Report from the Lectors' Guild

Our Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3. Continuing last year's tradition, we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here's the report from the Lectors' Guild, submitted by Brantley Alexander.


The ministry of the Guild is to provide lay members of our Parish the opportunity to proclaim the WORD by reading the First Lesson at Sunday Mass and Seasonal holidays such as Christmas and Easter as set aside in the Revised Common Lectionary. This is an important lay ministry that not only provides opportunities for folks from the pews to declare God’s Word to us, but also to provide us with a diverse set of voices to share God’s Word as selected from Genesis to Malachi along with texts from the Apocrypha.


Current Readers:
Brantley Alexander
Don Bryant
Amy Bailey
Sister Ellen Carney
Kristin Edmundson
Mark Gastineau
Barbara Geer
Don Harris
Brad King
David Kubley
Rose Lane
Desiree Law
Brendan O’Sullivan-Hale
Helene Russell
Drew Schirtzinger
Herb Schlotterbeck
John Thompson

Report from the Altar Guild

The Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3. Continuing last year's tradition, we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here's the report from the Altar Guild, submitted by Duane Palmer.


In 2012 the St. Catherine of Siena Altar Guild of The Episcopal Church of All Saints experienced another year of dedicated service and faithfulness by its members. An altar guild, described by some as those persons who take care of the "holy hardware", is probably a least-noticed ministry, and this is intentional. We work behind the scenes in order to provide support to the sacred ministers and in doing so create a time of worship that is seamless and well thought out. Perhaps these are lofty words, especially when it sometimes comes down to "how in the world did wax get there?" or "how did that linen end up over here?" But one of the joys that I have found over the years working on altar guilds is learning the spiritual significance of various articles, the order in which they are arranged, and how to care for them properly once they have been used in a service.

In 2013 we are looking for volunteers to join our teams. We have five teams, which means you would be serving every 5th Sunday, and of course there are always volunteer opportunities for special days that fall outside of a normal Sunday routine. If you've ever read the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42, and felt that Martha got the raw end of the deal, perhaps you are a good fit for the altar guild.

Two things that I would ask of the general congregation, and by this I mean members, is that you return any unwanted bulletins to the west end of the nave where they can be gathered for recycling. As we at All Saints want to show our best possible appearance to visitors, I know you would like to help by returning your hymnals and BCPs to their proper slots, spine facing up. The altar guild workers have a great deal to do after Mass, and your efforts to help them mean your brothers and sisters in Christ won't have to stay longer than necessary.

On behalf of all the Altar Guild, I would like to thank the Church for all the opportunities to serve that continue to be presented to us. We hope and pray that we will continue to serve with joy and dedication in 2013 and in the years to come.

Report from the Parish Events Committee

The Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3. Continuing last year's tradition, we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here's the report from the Parish Events committee, submitted by Ginger Biddinger.

Well 2012 was certainly a BUSY year for us!  We started the year with our Mardi Gras celebration in 

February.  Coby really provided us with some beautiful decorations and the parish hall looked great. Frank managed to find some little babies to be baked into the king cakes.

Next was our Maunday Thursday dinner during Lent.   Fr. Tom and Jane Billman provided lentil soup while the rest of the committee provided the olives, dates, pita etc.

We provided a” Welcome” coffee hour  for Mo. Suzanne during  September, and then the next weekend we had our Church picnic, with our invited guests from Holy Life.

In November we assisted Jane Billman with set up for Cathy Scott's Ordination.  Following this we hosted a reception for Mo. Suzanne's installation.

For December, our wonderful organist Mason came up with the idea to have caroling at the church, so cookies, cocoa and caroling were enjoyed by all who came!  We also assisted Pat & Lance in a small celebration of Fr. Chastain's 50 years of ordination.

I am sure I probably managed to miss something, but 2012 was a busy year for us!

Report from the Endowment Committee

The Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3. Continuing last year's tradition, we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here is the report from the Endowment Committee, submitted by Freida Thompson.

The Episcopal Church of All Saints has an Endowment Fund that has reached $384,000.  These donations are from estate planning gifts and bequeathments to the church. Any bequeathment from a will that is not otherwise designated for a particular fund, e.g., organ fund, building fund, is then placed in the All Saints Endowment Fund. The Vestry approved the The Episcopal Church of All Saints Endowment  Fund Agreement on Dec. 12, 2010. This document establishes guidelines for the management of the Endowment Fund. The Diocese of Indianapolis manages and administers the fund (which also includes other churches in the diocese.)  Financial reports on our portion come from the Diocese to the church treasurer.

The All Saints Endowment Committee will oversee the Endowment Fund.

There are three parishioners on the committee. Denton Raubenolt rotates off this year. A new member will be appointed at the Annual Meeting. The agreement mandates that approximately one half of the dividends and interest accrued for the previous year be dispersed during the current year for religious, charitable, and educational activities of the Church.    The principle will remain intact until it reaches $500,000.

The Endowment Committee met  Feb 12,2012 and made the decision todistribute $2,500 from 2011 Endowment Fund earnings.

We granted:  1) Diocesan Convention - $1000     2) IYG writing program - $500 3) Imagio Deo - $200 (not used) 4) Renovation of the Church Sign - $800 (not used).  No other committees submitted grant requests.

At the end of February 2013, the committee will meet to distribute approximately $5,000 from the earnings from 2012.

Report from the Prayer Ministry

The Annual Meeting is coming up on February 3, and continuing the tradition established last year, we're publishing reports as we receive them. Here's the report from the Prayer Ministry, submitted by Don Bryant.

The Prayer Ministry for All Saints Episcopal Church has seen some change this year, exciting change.  This group that may have been best described as successfully under organized has taken on a bit different appearance.  While the ministry worked well, after some tweeking, growth has already happened.  The group has nearly doubled in size since a mini workshop that was held in November.  This not only involves more people but it broadens opportunity for many at All Saints to serve Christ and the church.

With this growth there is also agreement among the prayer ministers that occasional meetings to share with one another and to pray for one another will strengthen the group and encourage growth in the spiritual practice of prayer.   

Report from the Outreach Committee

The All Saints Annual Meeting is coming up, and continuing last year's tradition, we'll be posting reports as we receive them. Here's what the Outreach Committee has been up to, submitted by Patricia Griffin.

Significant accomplishments:

- Remaining mindful of the purpose of the committee and the Millennium goals
- Great support and enthusiasm from clergy and vestry for activities
- Received Endowment Funds from AS for three Outreach Projects
- Promoting outreach opportunities to parishioners
- Participation with several community based organizations
- Raising money by organizing a yard sale that provided funding for two monetary contributions to charitable organizations, Dayspring Center, and St. Philip’s Food Pantry, and $ 600.00 to the AS Parish Events Committee
- Collecting items in bins for distribution to various entities, including food and non-consumables, school supplies, socks and underwear, blankets, eyeglasses, pill bottles

Challenges in 2012:

- Selecting entities as recipients of donations due to vast needs within the community
- Committing to work with other churches and organizations without over- committing

Goals for 2013:

- Continue to promote outreach activities already organized
- Look to start-up something new if a gap in services is evident
- Involve the entire congregation in initiating new projects, and announcing opportunities for participation

Members include: Bethel Bose, James Underwood, Jeff Hostetter, Joshua Siege, Cathy Scott, Joan Head, Jane Billman, Jesse Clark, Lance Ratliff, Mary Elise-Haug, Patricia Griffin

Report from the Knitting Committee

The All Saints Annual Meeting is coming up, and continuing last year's tradition, we'll be posting reports as we receive them. Here's what the Knitting Commitee has been up to, submitted by Rose Lane.

The All Saints knitting group had another busy year. In addition to continuing to contribute to our supply of prayer shawls, the group agreed to knit scarves for the Red Scarf Project which is part of the Foster Care to Success program. FC2S provides assistance to college students who have grown up in the foster care system. In addition to help with school expenses, rent, clothing and other necessities, FC2S sends a Valentine’s Day care package to each student. Every care package contains a red scarf that has been knitted and donated to the project. While we neglected to count how many scarves we sent, it was a large box that filled with our work. We invited the parish to participate by donating other “goodies” for the care packages and you were very generous.

This year’s project is to make newborn snuggle sacks for babies seen at the Rafael Health Center at 34th & Central Avenue. The clinic sends a welcome bag with each new mother when she returns for post-natal care. We are pleased that we can provide something of use for an organization that is nearly a neighbor. There are many patterns available and anyone may contribute. We would like to have our finished products blessed in November so they can be given to the Rafael Center before the end of the year. Our group’s numbers have fluctuated a lot this past year as folks have moved or become involved in other activities. Anyone is welcome to come as your are able -- you don’t have to be an experienced knitter to join us at 5:30 on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.