St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church

2020 Annual Meeting January 24, 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS via Zoom

1 MINUTES OF 2019 ANNUAL MEETING 2-5 RECTOR’S REPORT AGENDA 6-7 SR. WARDEN’S REPORT 8 OPENING PRAYER & WELCOME WORSHIP COMMITTEE Almighty and everliving God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with music those who take counsel in this Annual Meeting for the renewal and mission of your Church. 9 Teach us in all things to seek first your honor and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and STEWARDSHIP grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our 10-11 Lord. Amen. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION children CALL TO ORDER 12 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION ELECTION OF NEW VESTRY MEMBERS youth ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 13 INTRODUCTION OF VESTRY NOMINEES - see addendum PARISH LIFE ELECTION OF NEW VESTRY MEMBERS 14 SPIRITUAL FORMATION REPORTS WELCOMING COMMITTEE BYLAWS REVISION - Rhonda Packer 15 BUILDINGS CHRISTIAN EDUCATION - Catherine Drewry GROUNDS STRATEGIC PLAN 16-17 RECTOR’S REPORT OUTREACH FINANCIAL REPORT - Les House 18 BUDGET PRESENTATION INREACH/PASTORAL CARE 19 CLOSING PRAYER AND ADJOURNMENT COMMUNICATIONS 20 FINANCE COMMITTEE LIFE OF OUR PARISH 21-27 TREASURER’S REPORT

Addendum VESTRY BIOS

ST. GREGORY ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 1 Minutes of the 2019 Annual Meeting Saint Gregory the Great January 19, 2020

Following an opening prayer, welcome and lunch the meeting was called to order at 12:25 p.m. by Mother Nikki.

A slate of four nominees: Eddie Bennett, Karen Hankins, Caley Ross, and Jane Hudson was elected to the vestry by a ballot vote of 80 in favor with 1 opposed.

Outgoing vestry members: Joan Curtis, Lois Alworth, Katie Reinberger, and Mason Somerville were recognized, applauded, and thanked for their service.

Rhonda Packer reported on the draft revision of our bylaws that has been written in order to be in accord with the canons of our diocese and the national church. 2020 will be a trial year to allow time for the vestry to use and the parish to read and review. A feedback process will be in place. The draft will be available to read on Realm and hard copies will be available by request. A vote to accept the revision will be held at our 2020 annual parish meeting.

Mother Nikki recognized individuals and highlighted her written report. We have been adhering to our budgeting criteria. Our Holy Cow survey for our church’s future direction indicated high excitement and high involvement. We now have committees to facilitate our plans to Nourish, Go, and Grow. We also have a new pastural care initiative, senior lunches with speakers sharing information about aging. Roger Swagler has stepped down from chairing the finance committee, Richard Cooper has stepped down from serving as treasurer and Mark Reinberger has stepped down from chairing building maintenance. Mother Nikki stated that she loves her job and her people, feels that she belongs here, and thanked all of us.

New treasurer, Les House noted that church finances have been successfully audited. The new vestry will approve a budget when they next meet. The budget will be available to read on Realm and a hard copy will be posted. Our loose plate offering was the only item over budget for 2019. We have $7000 of that budget remaining because committees volunteered to spend some of their designated funds to help pay for recent building repairs.

Joan Curtis, outgoing senior warden, attributed Mother Nikki’s leadership as the reason for our Holy Cow survey indicating higher energy than during our search process.

Mother Nikki closed our meeting with a prayer at 1:13 p.m. and we applauded the parish life committee for our excellent soup lunch.

Respectfully submitted by Alice Mohor

ST. GREGORY ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 2 RECTOR’S REPORT

Greatly Beloved,

Happy Birthday, St. Gregory the Great!! We made it!! It’s our 50th year! Glory to God!! And I think it’s safe to say that when we met at Annual Meeting last year, no one could expect that this would be how we would meet the year of our 50th Anniversary. And yes, I have to say that I am sad that we are not currently meeting in person, but not as sad as I would be if we exposed one another to illness and death through COVID 19. That said, I couldn’t be more proud or feel more blessed to have walked the weird road of 2020 with this parish family here at St. Gregory the Great! Even in the face of the “longest Lentiest, Lent we’ve ever Lented” this parish has continued to partner with God with great faith, deep determination, and great creativity so that we could continue to NOURISH, GROW, and GO as God would have us do.

As you may remember, NOURISH, GROW, and GO is what we as a parish discerned God was calling us to do, as we came together in prayer, holy listening, and sharing with one another in 2019 with more than 70 parishioners participating in the visioning focus groups, more than 100 in the CAT, and then over this past year more than 20 on work committees, and more than 30 provided feedback on draft strategic plan. Thank you all for being so diligent in this call, with special thanks to Rhonda Packer, Beth Thornton, and Kelly Black for spearheading the work on our Nourish, Grow, and Go Strategic Plan. (Please see this plan as detailed on our website at your convenience.)

Nothing stopped us from walking with God, even being unable to meet in person for worship since March of 2020. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was dismayed to go from not passing the peace on the third Sunday of Lent to not physically meeting for worship at all since that time. But at St. Gregory the Great, we continued to NOURISH, GROW, and GO with God, because while the buildings may have closed, YOU, the CHURCH, remained not only open, but hard at work.

Nourish: Our excellent staff has continued to do the work of God here as we nourish one another through our worship, in person at the beginning of the year, which by March, became worship online. Our Deacon, the Rev. Christina Dondero is a stellar preacher and teacher and provider of help to our immigrant community. Joe Napoli and Jonathan Klein continue to contribute excellence in their ministries of music. Joe continued to share his musical gifts with us despite the nearly impossible circumstance of choir members having to remain isolated from one another in their homes and Jonathan, as always, joyfully performed extra and new duties so that online services contained music and song at the stellar level to which we have happily become accustomed. Catherine Drewry, tireless and endlessly creative in her directing of Children’s ministries continues to show her true passion for families and children, and has worked to grow the children’s ministry even more this year. Amazing!! Jude Red-Bear, our nursery director, along with his staff of nursery attendants, has updated the nursery inside and out to the joy of parents and little ones, up until the time of our building closures. Mark Hein continues to extend excellent care with our grounds for which we are extremely grateful! Same goes for our miracle-working sexton, Allena Armour, who singlehandedly manages cleaning and set up for events in the buildings on our campus. And even though she suffered grave injury this year, she has returned to work here with vim and vigor. In addition, Kendall Kookogey, who does double duty as Parish Administrator and Bookkeeper, continues to be an amazing asset for me and for all of us who rely on her to keep things running so smoothly. continued on next page...

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And there is absolutely NO WAY we could have resumed worship through online means with the level of professionalism and skill with which our YouTube channel and social media presence is maintained without the work of tireless parish volunteers Terri Tillman and Anthony Barkdoll. Online ministry has required the dedication of an actual second job, and both Terri and Anthony took on these duties, without pay, in addition to the already full schedules required by their career and family lives. The ministries of all these exceptional people form the firm foundation upon which our other ministries can function so well. Thank you all!!

Pandemic notwithstanding, our staff continued to meet weekly via Zoom, to make sure our work of worship, pastoral care, and outreach was delivered displaying the best we had to offer. Because of your work and willingness as a church to try innovative ways of worship until we can meet again, we have instituted Sacred Journeys, which is safe, on-campus visiting of individuals and families to come walk the labyrinth in the parish hall and/or have quiet time to pray in the church. Because of your flexibility and ingenuity, I was able to continue pastoral care and spiritual counseling appointments with you via cell phone, FaceTime, or ‘regular’ phone conversations. Our Taizé services were instituted and continue online, thanks to Stacie Court, RuthElizabeth Conine-Nakano and her husband Dan Nakano, David Stooksbury, and Annette Bates.

I do want to note that we lost a wonderful Children’s Minister and Christian Adult Ed instructor in the Rev. Gordon Bienvenue. He worked tirelessly with Rhythms of Grace and was instrumental in parish instruction on the holy prayer accessible through iconography.

The Vestry has accomplished so much this year, (see the stellar Sr. Warden report) and I am loathe to say goodbye but delighted to say thank you to our five outgoing vestry members: Kathryn Mushult, (Senior Warden), Jack Armistead, Rhonda Hefner-Packer, Marge Massey, and Beth Thornton for their excellent service in the ministry of leadership.

Folks continue to serve in their ministries with generosity and good will, up through March when we could meet. Those who have been able to continue via Zoom and other online means have done so, most notably: the Men’s Group, the Book Group, Stewardship, Threads of Prayer, the Dream Group, a Let’s Chat Group for the women of the parish, Bible Study/Lectionary Discussion, and Hebrew Reading. Also continuing their work in maintaining sacred beauty and function for our services of worship, the Altar Guild and Flower Guild have served with bravery, muscle and grace. Karen Kassinger and Martha Beach of the Altar Guild, as Lane Norton and Sandy Gamble of the Flower Guild, receive special thanks on that score. Also, a huge thanks goes to Margaret Agner (the chief and only member of Vestment Creation? Yeah, we made that name up…), for so beautifully making liturgical masks for our services that folks from other churches have inquired as to how they can receive the same!

Grow: In our most recent normal times, our Average Sunday Attendance is 163, with a range of 130 -247 per Sunday. During most parts of the year, we are very firmly a transitional sized church (140-224), sometimes breaking into a program sized church (224-800). It goes without saying that this is not a normal year, so reporting on attendance in any traditional way (which Canon counts only as physical people in physical seats) isn’t possible. I am proud to say that not only did we have church every single Sunday and at least every other Wednesday online, but that we also had an in-person Pet Blessing (drive through), as well as two (rather 1.5) in person (parking lot) Christmas Eve services with communion. On average, our Sunday services had 100+ views (yay!!) for premieres and another 50-70 later on Sunday afternoons. We average 60+ on the live chat. And each month we are receiving views (and very occasional new memberships) from people who have no previous ties to our church. (yippee!!) And it may be hard to believe, but if you can remember way back to January of 2020, we had 8 baptisms! Whoo hoo!! That is outstanding for a church of our size! Go Jesus and go St. Gregory the Great! continued on next page...

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Our commitment, as we heard through prayer and listening groups, and as we can see in the resulting Strategic Plan is to grow multiculturally and in age variance. Again, I point with great joy to our children’s Christian Ed program that has increased its reach to the children of our community during a pandemic. This ministry has increased. I believe we are making very real and faithful steps toward that goal, with our Racial Justice reading groups that grew out of our witness to the racial unrest after the murders of George Floyd, Brionna Taylor, Ahmad Arbery, and others. This was followed by enthusiastic and robust participation in the Sacred Ground racial justice curriculum. Many thanks to the Reverend Ellen Richardson for leading both the summer reading groups and the Sacred Ground program.

Also, I include here our growth in our relationship with God through giving, as a church body. Budgets are holy documents that help determine how and how well we can do the work God has given us to do here and in the world. They are a statement of who we are and what we value in terms of priorities. The most wonderful thing I learned was that St. Gregory the Great values working with God to worship God and love people. Because of your generous giving throughout the pandemic, we were able to continue to pay our staff so that they would not suffer reduced nor altogether absent income. Most of our staff continues to work during the pandemic, with the exception of nursery staff which is still prohibited from operating at this time. I also learned that your generosity is outrageous in a holy way. SO much money poured into my discretionary fund, that we were able to give upwards of $8,400.00 in housing, grocery, and utility money, as well as $1,550 to direct service agencies, with $1,000 of that agency amount being local. THANK YOU for your incredible generosity in a time when so many are hurting. And in a time when so many churches dipped dangerously low in their pledging, because of economic uncertainty and economic suffering among our own, we remained fairly steady. {The amount $381,346 was pledged for 2020; $336,890 pledged for 2021} Bottom line…Y’all Rock!!

Go: This is loving others through mission: giving in practical ways and sharing the good news out in the world. In addition to what I listed as being given from the Rector’s Discretionary Fund, through our diocesan assessment (roughly half of which goes to outreach…so, around $18,000) we assist with Emmaus House (serving the impoverished in inner city Atlanta), The Friendship Center at Holy Comforter (serving those with moderate to severe mental and physical disabilities in Atlanta), The Church of the Common Ground (church without walls serving the homeless in Atlanta), Chattahooche Valley Episcopal Ministry (household essentials, transportation, medical needs, etc to the impoverished in the Chattahoochie Valley area), and the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing.

All of this is over and above the excellent work done by our Mission and Outreach Committee (see their report), Pastoral Care (they don’t just do inreach, but care for those who are not members or attendees here), and those done by other ministries in our body (please see the Ministries listing, on our website). This means that more than 10% of our budget goes to outreach. And it is my intention that we keep growing in our monetary AND hands-on commitment (when we are not in a pandemic) to GOING into the world, giving in love to the glory of God.

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ST. GREGORY ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 5

On a personal note, I want to express how deeply grateful I am for your love and support, not only on the days of blessing in this past year, but even more so during days of hardship for myself, my family, and our sister churches in the diocese. When my mother-in-law died in January, vestry and members rallied round us, and provided whatever was necessary. During the racial uprising, my family and I suffered a good deal in the face of racialized violence, but y’all were so heavenly in your support. And when a colleague, the young Rev. Melissa Kean, at St. Peter’s Episcopal in Rome, GA committed suicide, you were nothing but supportive and understanding as I spent a good deal of time helping them operate as church until their rector could return.

I also appreciate your grace and support as I experience the blessings of representing St. Gregory the Great (I brag on y’all a ton!!), as I served as a Trustee of the University of the South, Sewanee; currently serve in our diocese as the President of Standing Committee, and teach twice per year with the Episcopal Preaching Foundation in the Preaching Excellence Program (in January I taught at Candler with Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori), and since then have taught in the Preaching Excellence Program twice online.

I have not highlighted everything we have experienced and done in the past year, simply because I can’t. Jesus has been busy in this place, through all of us, in the power of the Holy Spirit, COVID-19 be damned! And I am so blessed as a rector to be able to be say that! I love my church family here, so much more than you know! Thank you for an absolutely blessing-filled second full year (and some) in this church. I pray I’m blessed to experience many, many more!

In abounding love and great joy, Mo. Nikki+

ST. GREGORY ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 6

SENIOR WARDEN’S REPORT

The Vestry began this year looking forward to planning the Church’s celebration of our anniversary, and to continue the work of Strategic Planning. However, the Covid pandemic changed our plans and even changed our approach to worship. We are still making plans for our celebration, but we have more to do. St. Gregory The Great Church is composed of resilient and dedicated parishioners who made sure we continued our support of each other and our worship, even though our communication was different. We miss our hugs!!

We have continued to meet every month from April until the present, however, we have met by Zoom. We contacted all parishioners by phone at first, but as the year progressed, everyone found ways to communicate and support each other. Smaller groups formed in chat rooms and Zoom meetings. Book Club, Lectionary Discussion, Threads of Prayer, Men’s group, Choir, Stacie Court’s Let’s Chat, Dream Group, Hebrew Reading, and others have continued to meet by Zoom throughout this year of confinement.

We were prepared to make changes in the budget when we realized we would not be able to worship in person at church. However, we found that, once again, Gregorians continued to stand by their pledges to the church, and some even gave more to help those in need. We found we did not need to make adjustments to the budget. This church has continued to fulfill God’s directive to “love one another” this year.

TOWARDS BETTER UNDERSTANDING As our country dealt with the violence and painful issues of the Black Lives Matter movement, some members of the church requested a discussion group to gain better understanding, explore feelings, and learn to change attitudes and behavior. I contacted Rev. Ellen Richardson, who graciously agreed to lead the first discussion groups. We chose to read and discuss the book, The Warmth of Oher Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. Two groups began in August, and continued for 3 months. Two more groups have chosen to continue their deliberations by studying Sacred Ground, an Episcopal intensive dialogue series based on Race and Faith, under Rev. Ellen Richardson’s excellent leadership. Thank you, Ellen.

MEMORIAL GARDEN Because some crucial needs with the Memorial Garden were needed, we began planning for the construction of a safe Walkway to the Memorial Garden. Plans have now been approved by the Vestry. Work to complete the Walkway to the Memorial Garden will hopefully begin in February, 2021. Later, additional plans will address more landscaping and planting. Also, studies were done at length to address the costs of burial in the garden. Decisions were made which will serve everyone and the church well for the future.

STRATEGIC PLANNING The Strategic Planning of Nourish, Grow and Go continued under the excellent leadership of Rhonda Hefner-Packer. Reports of the Committee’s work are now posted on the Church website. Please see the church website for information on Nourish, Grow and Go. Thank you to Rhonda Hefner-Packer and all who participated to make our plans for the future. The Nourish, Grow and Go groups will continue to meet, and report back to the Vestry on progress being made.

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SENIOR WARDEN’S REPORT

FINANCIAL POLICIES The Finance Committee worked all year writing the Financial Policies for the Church. Their hard work is done, and we thank Jeff Welch, and Les House and the committee for their work in writing this important document. They presented their completed work to the vestry in January.

Our services have been inspiring even though on YouTube. We thank Terri Tillman and Anthony Barkdoll, and all the readers, for providing us with a welcoming service. Thank you to Jonathan Klein, Joe Napoli, and the choir for continuing to supply us with music. Thank you also to Stacie Court and all those who helped to keep the Taize services going. Mother Nikki and Deacon Christina kept us focused on the Word of God. Of course, the dance at the end of the Sunday Services left us joyful for another week.

I want to thank the members who have served so faithfully on the Vestry and will be stepping off this year. They are Jack Armistead, Rhonda Hefner-Packer, Marge Massey, Beth Thornton, and myself, Kathryn Musholt. Please thank them for their service.

How blessed we are to be part of a warm, loving, spiritual church. We have stayed active and involved during this time of isolation. I know we will rejoice greatly when we can all worship together again.

With gratefulness and blessings to you all,

Kathryn Musholt Sr. Warden

ST. GREGORY ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 8

WORSHIP COMMITTEE - MUSIC

To: St. Gregorys Parish From: Music area at St. Gregorys Re: 2020 Annual Report for Music

It has been a year like no other for music at St. Gregorys. During this time of online gathering, our church choir has continued to serve and sing beyond expectations these many months and we are very grateful for the dedication and faithfulness of our volunteer singers. Further, due to the nature of our pre-recorded services, we have expanded the number of singers who participate in our weekly worship. As a result, the music ministry has provided an outlet that has helped many stay connected to their faith (and each other) through music and lyrics. In addition to the choir anthems, hundreds of hymns and dozens of solos & instrumental works have been recorded and broadcast in our services with the desire to keep our church community connected to the living story of our faith.

On a side note, special thanks to Stacie Court and Annette Bates who have provided music during their initiative with the online Taize services.

A special thank you to all the parishioners who have made financial contributions to the music program at St. Gregorys in 2020. Throughout the year your donations both big and small have made it possible to purchase many of the anthems, books, and technology pieces we use here at the church was well as invite special musical guests for worship. Your contributions make attaining these things a reality for a program of our modest size.

We look forward to making music in all of its forms this upcoming year. Though challenging, it is always an exciting time in our music ministry to focus on faith through praise and singing.

If you’ve ever thought about singing please consider joining the choir and music ministry here at St. Gregory’s. Everyone is welcome join in the fun, work, and fellowship of serving God and his people through music.

Respectfully Submitted by, Jonathan Klein & Joseph Napoli

ST. GREGORY ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 9

STEWARDSHIP

Here is the data from Kendall, as of January 12, 2021

Status Recap Status Count Total Pledge Total Pledge Difference Change General Pledges General Pledges Jan 1-Dec 31, 2020 Jan 1-Dec 31, 2021 No Change 42 124,560.00 124,560.00 0.00 Decrease 25 98,388.00 79,620.00 ( 18,768.00 ) 19.08% Increase 30 90,957.96 114,640.00 23,682.04 26.04% Started Pledging 10 0.00 18,070.00 18,070.00 Stopped Pledging 32 67,440.37 0.00 ( 67,440.37 )

Statistics (excludes 0.00 amounts) Lowest Amount $ 120.00 $ 120.00 Highest Amount $ 16,800.00 $ 18,000.00 Average Amount $ 2,956.17 $ 3,148.50 Total Donors with Amounts 129 107

Committee Activities

The stewardship committee met for the first time on Zoom on February 23, 2020, and started planning for a regular stewardship in a regular year. We did not get a regular year! The second meeting was on June 14 on Zoom, and finalized our planning on September 20. Thereafter we kept in contact through email, and during the remainder of the year we put together the stewardship talks and messages to the parish in the weekly bulletin.

We did not invent any new methods of encouraging pledges, but we did institute some items of communication. There is now a stewardship page on the web site which has links to Vestry minutes and some reports from the Finance Committee. There is also a link to a form which allows parishioners to enter a new pledge. We hope to keep these pages up to date, and improve them as needed throughout the year.

Submitted January 15, 2021 by Peter Rice, Chair of the committee

ST. GREGORY ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 10 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION CHILDREN +Rhythms of Grace is an adaptive worship service CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES ANNUAL REPORT offered at 3 pm on 2nd Sundays. Designed to be FOR 2020 - JANUARY 15, 2021 welcoming to those for whom traditional worship is ST. GREGORY THE GREAT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, ATHENS, GEORGIA difficult, including those on the Autism Spectrum, this service includes scripture, singing, prayer, therapeutic Children's Ministries at St. Gregory’s includes year- play, and Eucharist. Our attendance averaged 15 each round programming and worship events for both month, with several families regularly attending. children and cross-generational events for the whole The Reverend Gordon Bienvenue had served as the parish. regular clergy person for this service since we began it in 2015, and we were greatly saddened by his death on The COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to gather February 6th of 2020. Mother Nikki Mathis agreed to face-to-face for most of the year. The following activities celebrate at this service until we can find another clergy reflect the time when we could meet in-person January - person to fill these special shoes. Volunteers include March: Katie Bienvenue, Paul Koronkowski, Jenifer Borg, Deirdre Murray, and Leigh and Terra Hodges. +Children’s Fun-day School uses the Workshop Rotation method, with Godly Play added. We explore Bible stories +The children made their annual Alleluia banner, and and concepts, and apply them to contemporary we “entombed” it in a treasure box in the Children’s situations including stewardship of the earth and all Chapel. It was displayed for the filmed services during God’s gifts, self-identity, empathy for refugees and those Easter season. experiencing poverty or homelessness, forgiveness, love for all, and more. We covered the following units in +We had a Mardi Gras themed potluck breakfast on January, February, and part of March - The Magi’s visit; February 23, with about 50 people in attendance. We Peter; Baptism; and Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. 38 had crafts for kids, including making Lenten prayer children were registered for Sunday School, with an bottles (home-made “snow globes” with Lenten symbols average of 9 children and 4 adults each week. to find, and a prayer.) +Lenten Giving Calendars were created and distributed +Volunteers teaching Sunday School in the past year with 40 days of ways to count blessings using coins. The include Jenifer Marquardt, Jenifer Borg, Viviane Van money collected was sent to Episcopal Relief and Giesen, Terra Hodges, Rheena Campbell, Everett Development. Krause, Danielle Vogt, Chrissy Moffett, Sean Boyle, Wayne Coppins, Kate Avinger, and Jeff Salter. +I attended a “train-the-trainer” session for leading the +In Children’s Church, the children lead prayers, new version of Safeguarding God’s Children. Gina lectionary-based scripture readings, songs, and DeFalco agreed to work with me as a trainer for our participate in an interactive homily. Jenifer Borg and congregation, and we planned a class for March that had Catherine Drewry facilitate this service, giving kids the to be cancelled. Five parishioners received training in opportunity to fully engage and be leaders in the Liturgy 2020. of the Word. An average of 9 children and 2 adults attended each week.

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We got creative for Pandemic Time: +The children received St. Francis medals in the mail to +In March, I began mailing weekly packets to between commemorate his feast day. Ethan and I helped hand out 51 children, and the number has steadily grown to 63 dog biscuits, medals, and prayer cards at the drive- currently. The packets include a letter from me with some through pet blessing with Mother Nikki. Big Dawg Signs sort of photo or illustration, and a children’s bulletin that in Crawford donated a yard sign to advertise the pet focuses on the Gospel lesson from the lectionary. I often blessing. include seasonal special items - whatever will fit in an envelope! Special packets were sent for Holy week and +Jenifer Marquardt and I hung a prayer net near the Easter season, Pentecost, All Saints, Thanksgiving, street in the front yard just before All Saints to invite Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. The age range for neighbors and parishioners to pray, and to make a sign of these packets has been mostly 4 -12 year olds, including their prayers by tying colorful ribbons and fabric strips on some grandchildren and neighbors of parishioners. The the net. Diane Barret donated beautiful fabric strips. feedback I’ve gotten has been good. We are happy to add more children as requested. +We had a Zoom Costume / Dance party on Halloween, and provided candy for the Stewardship in gathering. +We also present a story each week on our Youtube channel, with 34 stories presented so far, not counting the +Advent packets for the children included a special 28 videos we made for VBS. Readers this year, in addition Advent wreath on magnetic paper to color and cut out to me, have been Deirdre Murray, Kate Avinger, Alice that I commissioned my niece, Olivia Morris, to create. It Mohor, and Beth Thornton, and youth readers Riley had separate “flames” to add each week. I shared it with Byers, Ella Barkdoll, Pace Barkdoll, and Everett Krause. Forma (Episcopal Christian formation folks), and at least Our viewership varies widely, from 7 views to 178 views, 8 churches from around the country have downloaded it! but most seem to get about 25 views. Each child also received a cute Advent calendar.

+Our Vacation Bible School was a wonderful experience! +Advent wreath kits were prepared for parishioners to Part online, part hands-on, 8 volunteers and I put pick up from the patio at church, with 18 wreaths going together 7 weeks of summer programming based on home with folks. Presiding Bishop Curry’s initiative The Way of Love, using the book The Very Best Day. Each week had a +St. Nicholas, aka Alice Mohor, appeared on the Youtube featured practice, for which we created multiple activities channel for his feast day, and made a special appearance for participants to choose from as desired. We mailed 66 on Christmas Eve at the rainy drive-in Un-Pageants. packets (to 60 children, plus 6 more adult households) +Children and youth readers for the Gospel Christmas each week. These packets contained that week’s plans, art Eve were Nessa Avinger, Dan Bray, Gavin Avinger, Ethan supplies, prayers, song lyrics, suggested activities, coloring Vogt, and Emery Freeman. sheets, and more. Plus, volunteers put together 4 different YouTube presentations for each week with stories, songs, +I’ve been checking in with various teachers and families dancing, and crafts or other activities. (That’s 28 different by phone, Facebook, email, etc., attending weekly staff choices for the summer!!!) And, we had weekly Zoom meetings by Zoom, and keeping up with other Episcopal Parties! It’s hard to say exactly how many participated, I formation leaders across the country through our Forma know we reached a wide audience. The feedback we and Kanuga Facebook pages and blogs. received was all positive. I called our group of volunteers The Very Best Volunteers because of their creativity, +Thank you so much, Beth Thornton, for all your enthusiasm, dedication, and hard work. They are: Alice support as our vestry liaison this year! Mohor, Diane Barret, Anna Hiers, Jenifer Borg, Viviane Van Giesen, Jenifer Marquardt, Kathryn Musholt, and Beth Thornton. Also crucially important were Anthony Respectfully submitted by Catherine Drewry, Barkdoll, and Terri Tillman for their technical assistance, Director of Children’s Ministries and Kendall Kookogey for office support.

ST. GREGORY ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 12 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION YOUTH

Before the pandemic forced us to shelter in place, the youth got together on Sunday evenings for dinner and fellowship and on Sunday morning for Sunday school. Matt Schramm continued leading these events with Lisa Hunt assisting until February when he resigned due to school commitments. We had a small but consistent group.

In February the youth of St. Gregory the Great helped put on the annual Valentine’s Day dinner. As this is a highlight of the year for Gregorian youth, there was excellent participation by the youth. Around 15 youth plus friends worked through the evening. Both seatings were well-attended, raising just over $2000. Thanks are due to the invaluable parents and other church members who assisted the youth in decorating, cooking, prepping, assisting with childcare, baking desserts, washing dishes and acting as sommeliers. Very special thanks are due to Marge Massey for food planning, purchasing, preparing, and all-around invaluable guidance for this event.

We had several high school graduates from our number this year:

Miles Peck, Everett Krause, Klara Langford, Tristan Langford, Victoria Knowlton, Abigail Hoover, and Julia Hoover. Amy Kuhn graduated from college.

Graduates were celebrated with a slide show after our online worship service on June 14th. From the chat comments it was clear that everyone REALLY appreciated getting to see the pictures and celebrate the grads. It was both joyfully special and joyfully normal.

Sam Thornton attended EYC Happenings in February, and Eliza Everson was on celebration team that weekend. We had plans with Emmanuel, which included the Hunger Walk in Atlanta and the Emmanuel youth Lockin, but those were cancelled due to the pandemic.

Several St. Gregory youths participated in children's activities. Everett Krause served as a Sunday school teacher for the K-5 group. Riley Byers, Pace and Ellie Barkdoll, and Everett Krause have served as St. Gregory Youtube Storytellers. You can see them on the St. Gregory Youtube channel. They are wonderful!

We are exploring ideas for what to do when we are able to gather.

Respectfully submitted, Beth Thornton Lisa Hunt Catherine Drewry

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PARISH LIFE

Committee members: Jane Armistead, Annette Bates, Bruce Bowman, Tammy Bowman, Carol Cason, Stacie Court, Fran Covert, Mary Ann Cox, Barbara Crowley, Gail Eilers, Sandy Hudson, Pat Irby, Rhonda Packer, Ann Somerville, Mason Somerville, Marilyn Walsh, Shelby Welch, Chris Wilson, Katerina Wilson, Jane Hudson (Vestry liaison) and Karen Radde (Chairperson) The mission of the Parish Life Committee is to provide hospitality and promote community within the parish of St. Gregory the Great. The loyal and dedicated volunteer membership usually hosts several events throughout the year. The Committee appreciates the generous budget allowance from the Vestry to continue this ministry for the parish. In working with our Rector to provide appropriate event support, 2020 looked to be a very busy year. We did get off to a rousing start, with the following events helped and supported by the Committee: • 1/19/2020--Annual Meeting/Vestry soup luncheon (Planned by the outgoing chair, Ann Somerville) Vestry members and committee members supplied soup, crackers, corn bread, and cookies to a full house meeting. • 1/26/2020--Reception after the baptism of eight new children of God. Cake, cookies, lemonade, and coffee were provided for a large and happy group. • 2/18/2020--Reception following the funeral for Gordon Bienvenue • 2/25/2020--Assisted the Men’s Group with Shrove Tuesday setup and decorations • During this time period, it must be noted that new, matching white tablecloths were purchased to help provide a more attractive and coordinated background for table settings. Matching Corelle dessert plates were purchased to cut down on our use of plastic tableware. A donation of over 100 large soup bowls was received from Zaxby’s, Inc. Efforts were begun to explore more ways to eliminate unrecyclable service items such as cups, plastic eating utensils, individual creamers, etc. • A donation from the Parish Life Committee budget was made to our Sexton, Allena Armour, after she suffered a serious accident. Then, sadly, our year of in-person service ended abruptly. The Parish Life Committee members look forward to moving forward in this ministry as soon as it is safe to join together once again in face to face and hug to hug service to St. Gregory. There are plans to clean and organize the kitchen area, storage area, and of course, provide opportunities for food, fellowship, and memories for parish members and guests.

Respectfully submitted, Karen Radde, Chairperson

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SPIRITUAL FORMATION

The activities of the Spiritual Formation Committee began 2020 traditionally. Gene Ruffin presented a series of lessons on the Book of Isiah for the adult class on Sunday Morning; this was followed by a series of lessons on the Parables of Jesus led by Bill Alworth. Ken Taylor presented “Movie Night” on the last Friday of the Month and during Lent, after Wednesday evening Lenten Suppers, LeeAnne Krause presented lessons on the seven deadly sins. After three sessions of the Lenten Program, however, the Corona Virus hit Athens, and following consultation with Reverend Niki, the remainder of the Lenten Program was cancelled. All other group meetings, such as the Movie Night and the Sunday morning adult classes were also cancelled. The Spiritual Formation program has been in a state of suspension for the rest of 2020 and the beginning of 2021.

One activity however, continues. Ken Taylor has continued his weekly Lectionary Lessons. Instead of meeting face- to face on Sunday Mornings, Ken leads Zoom meetings on the Lectionary Readings on Thursday evenings. These Zoom discussions are quite informative and the Committee thanks Ken for the time and effort he puts in to continue this offering to St. Gregory’s during the pandemic.

The Committee looks forward to being able to return to our normal activities in the fall of 2021. Meanwhile we pray everyone stays well and safe.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Alworth Chairperson

WELCOMING COMMITTEE

Our YouTube worship service chat moderator (usually Terri Tillman) has served as our greeter for virtual services. In addition, weekly poems in our email newsletters have served as an additional touchstone, especially for those who do not participate in the worship service chats. Respectfully,

Alice Mohor, chair

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BUILDINGS COMMITTEE

This report will be mercifully short. Due to Covid, good fortune, and the lack of any badly needed renovations or improvements, very little was done to St. Gregory’s buildings in the past year. There were the usual sorts of plumbing and mechanical repairs, most handled by our own incomparable Mark Hein, but nothing major. We ended the year with a large surplus left over in the Buildings budget, which has been transferred over to 2021 for a major project: the installation of a walkway and accompanying beautification from just east of the Christian Education Building to the Memorial Wall. This project will begin in February, so excuse the mess for about a month. We will also soon be undertaking the connection of the Sanctuary with internet capability, along with the permanent installation of cameras in the Sanctuary, in order to better facilitate broadcasts from that space to members not able to come to church.

Respectfully submitted by Mark Reinberger, Chair of Buildings

GROUNDS

January 15, 2021

Although we were not able to meet together at the church due to the pandemic for most of 2020, maintenance of the grounds continued weekly including mowing, pruning, and weeding. Patios, driveways, drains, and building gutters were also blown off regularly.

In addition to the regular maintenance of the grounds, this year we: • Removed three dead cypress trees on the Montessori side of the yard • Removed four dead trees near the old outdoor sanctuary • Spread 10 cubic yards of mulch along the front of the property • Added pine straw in the memorial garden several times • Heavily pruned the fence along the side of the sanctuary from the front to the back of the property • Separated flower bulbs along the nursery fence and replanted them along the length of fence line • Transplanted numerous bulbs and plants around the grounds • Removed tree limbs that reached over the roofs of the buildings More attention to the many gardens is possible because of the time volunteered by David Lowe and Evan Powell. They come regularly to mow, haul limbs, and pick up pinecones.

The grounds are looking more attractive all the time.

Mark Hein Grounds

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OUTREACH COMMITTEE

Through St. Gregory’s visioning process, parishioners said we want to be a church that identifies, communicates, and focuses our particular gifts and talents to help meet the needs of others in the wider community and the world. In keeping with those desires, the Outreach Committee prioritized volunteer initiatives and fiscal disbursements to impact our wider Athens community by focusing on: food/housing insecurity, health, education and immigration.

In 2020, St. Gregory continued its rich history of supporting the Athens community. During the year, many in our community experienced ever-growing needs resulting from a pandemic. St. Gregory provided fiscal assistance to several organizations and agencies through the Outreach operating budget, gifts earmarked to Outreach designated funds, and generous donations of Gregorians to support Outreach special projects. Fiscal assistance in the amount of $18,223.00 was disbursed to the following organizations/agencies to support their work.

• The Ark • Athens-Banner Herald Empty Stocking Fund • Athens-Clarke County Council on Aging Meals on Wheels • Bethlehem Ministries • Books for Keeps • Casa di Amistad • Clarke County School District – Backpacks and Binders for the Homeless (Special Project) • Clarke County School District - Migrant Education After School Project (Special Project) • Community Christmas - Oglethorpe County • Family Promise (formerly Interfaith Hospitality Network) • FEAST • Jubilee Partners • Our Daily Bread Parishioners generously gave time, talents and items of need through myriad Outreach opportunities that directly impact the daily lives of those in our Athens community. The Outreach Committee creatively re-tooled Outreach ministries allowing parishioners to participate safely.

• Backpacks and Binders for the Homeless – Outreach partnered with Clarke County Schools’ Homeless Education Program staff to support the hundreds of homeless children who begin the new school year without adequate supplies. Because of the pandemic, parishioners had the option to donate school supplies or contribute to a designated fund to purchase school supplies. Parishioners donated 30 binders, 15 backpacks, 20 spiral bound and composition notebooks, and $2490.00 to be used to purchase school supplies for homeless students in Clarke County Schools.

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• Family Promise (formerly Interfaith Hospitality Network) – Family Promise is a coalition of Athens Area Churches whose mission to is help homeless families in crisis situations achieve sustainable independence. St. Gregory collaborated with Athens First AME and St. John’s to support homeless families during our designated host weeks of January 19-26; May 17-24; and November 8-15. St. Gregory volunteers provided more than 100 hours of socially-distanced service to Family Promise families and enjoyed building relationships with those from other churches.

• FEAST - Previously, FEAST was designed as a monthly food distribution day held at Covenant Presbyterian Church. This year, FEAST changed to a weekly drive up food pantry because of COVID concerns. Community members were able to pick up groceries twice a week, including fresh produce from UGArden, parishioner’s gardens, and businesses such as Trader Joe’s. On average, 50 families received groceries each week. St. Gregory volunteers provided more than 100 hours of socially-distanced service to FEAST families and enjoyed building relationships with those from other churches.

• Karen Project - Working through Jubilee Partners, St. Gregory volunteers provided ongoing tutoring for four Karen refugees from Myanmar to improve their limited English language skills, to help the Karen youth with their school studies, and to work with Karen families to help them adjust to life in America.

• Little Red Wagon/Athens Area Emergency Food Bank – Beginning March 2020, volunteers could no longer provide service hours at the AAEFB. However, parishioners continued to donate non-perishable food items directly to the AAEFB that were distributed to community members having food needs. In November, parishioners could leave their food donations at the church on the first Wednesday of each month which volunteers then delivered to the AAEFB. A total of 24 individuals contributed 595 food items in November and December.

• Our Daily Bread - When it first opened, Our Daily Bread served lunch to a dozen people. Today it serves breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday, as well sack meals on Saturdays and Sundays. St. Gregory volunteers prepare and serve meals in months having a 5th Monday. Because of COVID concerns, St. Gregory provided fiscal support to cover the cost of 150 “to go” guest meals for each of the following dates: March 30, June 29, August 31, and November 30.

Susanne Burton, Outreach Committee Chairperson Rhonda Packer, Vestry Liaison to Outreach Committee

ST. GREGORY ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 18 INREACH/PASTORAL CARE

Building Community in Service to Others* Hospital Visits (11) Home visits /other contacts (87) Phone Calls (150) Messages / texts (26) Prayer shawls, scarves, lap blankets delivered (19) Voices of Blessings (0) Meal Train / Food Delivery / Grocery Shopping (27) Strategize with poor prognosis (2) Transport to Dr’s appointments / necessary errands (18) Transport to Church (9) DME Library (3) Recycling & Goodwill Pick up (3) Home Eucharist (3) *These are the recorded activities, many more acts of kindness have been done by parishioners under the radar

NO GROUPS MEETING AFTER MARCH 15TH MEN’S GROUP — Peter Rice Note: Continued to meet, masked, at an outside location Saturday Mornings 9-10am MEDITATION GROUP — Melissa Hamlin Note: was sporadically attended, difficult through ZOOM, eventually discontinued.

Holiday Note: Many people contributed (baked, bought, delivered) to the holiday goodies that went out to 19 friends! Here is the delivery team, working for Jesus!

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COMMUNICATIONS

The Communications committee installed new signage at the church in 2020 We also begin broadcasting Sunday services on YouTube and Facebook due to the pandemic that didn’t allow for in person services beginning in March. We used UGA equipment until the fall when Anthony was working from home; however, when he returned to his office we purchased a computer and software so that he could continue to produce our services from his home. We raised a few hundred dollars plus Nikki used part of her discretionary fun for the purchase. Understanding that when we go back to in person services we will need to continue to broadcast our services via YouTube and Facebook it was determined that we would need additional camera equipment to produce live broadcast each Sunday vs the taped services. After Anthony reviewed what Emmanuel was using for equipment and doing additional research, it was determined that we would need to purchase approximately $7,000 in additional equipment. The Bishop offered a grant, which we applied for last fall and we were awarded $2500 to help with the purchase. There will be additional cost for some wiring and possibly a monthly internet charge. We are working on final details now and plan to have everything up and running by the middle of the second quarter of 2021.

Submitted by Randall Abney, Chair, Communications Committee

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FINANCE COMMITTEE The Finance Committee had a very full year in 2020. At the beginning of the year, the Finance Committee took on the task of establishing a set of church financial policies in addition to its regular duties of monitoring the budget revenues and expenses, as well as making financial recommendations, to the Vestry. The committee’s responsibilities deepened with the onset of COVID-19 in March. The Finance Committee expanded its numbers to handle the task of creating a set of church financial policies. Every meeting, beginning in February of 2020, a portion of the meeting time was set to discuss financial policies. The committee wrote, reviewed, and corrected policies at every meeting and culminated its work in December. The draft set of policies was sent to the Vestry for their review, and pending minor edits, should be ready for Vestry approval at the February Vestry meeting. I would like to thank Rhonda Heffner-Packer, Peter Rice, and Kendall Kookogey for their participation in this process. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Finance Committee’s work in monitoring the revenues and expenses of the church intensified. Each monthly report was scrutinized and contingency plans were discussed should the church not be able to meet its financial obligations. You will see in the report from the Treasurer a dramatic reduction in revenue; however, fortunately, there was also a more dramatic reduction in expenditures that offset the revenue losses. Because of the reduction in expenditures, the church was able to meet all the church’s obligations including maintaining payroll for our employees. You will see in the Treasurer’s report that we ended the year in the black, which I personally believe is phenomenal given what our country is going through. The Finance Committee fully realizes we are not out of the financial woods yet and will continue to monitor the church finances closely in 2021. If you get a chance to speak to any of the Finance Committee, or those mentioned above who joined us for policy development, please express your appreciation for their dedicated work during the difficult 2020 year.

Respectfully Submitted on behalf of the 2020 Finance/ Policy Committee Jeff Welch, Chair Finance Committee members: Terrell Benton, Elmer Clark, Les House (Treasurer), Nikki Mathis (as Rector), Kathryn Musholt (as Senor Warden), and Paula Sanford

Life of our Parish

Baptisms in 2020: Hugh Sawyer, Kate Avinger, Nessa Avinger, Gavin Avinger, Sadie Bray, Danielle Vogt, Ethan Vogt, Rainsley Vogt

Deaths in 2020: Gordon Bienvenue, Lucy Gregory, Jewel John

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TREASURER’S REPORT

Treasurer’s Report Included in this report are the following items in listed order for the year ended December 31, 2020: • Treasurer’s comments • Parish financial statements and information: ➢ Calendar year 2020: Analysis of Revenues & Expenditures – OPERATING FUND. ➢ Balance Sheet – ALL FUNDS 12/31/20 (this reflects the financial position of the parish and shows the cash balances for all the funds)

Treasurer’s comments: Background: Operating Fund The Operating Fund is used to record the day-to-day operations of the parish. Parish revenues such as pledges and other non-specific contributions made to the parish are recorded in the Operating Fund. The Operating Fund also records operating expenses of the parish such as employee payroll, utility bills, program expenses such education and youth, music, local outreach, etc.

Two notes of importance to the reader: • The Operating Fund records the “budgeted” operations of the parish. Therefore, when you review the Annual Budget, you are reviewing the Operating Fund budget. • Our financial statements are prepared on a “cash basis.” This means they actually show what we collect and what we spend in a given month and year.

Comments on the 2020 results: • 2019 Budget called for revenues of $410,448, and expenses of $408,033. This means it was a surplus budget as budgeted expenses exceeded anticipated revenues by $2,415. • The actual revenue was $391,416, which is $19,032 less than budgeted. • The actual expenses were $384,137, which is $23,896 less than budgeted. • The surplus was $4,864 more than budgeted. • Please read the financial statements for the details. • I am always happy to answer any questions you have. • Financial statements are posted each month in the hallway outside Kendall’s office.

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ST. GREGORY ANNUAL REPORT ADDENDUM

Vestry Bios

LeeAnne Krause is a life-long Christian, having been baptized into the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, then becoming a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of American (ELCA) then finally switching to the Episcopal Church in 2018. LeeAnne grew up in Hermitage, PA, which is about halfway between Pittsburgh, PA and Cleveland, OH, and earned a Bachelors degree in Operations Management (business) at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV. After marriage she lived in Columbia, SC and Pittsburgh, PA, before finally moving to Athens, GA in 2017. She has always been active in her church, teaching adult Bible studies on and off for 30 years, serving on three congregational Councils/ Vestries (one of which in the Vice President of Council role), served in 3 call committees, was the President of the WELCA (women's group) in her congregation in Columbia, SC, and served as a founding member of the Lay School of Religion at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, also in Columbia.

LeeAnne is currently employed as the Assistant to the Director at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at UGA, and has previous experience in film librarian and human resource consultant positions.

LeeAnne's husband, George, is a Distinguished Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at UGA, her son Everett is a Freshman pre-Finance major at GSU, and her son Grayson is in the 8th grade at Clarke Middle School. She enjoys singing, baking, listening to the music of Marvin Gaye and 80s hair metal, conducting genealogical research, and throwing theme parties for her family.

John Bray was born in New Jersey and grew up in the Hudson Valley, NY. He is the son of an Irish Catholic (Dad) and a Methodist (Mom), and has a mirror-image twin brother. He was confirmed Espiscopalian in 2007 at St. Barnabas in Lafayette, Louisiana. John is the son of the late Gordon Bienvenue (Shalom!) who led the Rhythms of Grace services at St. Gregory the Great. John has been married to Danielle Bienvenue Bray since 2006, and they have two children: Dan (11; 12 in early December) and Sadie (7). John teaches dramatic writing and theatre appreciation classes at the University of Georgia. John is an audiophile and action figure collector. He has been attending St. Gregory the Great since 2011.

Julia Marlowe Swagler: I grew up in a small segregated town in Texas. My father was much older than my mother and they divorced when I was in the 8th grade. After high school, I attended the University of Houston for a year. I married and we moved to Albuquerque, NM. We had two children; I finished my degree at the University of New Mexcio and taught high school 1 year.

We moved to Knoxville, TN where I obtained a Ph.D. We divorced when I was in graduate school. Upon receiving my Ph.D. my boys and I moved to Tucson, AZ. I taught at the University of Arizona for 3 years. We moved to Blacksburg, VA when I accepted a position at Virginia Tech. After 3 years there, I married Roger Swagler and moved to Athens. Fortunately, I was able to find a job at UGA where Roger was employed. I retired in 1987.

Upon retirement, I began my own business as a professional organizer. I gave up that job after several years because my youngest brother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He moved here so that we could care for him. He died in 2019. Roger and I together have 5 children who are all grown. They live in VA, CA, PA and South Korea. We have 4 grandchildren, ages 5 to 18.

When I was growing up, I attended a Methodist Church and was active in the youth group. Our pastor was young and very significant in my life. Our youth group discussed racism at a crucial time. This was the only place where I encountered such discussion so religion has been a significant part of my life. Roger and I both feel that St. Gregory is a good fit for our spiritual life. We are now retired and are enjoying life in downtown Athens. continued on next page…

ST. GREGORY ANNUAL REPORT ADDENDUM

Vestry Bios Continued …

Anna Hiers first became involved with Saint Gregory’s when she attended a Wednesday night choir practice at the invitation of a friend and fellow choir member. She continues to be inspired by the beautiful music, and feels fortunate to have met so many good people through the choir. Anna has also served as an acolyte, and a reader during services, and has participated in church-sponsored opportunities for communal and personal spiritual growth. This past summer, she helped out with the virtual vacation bible camp, where you might have joined her in telling the creation story through yoga, or heard her making a joyful sound with fellow Gregorian, Diane Barret.

Anna was born in Toccoa, GA, and spent her early years in Athens, and later, in Storrs, CT, where her family regularly attended an Episcopal Church. Anna appreciates the welcoming, reflective, and open-minded nature of Episcopal Churches, and especially of Saint Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, which she has called her spiritual home for the past five years.

Anna lives in Hull, GA with her husband, Lee, their dog, Fern, and their two cats, Leo and Rosy. Anna has one son, Oscar, who lives in Athens, GA. She currently works at the UGA College of Education, where she arranges school-based field experiences for future educators, and coordinates an overseas student teaching program. Anna has previous work experience in office management, academic advising, and library acquisitions. In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, bird watching, and yoga. Anna is looking forward to serving on the vestry!

Blaine Everson: I began my affiliation with the Episcopal Church when I was a graduate student at Christ Church in Valdosta, Georgia, where I served as a liaison to college ministries under the associate rector at the time Fr. William C. Pitner. I was a member of the choir as well. Afterward, I attended St John's Episcopal Church in Bainbridge, Georgia. I served on vestry in the early 1990's as a member of that congregation. My wife and I also attended St Thomas Episcopal Church in Thomasville, Georgia for several years before we moved to the Georgia coast in 2001. We were members of St Phillip's Episcopal Church in Hinesville, Georgia, for 6 years prior to moving to Athens in 2007. I was a congregational delegate from St Phillip's to the South Georgia Diocesan Convention in 2006.