Dear saints,

I wonder if you can remember those curiously unique Sundays when we held services in the courtyard during the Covid pandemic? No doubt, there was much that I’d rather forget about those days, including having to mark out the minimum spacing the diocese required us to have between our ‘pods’ of seating. What I have not wanted to forget, however, was how utterly beautiful our grounds are in spring.

I can still close my eyes and picture preaching an Easter Day sermon in what has to be Atlanta’s finest cathedral space: with trees in blossom bright, birdsong serenading the choir, and the blue sky reminding us all that this is God’s world, and we just get the temporary privilege of leaving it a little better than we first found it. 

As the Midtown neighborhood has grown so rapidly in recent years, with commercial and residential high rises springing up all around us, our outdoor spaces are even more important to us and to the city than they were that first Sunday I arrived here. Green spaces allow us to breathe spiritually as well as physically. They slow us down and center us to the gift of God’s creation. They are places intended for us to linger in. 

Our master plan for the block names our goal of expanding our green footprint at All Saints’ by approximately 20,000 square feet, with the design leading to an increase in vegetated area that would enable our block to be even more ‘a forest in the city’ than it is today. Walkways would be enhanced with a green canopy, and new open spaces for gatherings and play would be created.

The master plan also envisions a fully accessible set of green spaces, from all directions across the block. Snaking paths would enable users of wheelchairs and walkers to be able to gently navigate the changing elevation on the block without the need for handrails, while at the same time retaining our ability to safely secure the entire block at night.  

Part of the vision for the Egleston Ministry Center is to further enhance our oasis in the city by the creation of a new rooftop garden that would provide for us a gathering space for smaller parish functions, an indoor/outdoor space for meetings, and a rentable part of our property for folks looking for a unique vantage point for their own gatherings in the Midtown area.

Of course, all such projects begin with where we are at today, and we know that at the gateway to green and growing life on our block is our iconic magnolia tree on West Peachtree. Its branches have held generations of saints at play and have been the backdrop for many an Easter Day family photo. I cannot tell you how often each day I see people walk by my office window and pause to take a picture of the magnolia tree’s sprawling form. It is flamboyantly All Saints’, and in many ways captures the goal we have as a church that is called to steward the treasure of these outdoor spaces: it invites people in to discover beauty, that of the natural world and their own. We hope and pray that the magnolia tree is here forever!

In a 2007 interview with the Cultural Landscape Foundation, our beloved, late master landscape architect, Mr. Edward Daugherty, said of the All Saints’ block that its curves, “whether they are complete or whether they are just a sinuous line, seem to me a way to get through life”. All Saints’ curves and craggy trees, its surprising palm tree and sculptures of Mary and Jesus and Francis, each offer a path through the troubles and joys of our lives. These are the places where we meet one another and where we might stop long enough to be met. We need them, and the city around us needs them too. So, thanks be to God for those saints gone on to glory and the saints of today who recognize the gift of place and beauty. We have a wonderful treasure and we intend to look after it with care and intention. Thank you for continuing to plant your own life here. 


Peace,