Dear saints,

This past Sunday at All Saints’ was a wonderful window into who we are as a church. The 9:00 a.m. service was led by our children. They read, led the prayers and the Creed, and even pronounced the Peace. As we gathered those children around the altar, one on each side of me lifted the bread and wine as an invitation of welcome was extended ‘whoever you are, wherever you are on your journey’. That invitation was as much from those children as it was from me. ‘Come to the table of grace’, the children in our midst were offering, ‘to the place where we belong and find an abundance of life’. It was for me a wonderful glimpse into the future of the church. 

To date, no decision has been made as to the future of the existing Egleston building. Currently, we are mid-stream in an extremely thorough information gathering process about the condition of the building given how much structural damage it has suffered. We are also studying how we can maximize our use of the other buildings on our block, especially the Parish House which sits adjacent to Egleston. While that is happening, Perkins&Will has engaged a general contractor, Hodges & Hicks, who are working to provide costed assessments of what it would take for us to pursue a variety of possibilities the Egleston Task Force is considering in order to ensure that we are planning for a project within our financial capacity. Those scenarios range across a full spectrum of options. 

One would pursue a full repair and renovation of the entirety of Egleston within its current footprint, making further capital improvements to the roof, windows, electrical, plumbing, foundation etc., and all the work needed to make the building fully accessible, with the number of restrooms and other fixtures and fittings that would be required. This scenario would include the construction of an additional new building to host the core ministries.

Another scenario would repair and renovate a portion of Egleston and carry out additional construction in order to meet the program needs we have. Other scenarios would focus on the West Peachtree facade of the Egleston building. And a final scenario would consider whether any of the Egleston building can be retained or whether a new building would need to be built in its place. Nothing has been decided and the task force is weighing a wide range of options.

Each of these scenarios would face the same central question that lies at the heart of this project: what represents the best stewardship of our resources as a church?

As a parish that for 120 years has cared for an historic church building that we cherish as hallowed ground, we know how to be good stewards of the gifts God entrusts to us. Churches are called to practice good stewardship of financial resources, of their buildings and grounds, of their history, and primarily of their people - acts of stewardship that require us to look both to the past and to the future. As we consider together as a parish which course of action to take, I invite you to ask yourselves what represents to you the best investment we can make in All Saints’ future, trusting in the God who always calls us onward to live with courage and faith.

As these weekly emails take a couple of weeks break for the celebration of Holy Week and Easter, please save the date on your calendar for our next block forum in Ellis Hall following the 9:00 a.m. service on Sunday April 19th, just under a month from now. We anticipate being able to share the conditions assessment results with you during that forum following which we intend for it to be a town hall style meeting, with most of the time dedicated to you, so we can be sure to hear from everyone who would like to share a view or ask a question. As always, please be in touch with me, with Meg Fogel, Sheldon Taylor, Kate Stradtman, or any member of the vestry.

In the meantime, let us set our sights on Jerusalem and the promise of the One who calls us all to new life.