ANNUAL REPORT 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Margaret Miyagishima Interim Council Chair
Rev. Dr Greg Glatz Minister
Chellan Hoffman Music Director
Josh Gordon Finance
Josh Gordon Regional Representative
Tim Bell Ministry and Personnel
Ellen Lang Community Life and Justice
Kay de la Ronde Strategic C0mmunity Partnerships
Chuck Curry Church Management
Greg Glatz Board of Trustees
Interim Council Chair
I am very proud with how Knox people rose to the occasion again and again over the course of 2020 and continue to do so. As we all know so very well, 2020 in Calgary and at Knox started off uneventfully but that came to an abrupt halt in mid-March, with the decision to close the building, and therefore to suspend in person services. This decision impacted virtually every area of Knox life. The first missed in person service was to have been followed by the AGM at which time, the congregation was asked to vote on Knox’s new vision. Knox life in many ways was on hold while we took stock and determined the way forward. The speed at which Knox staff and key volunteers regrouped to launch online services via Zoom was just amazing. Many thanks to everyone who worked together to commence our now so familiar Zoom services. Special appreciation needs to be given to Chellan Hoffman and Steve Miller, as well as choir members and community musicians whose musical and technical talents, not to mention sheer hard work, led to the creation of close to a hundred musical videos for Sunday services and special services. Starting with the first lockdown period and continuing to this day, Council meetings are held on Zoom. We continue to look after the needs of the congregation in this new normal. At start of the pandemic, this included a call out to make sure that congregants were coping, and to offer support when it was needed. Council had approved the hiring of a consultant, Don McLeod, to work on building stronger leadership teams at Knox. This work was underway when in early 2020, it became clear that the ministerial team could not move forward. Dave Holmes made the decision that he would step down. His last service with Knox was July 26th, 2020. We wish him all the best in his new endeavors. The work of Council continued over the course of the year. A series of Town Hall meetings was carried out over the summer and into early fall, where congregation members were updated first on the state of Knox finances particularly in light of the impact of the pandemic; then about changes to Sunday worship and music; and lastly heard more detail about the proposed governance model in September 2020. In October 2020, the congregation then voted to accept in principle the new governance model at our AGM. In March 2021, Council is asking the congregation to vote on the new proposed governance model. The impact of the pandemic on Knox was, and continues to be, profound. We have a long journey ahead of us. However, we are finding our way forward. We will someday once again be able to gather in community, to worship together and to sing together. Chellan Hoffman, our Music Director, notes that the last hymn sung at Knox before we had to close our doors was Amazing Grace. Maybe Amazing Grace can be the first hymn we sing when we can sing together in person to recognize that even on the midst of all of the challenge and heartache, there have also been, and will continue to be, moments of grace. May the year 2021 see some of the things that make us Knox return. Respectfully submitted, Margaret Miyagishima,
Rev. Dr. Greg Glatz Minister’s Report 2020 was an unforgettable year. We ended 2019 with anticipation of the year ahead. Then, the pandemic arrived and everything changed. COVID-19 became our new reality. We closed the building on March 13, 2020 and moved our services and programs to Zoom. Just as we began to adjust to these changes, Rev. Dr. Dave Holmes announced his resignation at the end of May and departed at the end of July. He is deeply missed by Knox. We rounded out 2020 dealing with a shift from two ministers to one, retooling worship services, re-opening Sanctuary Coffee, and continuing to adapt to a series of changing COVID-19 health and safety protocols. What a year it was. We’re still catching our breath. Despite, maybe because of, these challenges, 2020 turned out to be a year of significant growth for Knox. Here’s a summary of some of what we achieved: • We learned how to hold Sunday services on Zoom. Wednesday noon services resumed too, first on Zoom only, and then also in person with up to ten people permitted to attend. Knox and community musicians initially recorded or broadcast from home, then we brought them back to the sanctuary to broadcast their music live. In the last half of 2020, Chellan Hoffman (music director) began collaborating with community artists participating in our services—selecting and arranging music, and providing instrumental and choral backup. • The Knox community was updated twice a week via email newsletters (MailChimp), and updates were posted daily on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. • We expanded our online giving platform. • We held funerals and celebrations of life on Zoom. • Council meetings moved to Zoom and the congregation participated in three well- attended Zoom Town Halls as well as Knox’s first Zoom-based AGM. • The Knox daily devotional, Lectio Divina, supported all those who signed up to receive it by email. • Inner Sanctuary, a study/meditation group was launched on Zoom in Spring and continues today. It is now available both live on Thursdays nights and as a podcast. • The Sanctuary Coffee install was completed and the cafe re-opened in October, adapting several times to a series of changing COVID health and safety protocols. Most of our baking is now produced in house. The Espresso Shot newsletter produced by Sanctuary Coffee provides updates, support, and information to Knox and the extended Calgary community. • We produced a video series of readings and music to celebrate Christmas.
We will see more ministry and programming developments in the first half of 2021. Visio Divina, a pilot project for Lent, has already launched. It publishes pictures every weekday, provided by Knox and community members, to inspire reflection and prayer. Daily Prayer, an Instagram stories project, will launch after Easter. A Holy Week video production, featuring readings and music, is currently being produced and will be uploaded to Vimeo in April alongside our Christmas 2020. Finally, audio and video recordings of our services will be a permanent part of our worship services, even when in-person attendance resumes. The quality of work in the services being put forth by staff and church/community participants continues to grow and we will develop professional-level recording and mixing to distribute their work on the web. We’ve all been feeling the effects of this pandemic, but we are holding together as a community of faith, and growing in response to the challenges we’ve faced. Current Realities According to the Manual of the United Church of Canada, Knox is a community of faith that exists to “explore faith, worship, and serve." The Manual goes on to say that the community of faith "joins the hearts, voices, and resources of the community to witness to the gospel and vision of Jesus for a compassionate and just society, both in Canada and around the world." Our identity as a community of faith informs the programs we develop, the money we collect and spend, and the way we use our building. There is room for lots of ingenuity and variety here: social enterprises, rental programs, and community partnerships, as well as worship services, small groups, and events and performances. The key is to make sure all of these activities help us grow and develop as a community of faith. Here, in the third decade of the 21st century, finding our way forward as a community of faith is challenging. This is partly a reflection of what it takes to be a community of faith today compared to what it meant during the heyday of the United Church of Canada in the 1950s/1960s. Things have changed significantly, and our approaches and perspectives have struggled to keep up. Plus, each of us has connected to Knox at different points in its history, so our understanding of Knox has been imprinted by our connecting point: much of what was happening when you started attending Knox likely feels “normal” today. Consequently, our community of faith currently represents a mix of ideas about who we are, what objectives we hope to achieve, and the best ways to achieve them. Sometimes, this mix is our strength, creating well-rounded points of view and much-needed versatility. Sometimes, this mix results in competing visions for Knox, which slows our progress and leaves us tripping over ourselves. All this while church attendance figures continue to dwindle nationwide, the Calgary economy continues to struggle, and the pandemic continues to create unprecedented challenges for us. The need for more clarity, focus, alignment, and movement has become critically important at this time.
Proposed Changes At our last AGM in October 2020, we pivoted our vision to becoming 1) vibrant, 2) community-focused, and 3) sustainable. The proposed changes in governance and staff structure at this AGM are a significant part of achieving this vision. Knox’s current governance model relies extensively on volunteer-led leadership and there is increased difficulty getting people to serve in long-term leadership roles. Thus, our current governance model has left us with gaps in important volunteer leadership roles or volunteer leaders overburdened with unrealistic job expectations. Knox is not alone here: other churches, not-for-profits, and community organizations are facing the same problem. The new governance model puts the responsibility of leading/managing programs and activities on staff, and gives church/community volunteers the freedom to participate in the ministries of the church without taking on leadership/administrative responsibilities. Church Management Director A key piece of making the shift to staff-led leadership at Knox is the position of the church management director. We’ve included an overview of this position in the AGM information package. Basically, this role is focused on managing almost all church staff, the building, and church finances––areas that church volunteers can no longer be expected to manage, considering the range of activities that take place in our building and the unique challenges posed by maintaining an expensive historic resource. The church management director will also be responsible for developing and growing new revenue models (e.g., social enterprises) and building mutually beneficial arrangements with community partners that help Knox become more vibrant, community-focused, and sustainable. Some concern has been expressed about the cost of this position. Considering the financial stress Knox has faced for many years, this is a reasonable concern. However, we have eliminated a minister position and this change alone more than offsets the cost of the church management director. We have also eliminated half of the costs associated with the second (PAX) service and are examining the option of shifting our contractor costs for rentals and weddings to clients who use these services. All of these changes result in savings of about $120,000 to offset the anticipated $70,000 cost (.8 FTE) of a church management director. Additionally, we’ve received one-time donations of $15,000 earmarked for this position, and a grant to fund an extensive search process for the position that gives us the best chance of finding a good candidate for the role. The Minister / Lead Minister We are also proposing a more prominent role for the minister than has existed in past decades at Knox. In some ways, there is nothing innovative here: the minister has always been the de facto pastoral charge supervisor in communities of faith across the United Church of Canada––a representative from the region (formerly, the presbytery) to ensure churches carry out their work within the policies and ethos of the denomination. However, larger churches such as Knox have typically created their own
orbit, somewhat separate from the denomination, and have seen ministerial staff as staff hired to provide pastoral services such as preaching and visitation to members/adherents (this model was common in the 1950s/1960s). In our proposed changes to governance and staff structure, the minister will provide leadership that enables our members/adherents, staff, programs, services, buildings, and finances to focus on God’s mission and the church ’ s vision. The minister will be accountable both to the Knox board and to Chinook Winds Region for carrying this out. There is a popular impression that ministers are trained to preach and visit, not provide leadership. While that may have been true up until the middle of the 20th century, leadership and administration courses were part of my training for ministry in the early 1990s and my entire doctoral program coursework (2005-2007) was focused on organizational leadership in emerging culture. I have worked extensively in leadership roles in churches and non-profit organizations since 1993. I still have much to learn about leadership, and Knox has offered many lessons about leadership to me. I believe that a change in governance will allow not only I, but also our staff, to give the best we have to the church. We need your support to do this. We’ve been discussing a new governance model for one and a half years. We presented the model at well-attended lunches and dinners in 2019/2020, at an open house in March 2020, a town hall in September 2020, and finally at the AGM in October 2020, where the congregation approved our new vision (vibrant, community-focused, sustainable) and the exploration of a new governance model. Council also approved the hiring of Don McLeod from BlueSkye Thinking to help us develop this new model. We’ve also consulted with representatives from the Chinook Winds Region and Trina Duncan, the region's executive minister. John Pentland, the lead minister of a church that has undergone the changes before us, spoke to our congregation at a workshop in early 2020 and at our town hall in September 2020. Now, after all this discussion, feedback, and many drafts, council is asking the congregation to vote on this proposed new governance model. We Do This Together Your vote at this AGM matters and how you vote will determine whether or not we bring to fruition this extensive work on governance. Please spread the word to others you know who might not have not heard about the meeting and invite them to attend. Both adherents and members can vote on this important matter. As important as this vote is, our life together as a community of faith is the most important thing. Sometimes, it’s not easy doing church together, but it’s not supposed to be easy. This being true, one of Knox’s most innovative features is its covenant of conduct. It reminds us that we have a responsibility to care for each other as we work through change and transition.
We recognize that the church and its worship and work affect us at deep levels. Faith and church may involve deeply held beliefs, strong emotions, and important values and relationships. We recognize that the church of our time is an institution under stress, in a process of change. Stress and change can bring out of us both our best and our worst behaviour, so we recognize the need to hold ourselves and each other to a standard of conduct that will help us to preserve and develop the health of our community, in obedience to Christ and the way of Jesus. Speaking honestly, I know my years at Knox have been challenging. I respect how disruptive some of the changes have been, and know that trust levels have been low at times. My hope is to keep working for Knox for many years, and I want to work with all of you, including/especially the people with whom the friction has been most keenly felt. We need each other to succeed. Thank you for your commitment to Knox, and thank you for considering the changes before us at this AGM.
Rev. Dr. Greg Glatz
Music Director
This past year has been very busy for the music-makers at Knox United Church. With the closing of the church due to Covid-19 in March 2020, the options for music-making were 1) no singing at all, or 2) make singing safe and possible through technical creativity. We opted for 2).
The choir provides an important ministry to the congregation. For choir members, singing together also contributes to mental and emotional health as we work together to prepare, and these days produce, that musical ministry. When it was decided that the Zoom platform would be used for weekly services, Steve Miller set us on the path to safe music-making. Choir members recorded themselves from their homes and sent their individual recordings to Steve to be mixed into a choir again. This allowed most of the choir members (who were comfortable participating in such a project), to again be part of the worship service and connected to the greater community.
Producing this kind of pre-recorded music with our own musicians essentially quadrupled the workload for the Music Director in those first 3 ½ months (March to June). There was a steep technical learning curve and a very tight recording/production schedule every Tuesday to Saturday. Chellan put in about 40 hours/week to choose, perform, record and produce the music. Steve made the project possible by volunteering about 40 hours/week to record, perform, and sound mix the music. The choir put in many hours to get their recordings as accurate as possible, and choir members David Westwick and Tim Bell also volunteered their time in the area of technical assistance.
Beyond the weekly service requirements, there was also a continuing need for special music – we, as an extended choir, provided custom music for the in-person funeral service of Gwen Gillespie (February), and for two online memorials – Doreen Orman
(May) and Chellan’s mom, Doreen Guse (July). There were also “special services” for the Liturgical Church Year including Easter, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, Advent and Christmas Eve.
By summer, Steve and Chellan increased their skill level and speed, and were able to streamline their music production efforts to a combined time of 30-40 hours/week. In August, the artists Two Late to the Party, provided live music on Zoom, and Chellan was able to take vacation/bereavement time that month. In September, when health restrictions eased, we moved to ‘live’ music from Knox with small groups alternating rehearsals and Sunday performances - masks on, 2 metres apart. Work hours and volunteer hours returned to a manageable amount.
Starting in October, Knox Handbell Ringers met each Saturday morning to rehearse for Remembrance Day and Christmas Eve services. Everyone wore masks and stood at opposite ends of the bell tables to ring. One weekend, we welcomed a few ringers from Church of the Good Shepherd Moravian, since they were starting their own ringing group and wanted to observe a rehearsal.
When AHS tightened pandemic guidelines in December, Knox staff knew there wouldn’t be any sort of in-person Christmas Eve service. The new plan was to record nine Christmas Eve videos that would reflect a more current style of the traditional Lessons and Carols service. We interspersed a variety of music styles with traditional scripture readings and contemporary quotes. With the help of journalist/videographer Jessika Guse and all our musicians, we were able to complete the recording and editing of this epic project in about 3 weeks so that the Knox community could enjoy the traditions of Christmas. These uniquely designed videos were uploaded to Vimeo on Dec. 24/25.
The people involved in the Christmas Eve project were: Rev. Dr. Greg Glatz and Chellan Hoffman; Steve Miller; Jessika Guse (videographer); Knox Handbell Ringers (Elizabeth Campbell, Aine Kaye Saison, Janet Zatka, Tim Bell, Chris and Rosalee Morrison); Foothills Brass (Chris and Rosalee Morrison, Jay Michalak, Jean-François Cotnoir); Two Late to the Party (Adam Corkett and Alessandra Enns); singer Heather Adam; readers (Hanny, Jenn, Alfred, Ann, Jonas, Rev. Grant Dawson), and candlelighter, Mari Wilson.
In December, at the request of Sanctuary Coffee manager, Jenn Young, Chellan also presented four weekly noon-hour organ recitals for the patrons of Sanctuary Coffee. The Christmas-themed music was well-received and provided a sense of normalcy, joy, and hope in a time of social isolation.
Over the past year, we as a choir have kept track of events in the news and responded with music. This included the awful mass shootings in Nova Scotia on April 18-19; the Canadian Armed Forces crew (majority Nova Scotians) that perished in the military helicopter crash in the Mediterranean Sea, April 29; the Black Lives Matter movement and protests in early June; the election concerns in the USA in November; the protests in Washington, DC on Jan 6, 2021.
Staff structures and the direction in music changed this past summer to focus on collaborations between community artists, the choir, and music director. Since September, Chellan has worked with Heather Adam, Two Late to the Party, and Jesse Peters. These artists present music twice a month, and the choir takes the lead on the other two Sundays of the month. Chellan has been working with the guest artists to arrange a portion of their original music, popular music, hymns and anthems for choir/backup singers, instruments, and organ. This has proven to be a creative learning experience, as the end goal is to choose the right song that captures the Sunday themes in thought-provoking ways. Whether obvious and familiar, or obtuse and new, the idea is to challenge the listener/performer to find gems in the music and the message.
I thank the choir for their sense of adventure; for stepping out of their comfort zone and into new territory; to the Pax and community artists for keenly getting involved with new projects; to the Knox Ringers for their eagerness to make music together - no matter what; to Steve for his vision of sound possibilities and realities for Zoom worship; to Steve Miller and Rob Wallace for sound support and technical wizardry that made recordings, performances, and Zoom meetings possible; to Dave Holmes for his support and vision in the early days of the pandemic - namely his ideas for music and 10:30 am Zoom meetings that got us off the ground; to Greg and the Board for welcoming and promoting the wide variety of music and musicians that have come through the ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ doors of Knox over the past 52 weeks. Together, we have created and archived 96 videos to bring music to the congregation.
Respectfully submitted, Chellan Hoffman
Finance This summer I hosted a townhall providing an update on our finances in the time of COVID. At the time, we were transitioning the Treasurer duties to Murray. Unfortunately, his circumstances changed and he was no longer able to take on the role (but has graciously agreed to help out with projects as they come up). I’m completing the core treasurer duties in the interim as we work on a succession plan. In the time I’m helping out I’ll be taking care of the essentials. If you have any finance related inquiries I’d recommend talking to Sue in the office: if she can’t answer she’ll reach out to the person who can! As with every non-profit under the sun, 2020 was a challenging year for Knox’s finances. While closing the doors during the lockdown limited some expenses most of our costs were fixed and unimpacted. Additionally, there were holdbacks to be paid for the stonework project which had a substantial impact on cashflow. In 2020 our rental income declined by 81%, donations decreased by 16% We were able to take advantage of some government grant programs that helped soften the blow; in 2020 we received $161,000 through the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program which was of great value for our congregation. With your AGM package you’ll receive a copy of the proposed budget for the 2021 fiscal year. With some enhanced expense control we’ve budgeted the smallest deficit since 2016. To pre-answer the question, this budget does include the projected cost of an Executive Director position. About the only upside of Dave’s leaving Knox is that it has freed up some budget room we can redeploy towards this position and lowering the deficit. One of the topics I expect to come up is whether the expense of adding the ED position makes sense given we’re in a broader time of crisis. I believe that without this position we don’t have a chance of success as an organization. Knox, like many organizations that depend on volunteers, doesn’t have the available hands to keep progress happening. For those keeping track, Knox current doesn’t have a Secretary, Treasurer, Council Chair (Margaret accepted the position on an interim basis), or incoming Chair. That’s putting aside the underlying commissions that don’t have enough members to sustain momentum. Without rethinking our organizational structure Knox doesn’t have the human capital to be agile, adaptive, and successful without burning out our current volunteer base. I believe the only way to get that capacity it through a paid position. Josh Gordon
Regional Representative As many of you would remember, in 2018 the United Church changed and streamlined it’s administrative structure to adapt to our changing world. At the time the Presbyteries and Conferences were amalgamated into 16 regions that span Canada from sea to sea to sea. We are members of the Chinook Winds region which includes 91 communities of faith and includes all of Southern Alberta excluding Banff. As a congregation we are supposed to have a Regional Representative to the Region. After going through the Opportunity Knox process I took on the role in November 2020. During the time of COVID the role is completely digital and involves receiving information from the broader United Church and passing it along to the council and congregation. In this time of broader challenge the pace of information has be slow as most UCC capacity is being consumed by managing the current environment. One of my missions in the coming months is to work with the ministry team to pass along more information from the broader UCC without inundating the congregation with too many emails. One of the biggest changes in our Region in 2020 was that the Living Spirit United Church in South Calgary (previously an amalgamation of Riverview, Southminister, and Westminster United Churches in 2002) disbanded as a community of faith. Unfortunately, I fear this will not be the last congregation that does not survive the toll of COVID-19 compounded with the broader historical challenges facing the church. We’ve spoken many times as a congregation about the need for radical transformation and agility—this is another poignant reminder. Josh Gordon
Ministry and Personnel
2020 will be etched in our minds for the years to come. As I reflect on the first reports of Covid-19 infections in Calgary and the impending lock down that the city was going to experience, little did we realize this would be a journey lasting these past 12-month. We are not completely clear of this pandemic and we are all looking forward to the upcoming vaccination programs from Alberta Health.
Much appreciation and accolades must be given all the Knox staff. Finding ways to maintain regular Sunday services with Knox congregants was an immense challenge and one that brought out the creative skills of our exceptional staff. Both of the Sunday worship services quickly migrated to ZOOM on-line meetings, breakout rooms became an opportunity to reconnect with each other, and music became an eclectic mix of home recordings, audio mixing and multimedia videos. Many thanks and accolades must be given to our Ministers, Rev. Greg Glatz and Rev. Dave Holmes, plus music director Chellan Hoffman. Many others were instrumental behind the scenes, in preparation to stream these weekly services, thanks to Steve Miller, Knox Choir members, PAX musicians, our guest speakers, lay preachers and meditation hosts. All brought a wealth of innovation and dedication to re-connect with Knox members. And, as an added benefit, Knox was able to connect with those living outside our Calgary community. Connections were made with on-line visitors from across Canada and into the United States.
However, the success we gained in connecting with on-line services could not be realized with the staff responsible for managing the historic building and annex. Our non- essential staff experienced 6-month layoff notices and, when facilities could open under imposed restrictions, some of those staff members would not be returning. We said goodbye to custodial staff Reynaldo Bartalome and wedding coordinator Marcella Alfonso.
More changes would be coming in the third quarter of 2020 as discussions beginning mid-summer would lead to Rev. Dave Holmes request for a pastoral change in relationship. Following Dave’s 3-month sabbatical leave entitlement, Knox would say goodbye on October 31st. It was a difficult decision and one that ultimately had to be made in maintaining the health and wellbeing of all parties involved. Thank-you Dave and wishing you much success in your journey.
As Alberta and the City of Calgary moved to allow churches to open with limited public access, office administrator Sue Forsyth and her team of advisors instituted a Covid-19 protocol that allowed Sunday services to be streamed from the Knox Sanctuary. Live music could compliment the services, both in terms of traditional pipe organ and choral settings, and our PAX music artists were invited to participate. We wish to thank Sue Forsyth and the office staff for their efforts with ongoing supervision to ensure all staff and visitors remain safe.
Sanctuary Coffee was also given permission to re-open for off-site or to-go sales. Thanks to Jenn Young and her team for keeping customers and staff safe while growing the café’s clientele base.
While rentals at Knox have been restricted since March 2020 to today, our events coordinator Jill LaForty has returned from 6-month layoff and is starting to reconnect with clients for future events and concerts.
Knox continues through changes, a combination of Covid-19 and organizational restructuring, that will be proposed to sustain growth, maintain outreach, and develop social enterprises. Ministry and Personnel have committed to being an active member in these initiatives and continues to be your congregational voice.
In closing, we would like to thank Doug Chandler for his 4-year term and commitment to this committee. It is important for Ministry and Personnel to be active in the congregation and we do require additional members to fill vacant positions. I would ask you to consider offering your time and talents in support of the work we do. You can contact myself, Rev. Greg Glatz, or direct a query through the church office.
Respectfully submitted, Timothy Bell Chair of Ministry and Personnel Committee
Community Life and Justice
In a recent virtual Lenten event,” HUMAN BEINGS BEING HUMAN”, we were asked to reflect on -“When religion is at its best what is the human family experiencing?” This question yielded a number of responses but the most frequent answer was COMMUNITY, with its inherent potential for acceptance, respect, and inclusion of all members of the Human Family. This response is the backdrop for my reflection on the incredibly significant and vital role of COMMUNITY in the life and work of Knox United Church. This past year we have all had the opportunity to experience, up close and personally, the effects of social isolation. While we have connected through phone calls and virtual small groups at Sunday worship, we continue to feel disconnected, alone and longing for the opportunity to reconnect in person. Knox has a long history of facilitating social connection. Many events have been created, organized, and designed to facilitate our gathering as a community. The events were many and varied, from chocolate fountains and dessert parties, to the celebration of birthdays, weddings, funerals, Christmas Eve, Easter, and finally culminating this year, in a virtual farewell for Rev. Dr. Dave Holmes. However; we are not alone in feeling isolated and disconnected. This past year the entire Human Family has suffered from social isolation and the desire for and need for social connection is at an “all time high”. There is loss, pain, sorrow and deep longings within our communities. A longing to belong, to seek solace, and to heal. The Sanctuary at Knox, with its beautiful art (stain glass windows) high ceilings, wooden floors and stunning oak appointments calls us as a place of respite, calm, rest, rejuvenation, and hope. The Café is our opportunities to offer Sanctuary, and foster social connection, in particular for those whom we tend to view as not part of our circle. We can all participate in social connection- come to the Café’, buy a coffee, smile, greet those present, and engage in a conversation. It is amazing the fulfilling conversations that can be had with a stranger. We are on a transformational journey from: inward facing hospitality to radical hospitality. To those who participated in past gatherings, we have enjoyed the fruits of social connection and it is now time to share these fruits with the entire Human Family. It is time to move from an era of internal gatherings and celebrations to an era of radical belonging-the welcoming, embracing, and inclusion of the entire Human Family. Sanctuary Café, with its open doors to 6th avenue and its welcoming staff, is our initial invitation to the “other” to come in, and it is an invitation to us to go beyond an “us position” to an outward-facing position of Radical Hospitality. To become an outward- facing religious institution will require the creation and implementation of new innovative strategies, which in turn will require a consistent commitment of time, energy, and ingenuity. I believe this work requires a fresh perspective and consistency (paid staff) to generate, adapt, and evolve strategies that express true Christian discipleship. Volunteers will need to give what time, energy, and abilities we have available to participate in and support the work of Radical Hospitality and Innovation. The need for social connection is greater than ever before and we are positioned to create a space where all are welcome to connect to God, to others, and to their true selves. We have a stunning opportunity to begin a journey toward creating that space where “religion can be its best”. Respectfully submitted, Ellan Lang Chair of Community Life and Justice
Strategic C0mmunity Partnerships
Chair: Kay de la Ronde Members: Keith Bacon, Betty Norman Bray, Andrew Fox, Greg Glatz.
The Strategic Community Partnerships Team was established in 2017 to develop partnerships with local non-profit organizations who could occupy the lower level of the Annex building and provide a revenue stream to Knox United Church. This was triggered by the significant loss of revenue when Inn From the Cold no longer required overflow shelter space at Knox. It required obtaining funding in order to develop the lower level of the Annex to shell state so it could be fitted by a partnering agency.
In 2018 the Partnerships Team received a grant in the amount of $105,000 from the Knox United Church Foundation. Expenses incurred in 2018 in the amount of $45,769.69 were charged against the grant. Included were such costs as mechanical and electrical consulting, parking study, asbestos testing, architectural fees (American and Canadian) and fees for the consultant (Julianne McKinnon ) who was working with the Team. All expenses were covered from the Knox Foundation grant and none was charged to Knox’s operating budget.
In 2018 the Team also received a $200,000 grant from the Calgary Foundation for the specific purpose of developing the lower level of the Annex in preparation for fitting by a partnering agency.
The following work has been completed to date using funds from the Calgary Foundation grant. A building permit was obtained and construction completed on repairs to the annex lower level foundation wall between the historic church building and the annex. This work was required to reinforce the footings prior to any further development of the annex lower level. The total cost of this work was $35.3K which included the required architectural drawings, structural engineering consulting and the actual construction of the project. All project costs were covered by the funds from the Calgary Foundation grant received specifically for the purpose. No Knox Church operating dollars were used in completion of this project. In addition to the foundation wall work the Team took the opportunity, while the contractor was on site, to have a major clearance of debris that had
accumulated in the lower lever over the years. The Team has most recently considered additional work to upgrade the lower level of the Annex that needs to be done before a tenant can occupy the space. These projects include a fire barrier between the Annex and the Historic Church, pouring a concrete floor in the defined Knox storage area, and commissioning a re-design of the 4th Street entrance to allow for handicapped access (including automatic doors and a separate entrance to the lower level from 4th Street).
Most recently the Team was pursuing a possibility with the Let’s Grow Play initiative which would have provided a play space at Knox for children including those with development challenges. This initiative was championed by Dave Holmes along with Shirley Leew and others from the congregation. They had been working on the initiative for a couple of years before coordinating their activities with the Partnerships Team. An advisory group was formed to guide the project consisting of Knox representatives and representatives of the community at large. Dave Holmes continued to be Knox’s champion of the project and he chaired the advisory group up to his resignation. The Team was sorry to receive the resignation of Shirley Leew from our membership. She was the driving force behind the vision of the play space and had worked closely with the American architect.
One of the highlights for the Partnerships Team was the round table discussion group that was held in January 2020. It was attended by Directors and other senior level representatives of nine not for profit organizations with a mission and vision similar to that of Knox Church. Also in attendance were representatives of the Calgary Foundation and the Palix Foundation. Julianne McKinnon, a consultant working with the Knox Team, facilitated the discussion. The discussion was fluid, yet grounded on questions specifically pertaining to the Let’s Grow Play Area project and Knox’s other community hub initiatives. There was considerable interest in the idea of a play space at Knox, and the Calgary Foundation was appreciative of the collaborative approach.
Over the next couple of months the situation in downtown Calgary changed drastically with the onslaught of the COVID pandemic. The ensuing restrictions relative to in person gatherings and the alarming vacancy rate in downtown Calgary resulted in a considerable loss of momentum with this initiative. The resignation of Dave Holmes from Knox and the decision by the Palix Foundation not to support the project financially also affected the feasibility of this project.
In September the Partnerships Team accepted the recommendation of Julianne McKinnon (Consultant) that the Let’s Grow Play project not be pursued further at this time. It was deemed too expensive to develop and costly to operate. While there was considerable interest in the project, there were no committed partners. However, there are other potential social enterprises and partners that could be considered. Several of which were suggested by the Calgary Foundation and other organizations. The team was enthusiast that for the first time they were proactively exploring potential opportunities rather than reacting to initiatives suggested by other organizations, as had previously been the case. While COVID certainly presented significant challenges, it also presented opportunities for exploring new possibilities and thinking “outside the box”.
With input from the Partnerships Team, Julianne submitted a grant application for a “lower level” Investment Readiness Grant in an October competition program funded by the Government of Canada and administered by the Calgary Foundation. The grant request was for an amount of $40,000. The Strategic Partnerships Team was successful in receiving the full amount. The funds are to enable Knox to engage external consultants to provide professional guidance and project management for social enterprise(s) in the annex.
A balance of $128.0K remains available from the funds provided by the Calgary Foundation. The next development work to be undertaken was to have been:
1. A fire barrier between the annex lower level and the historic church buildings. 2. Pouring a concrete floor to separate the space being retained for Knox storage and that which would be available for rental. 3. Commissioning a re-design of the 4th Street entrance to increase ease of handicapped access, to include automatic doors and to separate the entrance to the lower level from the historic church.
No further work has been undertaken since September. The Team has been advised by Council that it is “on hold” until the church manager (title unknown at this time) position is filled and this person takes over the leadership and responsibility for the work previously carried out by the volunteer Strategic Partnerships Team.
Respectfully Submitted, Kay de la Ronde - Chair
Church Management
MEMBERS: Chuck Curry (Chair), and Andrew Fox, Bob Benner (Facility Liaison), Sue Forsyth (Office and Facility Manager) Under this Commission there are the following working groups: 1. Office and Facilities Management: This committee supports the Office and Facilities Manager, Sue Forsyth, who oversees the day-to-day administration and management of the building. It also sets goals and reviews budgets for the same. 2. Financial Management: This group includes the Treasurer (Josh Gordon), oversees the revenue and expenditures of the annual budget. They also set policies for financial management. Their separate report is included. 3. Communications: This committee has been staffed by Marlene Hielema (web master) and tries to coordinate communications among the four commissions of the Council and, more importantly, communicate outside of Knox about our ministry, education, weddings and justice initiatives. In 2020 the Leadership Team has assumed most of these functions. 4. Facilities: This group is not normally involved in day-to-day management but in the management of special capital projects, such as tower stone restoration and the Sanctuary Coffee Café installation. Members are Chuck Curry, Andrew Fox and Bob Benner. 5. Archives: Knox has an archivist, Kate Reeves, who maintains our records of historic value. Financial records are the purview of the Office management. 6. Stewardship: Usually there is an ad hoc group that meets in the late summer and early fall to design and assemble a stewardship package that can be distributed to the congregation members and adherents.
Office and Facilities Management We want to thank Sue Forsyth and her volunteers in the office and staff for their exemplary work in office and facility management in 2020. We admire and sincerely thank Sue for her tenacious protection of the Knox properties during the Pandemic this past year. She and Jampa Tseten, the day caretaker, worked in their own bubble to deep clean and manage our buildings during the lockdown. She handled all of the office and facility demands mostly by herself; She was lonely and has really appreciated your calls to break the monotony and cheer her up. Sue has kept the train on the track. Caretakers’ supervision and management requires a large part of Sue’s time making sure that the building and property are cared for and cleaned, and set up for rental clients using the gym, sanctuary, theatre and parlor. Sue also supervises and handles all office functions with assistance of volunteers: Mardy Roberts, Ralph Dilworth, Vi Smith, Christine Park, Janet Zatka, and Susan Wood. We also thank our caretaker Jampa Tseten for his love of this building and the care that he has given it during the Pandemic. The CMC also thanks our faithful money counters, who, throughout the year, come on Monday mornings at 8:00 am, through all kinds of weather, to count and bank the weekly revenue. Please thank Maggie Bolger, Keith Bacon, Dennis Ruf, and David Tutt. Although they were not here during the Pandemic lockdown, we hope that they are safe and can return to do the weekly count by then end of 2021. We also thank our special events manager, Jill LaForty, who is our best ambassador to welcome and assist our concert and event clients in the sanctuary. Jill was also quarantined during much of 2020, and we welcome her back to do the important work of engaging with our regular and new rental clients in2021. Facilities – Capital Projects After the crisis of stone falling from the tower in late 2016, the CMC and the Trustees began discussions with the City of Calgary Conservation officer and the Province of Alberta Heritage Resource Foundation to enquire about grant funding. As a result, Knox has received $129,071 from the Province and $383,607 from the City of Calgary in the last three years for professional consultation, assistance on the bidding process, site supervision and cost of stone restoration. The restoration of the tower was planned to happen over three years, with the South elevation completed in 2018, and the west elevation completed in 2019. The North and East scheduled for completion in 2020 did not happen due to lack of funding from Knox. With loss of rental income and costs related to new projects, there would not be any stone restoration in 2021 or 2022. The North and East elevations are estimated to cost around $653,000 with only $300,000 paid by the City and Province, depending on the success of our grant applications. We hope that a hiatus for two years will allow the Trustee managed investments to re-build and be available to support stone restoration on the North and East Elevations in 2023. We are looking for donors to help raise this significant amount of money. Refer to the chart included here for the revenue source and cost of the work. Total cost to Knox will be over One Million Dollars and be between 50-60% of the total project cost.
TOWER STONE RESTORATION 2018-2019
Tower Consult Masonry SubTotal ½ GST Total Cost Stakeholders Payment % Paid by Elevation ant Cost Proposed Amount Stakeholders Cost (P) Spent (S) South 61,212 392,500 453,712 11,342 465,055 (S) City Heritage 100,000 21.50% completed AB Heritage 47,670 10.30% Knox Trustees 317,385 68.20% Knox — Foundation — Knox Operating Budget West 34,768 388,500 423,268 10,581 433,850 City Heritage 100,000 23.04% completed (S) AB Heritage 68,370 15.76% Knox Trustees — Knox — Foundation 265,480 61.20% Knox Operating Budget TOTAL Costs 95,980 781,000 876,980 21,923 898,905 City Heritage 200,000 (S) 22.25% (S) AB Heritage 116,040 (S) 12.91% South and West Knox Capital 317,385 (S) 35.31% Tower Elevation Knox Trustees — — Stonework Knox 265,480 (S) 29.53% (Completed) Foundation Knox Operating Budget Tower Elevation Consult Masonry SubTotal ½ GST Total Cost Stakeholders Payment % Paid by ant Cost Proposed Amount Stakeholders Cost (P) Spent (S) Pre-purchased 40,452 Knox 6,713 (S) 17% stone/carving for (S) Foundation 13,031 (S) 33% North and East with 1/2 AB Heritage 19,745 (S) 50% elevations City Heritage gst =39,489
North 3,543 320,750 324,293 8,107 332,400 City Heritage 100,000 (P) 30.08% (2021 (P) AB Heritage 70,000 21.06% quote) Knox Capital maybe (P) 48.86% 162,400 (P)
The CMC also continued to have oversight of the Sanctuary Café project installation in early 2020. This final phase included contracting plumbing and electrical installations to make the Café fully functional. This phase cost was around $68,000, bringing the over all installation to around $140,000, including additional costs for furniture and equipment. This figure does not include operations in 2018-2020. Steve Miller has managed the sanctuary sound system for four years and has made several changes to the system to make it more automated. All worship services are recorded and are accessible from the church web site at kxcalgary.com. During the Pandemic Steve and
Chellan have been creative geniuses producing musical accompaniment for the Zoom worship services. Their work was absolutely critical for the success of Greg’s and David’s online ministry and keeping Knox “alive” during the lockdown. Communications: The Leadership Team has presumed the communications role and Greg is active in compiling and sending out the Midweek and Weekend Updates by email. Thanks Greg. Stewardship: Stewardship was re-invented, again! As far as I know, the Leadership Team of Greg, Janet Dargie and Margaret Miyagishima have developed the stewardship information that is on the web site (kxcalgary.com) and always part of the Midweek and Weekend Updates for Worship services. If you have not responded to the stewardship call with you own pledge, the package is still available online at kxcalgary.com or from the office. There are multiple ways to donate to Knox Ministry listed. Financial Management: Knox is looking for a volunteer who might help with our finance group in 2021. If you have experience, or interest in finance knowledge of the church, please contact Josh, Knox’s Treasurer, for more information of what’s required. Archives: Kate Reeves and her husband, Mark Wiencki are both involved in a development of a graphic to represent the history of Knox and its ministry over the last century. Since the Pandemic has halted this project, we are hopeful that we can re-connect with Kate and Mark in 2021 and plan a way forward for this important project. Kate, as our archivist, continues to maintain and catalogue Knox’s memorabilia and important documents for Knox’s history.
Board of Trustees
Trustee Board Members: Rev. Dr. Greg Glatz (chair, ex officio), Betty Norman Bray, Sol Candel, Chuck Curry, Mardy Roberts,Jim Smith
Duties of the Trustees • To hold all Knox Church and Knox United Church properties and funds in lieu of property in trust for the Congregation. Note: There are two deeds for the Knox property: Knox Hall (1960) is held by the Trustees under the name of Knox United Church. The historical building (1912) is held on behalf of the congregation by the Trustees under the name Knox Church. • To hold and manage funds from the sale of the density rights (air rights) over the historical
• building, as directed by the congregation. • To have an ex-officio representative on the Knox Council as a non-voting member. • To ensure appropriate insurance policies are in place. • To adhere to the guidelines set out in the Congregational Board of Trustees Handbook of the United Church of Canada. • To report to the Congregation once a year or as required.
James Wear Estate The Board of Trustees would like to express their profound gratitude and appreciation for the gift of $150,000 from the estate of James Wear. James died of cancer on February 22, 2019, at 56 years of age. He was a long term member of Knox, serving as a member of the board, of the choir, and as a trustee, in addition to being a dear friend to many people in the congregation. James truly invested his life in Knox, and his gift will allow that investment to continue for many years to come. The gift does not affect the financial accounting for this report.
Air Rights Fund The Board of Trustee’s primary focus has been the administration of the managed investment portfolio of the funds realized from the 2001 sale of the air density rights over the historic church. Scotia Wealth Management is the administrator of the investment portfolio through their Martin Mueller Advisory Group. As of December 31, 2020, the market value of the portfolio was $590,014. (As of December 31, 2019, the market value of the portfolio was $821,342.) A margin loan, using the investment portfolio as collateral, was used to finance the 2018 Phase One stone restoration project (south façade of the church tower). As of December 31, 2020, the outstanding loan was $260,744. (As of December 31, 2019, the outstanding loan was $220,342.) Note: this margin loan was paid off in 2021, using proceeds from the liquidation of dormant investments and the gift from the James Wear estate. However, the elimination of the margin loan is not reflected in the financial accounting of this report. Total costs/contributions for the stone restoration project, along with progress on carving work and stone acquisition, have been reported by the Church Management Commission.
Richard Barr Estate Fund The Richard Barr Estate Fund was created in April 2015. The wills of Geri and Richard Barr designated a percentage of their estate to the Knox United Church Mission and Service Fund. Scotia Wealth Management is the administrator of this portfolio. As of December 31, 2020, the portfolio has a value of $110, 252. (As of December 31, 2019 this portfolio had a market value of $102,700.) Dividend income is the primary contributor to the increased value of this fund.
Rev. Dr. Greg Glatz
In Loving Memory
Curt Ansell January 1, 2020 Gwen Gillespie February 6, 2020 Doreen Orman March 15, 2020 Doreen Guse July 14, 2020 Jeanne Thornton August 11, 2020
Membership Statistics
Members: 2017 2018 2019 2020 Active 158 164 160 130 Non-Active 39 34 36 62 Community Care 26 26 27 25 Non-Resident 8 8 7 6 Clergy 2 2 2 2
Adherents: Active 171 187 206 192 Community Care N/A N/A 5 3 Visitors N/A N/A 432 339
Transferred Out 7 10 2 3 New Members 16 5 7 0 Deceased Members 8 12 5 4