater service to the congregation in 2008.
Chalice Bearers and LectorsAnnette VanDoverIn 2007, the individuals who serve as Chalice Bearers and Lectors faithfully served in approximately 180 regular services, 50 healing services, and a number of special services. We use a book called “Illuminations” which gives a brief recap of the reading that our servers use to introduce the readings at all services.
VERGERS/WORSHIP LEADERSBill BeareIn 2007 the Verger Guild continued to M.C. at the 10:15 Service plus funerals, all Holy Week services, Christmas Eve and Episcopal Visits. There are 5 Vergers: Bill Beare, Bill Cox, Karoline Gebert, Marvin Rasmussen and Annette Van Dover. Several of us are members of the National Verger Guild, The Walter Mace Diocesan Guild and we have one member of the Church of England Verger Guild.
The Worship Leaders (formally called Lay Readers) read Evening Prayer every Monday night thru September when it was discontinued because of lack of interest from the Parishioners. We continue to lead Evening Prayer and/or the Healing Service on Wednesday night when the Rector is elsewhere. During Lent and on Good Friday we lead Stations of the Cross.
DAUGHTERS OF THE KINGTHE WOMEN OF THE WELL CHAPTERErmine SmithI always think of the Daughters as handmaidens of Father Al, since our duty is to do the things our priest wants us to do. The Order of the King is organized a religious order. We take a vow for a lifetime to live by the Rule of the Order and the Rule of Life, which requires a spiritual discipline of daily prayer, service, and evangelism. Because of our vow we are not allowed to raise money since we are an order and not an organization. We have been busy this year working as individuals who are altar guild members, choir member, working as individuals on the vestry, and with NAMI. Several of us worked on the NAMI Walk for the Minds of America sponsored by St. John’s in honor of W.O. We filled shoeboxes for people coming out of the State Hospital, worked at the North Austin Caregivers, and attended the Daughters Assembly at Camp Allen where we enjoyed a spiritual weekend and enjoyed each others company. In October we had our Quiet Day at the home of Valerie Cox with the Rev’d Dr. Beer. He even showed us about Tai Chi. In November we trained two new members – Yetta Hubble and Sadie Stewart who were installed November 18. December was a busy month for us. We again filled shoeboxes for Christmas and took 20 boxes to MHMR for the folks leaving the State Hospital. Also at the Holiday Celebration MHMR honored the Daughters for being so kind and thoughtful to the least of our brothers and sisters. We were given an Achievement Award for our work. Of course we also participated in the Lenten soup suppers. These evenings are always a blessing to us since we get to serve our fellow churchmen.
EYC - YOUTH GROUP Megan FlowersIn August EYC leadership was passed from Mary Jan Treadwell to Megan Flowers. Mary Jan created an amazing platform for Megan to start off from, and has been exceedingly helpful in all the events and activities of the remaining year. We currently have 28 youth names on our roster, with a strong core of 16 active participants. St John’s is blessed with youth who are excited to help others, enjoy asking difficult questions and who know how to have a fun time together. On the communication front, we started an EYC section of the St John’s website as well as a blog of EYC events. Event flyers, Sunday school flyers as well as a newsletter were used to communicate with the youth and parents of St John’s. Activities of 2007 included:
St. John's EYC Blog http://stjohnseyc.blogspot.com/
St. John's EYC website http://austinstjohns.org/youth_-_eyc.htm
USHERS/GREETERS MINISTRY Sandra E. Ward The Ushers/Greeters ministry sustained many changes in the year of 2007. These include changes in procedures, headcount, leadership, as well as, a different vision for the future. · To help streamline the communion process, ushers were directed to allow the choir and acolytes to complete their communion before allowing any of the congregation to approach and receive their communion. This process continues and is working very well. · Alternate ways to approach the altar were attempted. Ushers were directed to walk up to the altar and place the wine and wafers directly on the altar. Due to a number of missteps and near falls, this process was retracted. · Due to a loss in headcount, new ushers were recruited. · After a number of great years leading the usher ministry, Valerie Cox resigned her position as usher coordinator. Sandra E. Ward has taken on the leadership of this ministry for 2008. · One very important factor in our new vision for the future is to have the usher’s perform a dual role. During the 10:15 a.m. service, three ushers would perform the normal duties, such as, distributing the church programs. The fourth usher would be designated the “Greeter” for the day. The Greeter will keep an eye out for any visitors. Once these visitors are identified, the greeter will diligently welcome the visitors to our church, ensure that they receive a “Welcome” package, sign the guest book and are invited to join the congregation in the parish hall for coffee hour, after the service. An official training package is being created to ensure the cohesiveness of this new process. The Usher ministry is a very important component of St. John’s. Our commitment to this ministry is a necessity for building strong ties with all visitors and potential parishioners of St. John’s. · Baptisms at St. John’s: 13 Braydan Kenneth Allen Morgan Christine Allen Caitlyn Elizabeth Adelyn Broz Alexandra Capers Audrey Capers Nicolo Cucorullo Kobe Ray Dukes Pun Hui Falkenhainer Tessa Lucia Heidkamp Lauren Elle Herrera Elian Christian Medrano Heather Reynolds Edwin Zuniga
· Confirmations/Receptions: 5 Will Cox Megan Flowers Damian Havlick Sandra Laughlin Edwin Zuniga
Ron Dyer Charles Hunter Edna Hunter Betty Langdon Margaret Straub Christy Willcourt Jonathan Willcourt
· Letters of Transfer – Out 3 Stacey Wuthrich Benham Tammy Hester Janet Green Gilmore
· Deceased 2 Don Cox Mary Ward
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