Dear Friends in Christ,
While we once again celebrate the glad tidings of Easter 2021 in a creative, nontraditional manner, we eagerly envision our long period of separation slowly coming to an end. In the spirit of renewed life, and with faith in the resurrection and God’s abiding love, we invite you to participate in “Gifts for God’s House: All Saints Parish—Celebrating the First 125 Years,” as we raise funds to undertake some gentle refurbishments of our sanctuary.
Following the joyous 2019 All Saints Day and celebratory Evensong, the vestry convened our taskforce to develop opportunities for members of the parish to mark the 125th anniversary. With spirit and inspiration, we planned projects, only to be put on “pause” by the pandemic. As we continued to meet remotely, we came to realize that the COVID era brings into focus what joys there have been—and will be—in the simple pleasures of physically gathering together the All Saints community in our shared worship space.
“Gifts for God’s House” celebrates that space—and our anniversary—by looking to the church’s past, present, and future. To mark our past, we will develop a historical exhibit space, conserve one of our most important pieces of artwork, and update our guidebook, the Tour of All Saints. To celebrate our present, we will enliven the children’s rug area with new appointments and furniture. Envisioning our future, we will purchase new votive candlestands, altar hangings, and chairs for use in the Resting and Langdon Chapels.
The specific projects are listed in the linked brochure and donation form. Please consider prayerfully whether you are able to fund a specific item or prefer to donate to the projects as a whole. This is more than a campaign for buying things, however. It is an opportunity to celebrate our love for a space filled with our stories, a space at the center of our life of faith together. Funding shelving units and bins to hold toys and art supplies enables children and families to more fully participate in our worship life. Funding chairs will provide flexibility for gathering in parts of the sanctuary. Finally, by funding restoration of art and preserving and sharing our history, we recognize our place in the continuum that began with the living body of Christ gathered in 1894 as All Saints Parish, who with God’s grace conceived, built, decorated, and maintained this sanctuary space. In gratitude, we wish to continue that work as we move through the years to come.
Our goal is $40,000. Ten percent of funds raised will go to the Outreach Fund, in recognition of our continuing commitment to provide help outside our walls in this great time of need. The campaign will conclude by June 30, 2021, to allow time for some of the improvements to be completed by the fall. We hope you will give generously so that together we can begin to prepare All Saints for its next 125 years.
Yours in Christ,
The 125th Anniversary Taskforce:
Margaret Bridge
Richard Burden
Margaret Hogan
Elinor Horner
Bradley MacDonald
Gifts for God’s House Donation Form
For more information about how all gifts will be used, please visit the 125th Anniversary page. You have the option of choosing a specific project that you would like your funds to be used for or leaving it up to the 125th Anniversary Task Force.