Annual Ministry Reports 2022
In this special section of The Messenger, our many ministry leaders share the past year’s highlights, challenges, and their hopes for the future.
A Child’s Garden School
Rose Boyagian, ACGS Director
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
Despite our ongoing pandemic situation, our biggest highlight was keeping our school community safe and allowing children to explore, learn, and feel welcomed in a nurturing environment. We were able to continue our annual traditions while following the appropriate guidelines and protocols, yet keep the fun of preschool alive. Enrollment continues to grow and our school is only four children away from reaching its full capacity.
What challenges did your ministry face?
As most can imagine, in working in a preschool with over 90 children and their families, the challenge has been keeping all healthy and safe. It has been a challenge for us to safely allow the children to socialize and learn from one another during an ongoing pandemic. Children at this age are struggling and are confused about the concept of masking. They prefer and ask to read our lips and have a tough time keeping their masks on and above their nose, and let’s be real—we love to see their smiles, and so we miss that too!
What are your hopes for the future?
Our first hope is to maintain a high enrollment rate for the upcoming school year and—let’s face it—we have become professionals at keeping our children safe while providing such an enriching preschool experience. We hope to bring back parent involvement and include families in all our future events. There is a beauty in community and, as the Director, my hope would be to grow stronger with my school community and watch your children grow.
Acolytes
Hannah Riley, Acolyte Coordinator
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
Of all the different ministries and activities I have participated in throughout my Episcopalian lifetime, the COS Acolyte Squad is hands-down my favorite. I was reluctant because we only had four returning acolytes last year—all our seasoned acolytes had either graduated or had found other life-giving commitments. God really showed off, and we now have 24 acolytes!! This is the highlight—these 24 servers. They are devoted, engaged, and often hilarious. We are made up in equal parts of kids (and some adults!) from both our English-speaking and Mandarin-speaking communities. There are sister teams and brother teams and sister and brother teams. We have twins and best friends. I love the full-body reverential bows and the serious procession of the Gospel book. I love explaining the ancient traditions of the Episcopal Church. I love the leadership of our returning acolytes. I love the chaos of vesting and watching these acolytes—all from different backgrounds and experiences—learn to work together and find that serving God is both holy and fun.
What challenges did your ministry face?
The challenges we face are the best kinds of challenges. Because of our explosion of interest, we are short on acolyte robes. Acolytes of years past were very tall. We are on the shorter side. Organizing cassocks and
surplices and finding the right sizes is consistently chaotic. With some creative budgeting and fundraising, I am confident we can solve this “challenge.” The other challenge is another great challenge to have: scheduling. Navigating family teams, golf practice, dance rehearsals, cheer competitions, and so on is a Herculean task but one that gives great joy upon completion.
What are your hopes for the future?
My hope is to continue to grow our squad, both outwardly and inwardly. We will continue to hone our skills and look for wonderful ways to serve during worship. With Jeff’s help, my biggest goal is to create and host an “Acolyte Olympics”—an event where we will invite other diocesan churches to compete and to celebrate our acolytes across the diocese. I also plan to more deeply explore the mechanics of what makes our program so successful and how it has created an incredible bridge between our English and Mandarin communities. I feel that this is true work of evangelism and inclusivity in the Episcopal Church. I cannot wait to see what the next year brings with this incredible, rowdy, and holy ministry!
Altar Guild
Juli Kennedy, Altar Guild Directress
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
I feel Christmas and our church community coming together to make the garlands that hung in the nave
was a highlight. So many members came together to prepare the church for the celebration of Christmas. I also love that members of the Altar Guild are arranging our own Altar Flowers. Georgie Erskin has done a class in flower arranging for altar guild members and more flower arranging classes will be scheduled in the future.
What challenges did your ministry face?
The pandemic and regathering have posed challenges for the Altar Guild. The guild has several members that are not yet ready to return to in-person attendance. The guild has also lost some members through death. As we have regathered, some of our procedures are different. Guild members are constantly needing to be prepared for changes in services and ways of preparing the altar. The addition of a service in the afternoon has also challenged the altar guild.
What are your hopes for the future?
My hope for the future is to several months in a row when the procedures for preparing for Sunday mornings are unchanged. The altar guild is a dedicated group of women and I hope to add more members to this group that does the work of the church.
Adult Formation
Kit Shenk
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
The major highlight of the Adult Formation Ministry is that we were able to meet in person for much of 2021. Our ministry consists of Sunday morning Forums, the C. S. Lewis Group, and Journey in Joy Women’s Bible Study. The Forum committee organized its programs around a “four-legged stool”: Faith Formation, Fellowship, Outreach Ministry updates, and Education. We responded to parables as the
Reverend Annie Thornberg led us in Godly Play, explored Gratitude with Ed Andersen, listened to Marcia Kreditor’s inspired reading of Silver Packages, participated in the Kilians’ annual Christmas Carol program, and explored Advent and Epiphany. We shared our stories at round table discussions and learned of ordination stories from Reverends Katherine, Jeff, and Thomas. The C. S. Lewis Group, led by Nancy Ballance, studied The Weight of Glory, The Abolition of Man, and The Problem of Pain” and watched a 10-week video series about the author. Journey in Joy’s Women’s Bible study, led by Kit Shenk and Rosemary Choate, read Women of the Bible Speak and shared stories of gratitude and is now studying the Gospel of Luke. The most important highlight of our ministry is the involvement of COS parishioners and staff in planning, leading, and participating in our programs.
What challenges did your ministry face?
The major challenge has been the on- and off-again nature of meetings due to COVID-19 protocols. We are looking forward to greater participation in person as COVID wanes.
What are your hopes for the future?
As we continue in 2022, we hope for greater participation in our Sunday Forums and the continuation of our current Bible and book studies. We also look forward to additional Adult Formation offerings for the parish and for opportunities to invite the surrounding community to join us.
Audio & Streaming Team
John Ballance
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
Our Audio/Video Team members manage the sound levels inside the church during the several worship services. During the COVID shutdown of the in-person services inside the church, our team was on hiatus. Returning to live in-person services in the church has enabled the team to resume its Sunday duties. With the addition of live video streaming of the services, team members will also begin managing the video cameras that now broadcast the services.
What challenges did your ministry face?
During the COVID shutdown of in-person, in-church services, the Audio/Video Team was unable to perform its duties. Once in-person services were able to resume, our team members eagerly resumed their Sunday morning duties in the audio booth at the back of the church. Regrettably, two of our team members were unable to return to their once-a-month team duties, so the team is in need of a few more volunteers to fill out our monthly schedule. Additionally, with the addition of the video streaming of two of the Sunday morning services, we need additional volunteers to help operate the video cameras.
What are your hopes for the future?
Ideally, we need one team member to operate the sound settings at each of the weekly 8:00 a.m. services, and two team members to operate both the audio settings and the video cameras at each of the weekly 10:00 a.m. services. To meet that staffing need, the team needs to find and train eight new members to help manage the audio and video settings for the Sunday morning services. The audio and video needs for the 11:15 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. services are evolving and may require additional Audio/Video Team support. Additionally, replacing the legacy audio equipment in the church, which is gradually failing, is becoming a priority. Upgrading the equipment will ensure that in-person worshipers are able to hear the liturgy as well as expand our capability to provide quality video streaming of our services and enhanced concert audio/video programming.
Communications
Hannah Riley, Communications Director
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
The best part of 2021 was being able to see the campus come back together in person and activities explode—and then communicate that out to the parish. Because of COS’s uptick in activity, we have been able to boost our social media presence—some of these Instagram and Facebook posts have received unprecedented traction in the wider community. Another highlight was finishing and printing the new brochure with (gasp) correct information, gorgeous photography, and an insert to reflect our featured service times (we had a special one for our Advent and Christmas offerings). The brochure project was carefully and creatively shepherded by our amazing Communications Team. Most importantly, we have been able to engage parishioners to participate in our communications effort: Peggy O’Leary and the Mandarin community have helped create beautiful marquis sign displays, Carrie and Addie Voris have submitted beautiful Sacred Garden photo updates, Rose Gonzalez from Our Saviour Center has contributed fascinating human interest pieces for our blog and newsletter, just to name a few.
What challenges did your ministry face?
Because of the ever-increasing activity at COS, news doesn’t happen on a 9–5 schedule. Our biggest challenges are receiving breaking news and then quickly turning that news out to the parish. One of the ways we are working on combatting this issue is to work more closely with our Vestry and Rector to ensure that important news and events are relayed to the parish in a more timely fashion.
What are your hopes for the future?
We hope to grow in our creativity in 2022. As we continue to transition back into “normalcy,” we want to better market our growing community—our website, social media, and newsletter should reflect this growth. We hope to continue to find new ways to spread the Word of God through COS’s robust campus life. Our greatest hope is that our media presence accurately and seamlessly reflects our beautiful parish community.
Chamber Music Concert Series
Dustin Seo, Staff Cellist
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
It has been a unique bl
essing to be able to share classical music programming at Church of Our Savior in
2021-2022. All three events have been rewarding and learning opportunities for me personally, and I believe that they have been well received by the COS community, and the larger SGV community. The October event on October 30 was particularly successful, with a larger than expected attendance, and all the musicians felt deeply grateful for the opportunity to share our music with folks who are genuinely listening and engaged.
What challenges did your ministry face?
As this is a pilot program, everything has been confirmed on the fly, with not much broader arch or missions in place. It has been a little scrappy since events were put together relatively last-minute.
What are your hopes for the future?
Looking forward to the opportunity to present a whole series with ample time to plan ahead and to create a meaningful programmatic arc as the concert series evolves into a full calendar season as opposed to one-off events.
Chinese Ministry & Li Tim Oi Center
The Rev. Dr. Thomas Ni, Associate for Chinese Ministry
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
Chinese Ministry: In 2021 we started the New Year with an online New Year’s Eve midnight prayer. We pre-videorecorded our worship services and posted them in our Church’s WeChat group, and we also managed to send these worship service recordings to China before we started in-person service. Every day during the last year, we posted a short biblical lesson with a reflection on it and a prayer every morning and a Compline or an evening prayer every evening. During the season of Lent we made a serial of videos introducing the Lent and special prayers, including the Fourteen Stations of the journey of the Cross. We kept our weekly Bible Study and Dance class via Zoom and other fellowships. We celebrated
the Moon Festival together with our English-speaking members, had a special thanksgiving sharing on Thanksgiving Day and a Christmas party with people from the community.
Li Tim-Oi Center: In 2021, we gave two lay leadership training courses, one on the Episcopal Liturgy and the Book of Common Prayer, which was open to all Chinese congregations in the Episcopal Church, and had some students from the Diocese of New York and Diocese of Long Island; the other was on Social Justice, Racial Reconciliation, and Building Beloved Community.
What challenges did your ministry face?
The biggest challenge in 2021, of course, has been the pandemic, which prevented people from attending Sunday worship and fellowships. The other challenges included the lack of in-person contact/connection, the difficulties in livestreaming, and discomfort with Zoom meetings. Li Tim-Oi Center: We need more qualified lecturers to teach the courses. We need textbooks in Chinese for the courses.
What are your hopes for the future?
I hope the pandemic will end soon, that we can restart ministry programs and develop new programs to welcome parishioners back to church and attract new people to our church. I hope we can raise up more lay leaders and have financial resources necessary for these programs. I also hope we can find a good way to develop online ministry and community. Li Tim-Oi Center: I hope we can get more Chinese clergy involved in this important program and more lay leaders from other dioceses participating in the courses we are going to offer.
Children’s Ministry
The Rev. Anne Thornberg, Associate for Children’s Ministry & Pre-School Chaplain
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
One of the many highlights of the year for me was the way in which the children remember the Godly
Play stories we have told and begin to ask me to tell them again. This is such beautiful reminder of how the rich tradition of storytelling from our sacred narrative can begin to be a part of a person’s life at such a young age.
What challenges did your ministry face?
One of the challenges that I have faced is having families come to what we have traditionally thought of as the “Sunday School hour.” We do not have regular attendance during that time, so we do not have a strong program of kids who meet on Sunday mornings.
What are your hopes for the future?
My hopes are to continue to figure out ways in which I can create space for children and families to experience, wonder and talk about God. To continue to foster many loving and life-giving environments (not only Sunday mornings) for families to walk together through life and be vulnerable with one another.
Education for Ministry
Kari Stewart & Juli Kennedy
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
Education for Ministry (EfM) is a unique, four-year, distance learning certificate program in theological education based upon small-group study and practice. Since its founding in 1975, this international program has assisted more than 80,000 participants in discovering and nurturing their call to Christian service. Education for Ministry has been an adult educational program for over 12 years at Church of Our Saviour.
Juli Kennedy and Kari Stewart are the current co-facilitators. We meet most Sunday evenings in a small group during the fall and spring. The group has read many current academic textbooks, theological essays, and the Bible as part of the EfM curriculum. We share our insights and challenges in a nonjudgmental, confidential space. Through these readings we encounter the breadth and depth of the Christian tradition and current theological scholarship and bring it into conversation with our experiences of the world and our church as we study, worship, and engage in theological reflection together.
What challenges did your ministry face?
While the past two years presented some challenges in online enrollment and for meeting in person due to COVID-19 concerns, our group transitioned smoothy onto Zoom early on in the pandemic and have chosen to remain so. This has allowed our group members to travel and enjoy discussions from the comfort of our homes, some out-of-state. During the height of the pandemic, this weekly check-in was a wonderful antidote to COVID social isolation.
What are your hopes for the future?
We always encourage new participants to join us who are willing to engage in thoughtful inquiry and discussion.
Dorris Dann Kids Campus
Marguerite Ponce, Dorris Dann Kids Campus Director
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
Keeping our doors open.
What challenges did your ministry face?
Keeping up with the constant changing of COVID guidance.
What are your hopes for the future?
To have a clear vision of our mission and purpose in the community, along with constant communication from leadership.
Eucharistic Ministers
Gloria Kilian
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
Highlights include the amazing faithful Lectors (readers) and Intercessors who show up every month to read the Scriptures and prayers. We have expanded our team with several more to fill in for the newer 4 p.m. service and to fill the slots of retiring folks.
What challenges did your ministry face?
The biggest challenges during COVID-19 have been making sure we had six people to serve at the three services of 8 a.m., 10 a.m., and 4 p.m. every single Sunday of the month.
What are your hopes for the future?
We hope to train more of the readers to also be able to serve Communion when we begin to again use the Chalice for the Eucharist. And, we hope to add more volunteers to the list of folks willing to serve. If you are interested, please let me know.
Greeters
Charlotte Van Fleet
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
Being allowed to gather again and actually “greet.”
What challenges did your ministry face?
Greeting is such a great “job.” We answer the front door for COS; it’s puzzling why more people don’t volunteer. That is the biggest challenge ... identifying parishioners who enjoy saying “hello” to fellow Christians as they are entering and leaving worship.
What are your hopes for the future?
Before Easter: have a Greeter for every service. As more families learn of COS’s faith-based worship services, love of children, the programs, community outreach, and welcoming/embracing community, they’ll come to our front door. We want to be at that door to welcome them.
Jubilee Housing
The Rev. Bill Lane Doulos, Director of Jubilee Housing and Associate for Pastoral Care
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
1. We survived the pandemic. A few of our Residents and a couple of our Resident Managers caught the virus and had to be quarantined, but no one had to be hospitalized, and no one suffered any lasting effects. 2. We grew stronger as a community despite adverse circumstances through weekly meals that were provided by our Board for each of our four homes, although we had to forego a few of our larger group events. 3. We celebrated through our Annual Christmas Dinner for all of our Residents and some of our Alumni. 4. The great majority of our Residents stayed clean and sober and reached important goals in their journey to recovery from addiction. 5. We met and surpassed our financial goals for the year.
What challenges did your ministry face?
1. We had the challenge of the pandemic, and especially the challenge of maintaining a very personal and face-to-face ministry in the world of Zoom 12-Step meetings. 2. We face the continuing challenge of living in a high-tech world in terms of mailing lists and databases and financial approaches that I am not equipped to face. 3. One of our homes was built in the 1890s. One was built in 1927. The two others are vintage 1950s. The maintenance needs of these properties are a continual challenge. 4. We pride ourselves in our personal and sometimes pastoral contact with our donors, including many donors who are not connected to our Church community. To maintain this personal contact, through visitation and through our Gratitude Dinners, which we have had to forego the past two years, is an ongoing challenge.
What are your hopes for the future?
1. There is always the abiding hope of realizing recovery for each of our Residents. Our Resident Managers and our Staff are sometimes frustrated with the slow pace of recovery. Our various addictions do not easily give up the fight for the soul of the addict. We have to pace ourselves, and realize that we are not in control of another person’s progress or lack thereof. 2. With my pending retirement in July of 2023, our Board and the Vestry have to put in place a plan for the transition to assure a continuation of the values that our ministry embraces and a smooth transition of personnel and a continuation of our financial growth. 3. We look forward to a new administration at Jubilee Homes and the new vision that will enrich our efforts for years to come.
Music Ministry & Choirs
Taylor Vazquez-Reyes, Director of Music
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
One of the newest blessings that our music ministry has to offer is the amazing talent among our six musicians. Alice Rucker offers her talent as an organist for our 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. services, and Jane our
accompanist and Dustin our cellist offer their musical gifts as part of our 10 a.m. services. At our well-attended 4 p.m. contemporary worship service, we are blessed to have, Sara (violin), George (guitar), and Joe (guitar) share their musical gifts by providing us with music which brings us peace. One of the biggest highlights for the COS choir was being able to sing live and in-person again. Although we are masked, there is a great deal of passion and joy we receive when singing among others who share our passion for choral singing. The second highlight of the fall season was our Lessons and Carols service. It had been two years since the COS choir had been able to participate in this traditional service, and we all sincerely loved it.
What challenges did your ministry face?
We are in a transitional and rebuilding year, so there will always be challenges that we face when building a new community. The biggest challenge is finding volunteer musicians from our community who have the time to attend a Thursday evening rehearsal as well as dedicate their time every Sunday morning from 9 to 11am. I am proud to say that we have a total of 11 volunteer singers, and I am extremely happy with the work they have done to build trust among this new community of singers.
What are your hopes for the future?
My hope is that our COS choir continues to grow and have a steady number of volunteer singers who participate every Sunday. Once this ministry is well established, I would like the opportunity to participate in church choral festivals as well as opportunities for the choir to participate in local events in and around San Gabriel.
Organist & Handbells
Alice Rucker, Organist and Handbell Director
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
1. Playing organ music for the 8 a.m. service and hymns for the 10 a.m. services; 2. Holding a handful of handbell choir rehearsals in preparation for the Lessons and Carols service, where we played three pieces.
What challenges did your ministry face?
There are about thirteen players right now who would love to regularly play in a handbell choir. Bells are a ministry not only to the church but also to the players themselves. There has not been a regular budget for an ongoing handbell choir.
What are your hopes for the future?
To have the opportunity to build a solid, stable, and supported handbell program for players all ages and levels of experience. A solid and stable program would mean weekly rehearsals. As members grow and learn, they would to be able to offer their ministry as they participate in the services of worship. A supported program would mean having an ongoing line item in the budget.
Our Saviour Center
Rose Gonzalez, Development and Communications Manager
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
As a ministry of the Church of Our Saviour Center, we are pleased to report the ongoing success our programs and services continuously provided to our neighbors in need in the heart of El Monte. We are grateful for the steadfast, ongoing support of the Church’s parishioners, who truly believe in our mission; the Rector, who offers his continuous and unconditional support; and the Vestry, who ensure that Our Saviour Center continues to thrive. The Food Pantry served a record 228,608 individuals in 2021.
Continued elevated client numbers has meant a surge in the amount of food we require to support the households who visit the Food Pantry. Larger food distributions require a larger space for food storage, and we were able to convert the back room of the Food Pantry into a food storage room. The window was converted into large double doors, complete with a widened cement ramp, to facilitate the storing, access, and distribution of an additional 10 pallets of food. We are also grateful for the 485 volunteers who ensured the Food Pantry effectively and efficiently distributed much-needed nutrition to the community. The Emergency Temporary Housing Program served 99 families who turned to us in their moment of crisis, including 132 adults and their 176 children. We are humbled to continue to be able to serve families in this capacity. The Kids’ Campus prides itself on having kept its doors open to benefit the children of El Monte during the pandemic.
When the city’s schools weren’t able, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., the children of essential workers and of the community had a place to continue to learn and grow. Additionally, the Summer Program provided nearly 80 children with social emotional learning and creative space, serving more youth than in years prior.
What challenges did your ministry face?
As we emerge from the recent period of transition, the pandemic’s continued demand continues to tax all of Our Saviour Center’s services and programs. The Food Pantry’s ability to recruit volunteers has hiccupped: although all staff are vaccinated, distribution is outdoors, and we provide all necessary PPE, the ongoing surge of COVID variants decreases the number of volunteers willing to risk infection, as does the return of most volunteers to full-time on-site employment. Our Emergency Temporary Housing Program continues to receive more requests than we are able to fulfill. 2021 saw an increase of over 59 percent of families served, with referrals mostly from 211 resource assistance, local schools, and city and county officials. In an abundance of caution, the DDKC’s Soccer for Success Program had ongoing restrictions imposed by the school district throughout the entirety of 2021. While the Program did not take place in 2021, it is scheduled to return in March of this year.
What are your hopes for the future?
Our Saviour Center looks forward to welcoming our Church of Our Saviour family formally back onto the Main and Kids’ campuses. Vaccinated volunteers can once again share their valued time and talents with the children at DDKC or the Food Pantry or simply take a tour of our campuses and give a hearty “Hello!” of support to staff. We hope the future will bring continued funding to ensure that our programs serve all of our neighbors in need, furthering our service to families and seniors facing indescribable hardship. We look to the years ahead for continued growth, ongoing stability with guidance from the Rector and the Vestry, and to the connectedness and care of the Church of Our Saviour family.
Property Committee
John Vandercook, Junior Warden and Property Chair
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
This last year has been a wonderful experience in getting to better know and build relationships with others at COS. Also I have been glad to meet so many new people who have begun to attend our church.
What challenges did your ministry face?
2021 has been challenging with all the changing COVID protocols that affect meeting and ministering together. Also, the Vestry has labored over many critical decision items this past couple of years. With all of the challenges faced, God continues to be faithful in guiding all of us at COS as we grow and serve the church together.
What are your hopes for the future?
It is my heartfelt desire and hope that we continue to come together as brothers and sisters in Christ to edify and support each other in love as we all grow and serve the church together with each of our unique gifts.
The Strategic Plan
Paul Kilian
The COS Strategic Plan, being largely focused on supporting parishioner activities, faced restrictions during the pandemic yet managed to creatively re-invent some projects, while having to postpone others.
Strategic Initiative #1 – Children & Youth Ministry began meeting again when on-campus services began. Vacation Bible School was not offered, although A Child’s Garden School continued to meet through the summer. WHAM, a midweek children’s program, was established. Rev. Annie was the children’s chaplain, and Gabe Vasquez-Reyes ran the 6th–12th grade program. The 11:15 Sunday morning SEED service was established for English- and Mandarin-speaking youngsters and their families. Successful special programs included the Hallowe’en Festival and the Christmas Pageant.
SI #2 – Spiritual Development & Ministry presented a variety of Forums, Bible and book studies, and EfM [Education for Ministry] meetings. Several Lay Weeders projects were resurrected, including the Sacred Garden. The CDL monks left the church in fall 2021, taking with them many of the contemplative a
ctivities, which will start up again under one of our new priests.
SI #3 – Parishioner Involvement - Outreach Ministries was originally visioned as having an active advocate with his/her committee promoting and enabling individual congregants to get involved in our outreach programs, and possibly generate others. Wonderful Kit Shenk has tried to incorporate it under her #2, Spiritual Development, but its original intent has never been effectively realized. Joanna Cory took it on for a season, but it really needs complete re-thinking and re-energizing.
SI #4 – Fellowship Activities maintained Circles of Eight groups off-campus until the church opened up. Current offerings include coffee hours between Sunday services, box lunches on special occasions, receptions after concerts, and birthday celebrations on first Sundays.
SI #5 – Welcoming & Newcomers developed a new visitor card and brochure, held usher training sessions, and plans to assemble a picture directory and offer newcomer luncheons in the future.
SI #6 – Communication Coordination was instrumental in developing the newcomer brochures and overhauling the church website. Promotion continues in the form of online and newspaper ads for COS services and programs. The master calendar is now efficiently managed and creativity flourishes in the ongoing development of new promotional and functional materials.
SI #7 – Mandarin Ministry faced especial challenges, as members have been extra-cautious during the pandemic. Worship services continued on Facebook, YouTube, and WeChat and were even broadcast in China. Evening Prayer was recorded, and confirmation classes were offered online. The new SEED children/family service is fulfilling a need. Highlights include the Mooncake Festival and the ordination of the Rev. Katherine Feng. With the departure of Bishop Diane Bruce (who was our diocese’s great advocate for Asian ministries), COS is now considered the flagship Chinese program for the diocese and perhaps the national church.
SI #8 – Senior Saints/Sages was severely restricted by the pandemic; however a team of seniors continued to send cards to our homebound parishioners. The first Sages luncheon was a Christmas carol potluck in December.
Future Hope – An eight-person team has been formed to implement the creation of a new Strategic Plan. The congregation will be encouraged to participate during the month of May.
The Sacred Garden
Carrie and Addie Voris
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
With the help of Dennis Duling, John Vandercook, Rev. Annie, and MANY volunteers, we were able to plant over 30 fruit trees around the COS campus, with a concentration of young citrus in the grove area of the Sacred Garden. The trees were obtained through a grant with the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation and cost us only COS volunteer hours! We were gifted a toolshed from the Altar Guild and a potting shed/greenhouse from Sr. Greta, and both are in FULL use every week. The COS Lay Weeders dug in and provided so much garden cleanup, hard work, and laughs—it has been a true labor of love in the Garden on the Saturdays the Weeders are there. The biggest highlight was likely the ability to provide the altars with flowers from the Sacred Garden for almost two whole months last year (July and August).
What challenges did your ministry face?
Time and money. Always so much to do and we have so many hopes for the Garden, but it all costs time and money. We are so grateful to those who have supported the Garden through plants and seeds.
What are your hopes for the future?
We have already started seeding and planning for a longer flower growing season this year and hope to provide flowers for the altar ALL summer long and possibly sell garden bouquets to benefit the Garden and other COS ministries as well. We are hoping to work on accessible pathways into the center of the Sacred Garden and true lighting so that we can utilize the space with a larger capacity. Would also really like to incorporate some raised beds for the ACGS children to have some growing space for veggies and pumpkins. We are also currently working with LACompost on a grant that would enable us to compost fruit and veg waste for the entire COS community and in turn provide our garden with the much-needed compost material to nurture the beds.
Stewardship and Annual Giving
Dennis Duling
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
The average pledge for 2022 increased by over $200. We also had eleven new people pledge this year, compared with only four in 2021.
What challenges did your ministry face?
We lost seven pledging parishioners, several of whom were large donors.
What are your hopes for the future?
There are fresh faces in our church nearly every week, including those of young families. As we finally emerge from the COVID cloud this year, I am optimistic that the energy and vision of our Rector will continue to draw new parishioners into our Stewardship ministry.
Weddings
Nancy Duling
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
Meeting and assisting brides and grooms who were members who I knew as well as couples who were new to COS. Learning the ins and outs of how we do weddings here. Creating a custom Wedding Guide that helps the couple plan their wedding day. Setting up the bride’s room.
What challenges did your ministry face?
Learning the COS protocols ... what we can and cannot offer to couples in terms of time, space, and setup. I find it difficult to say no to brides ... I need to set better boundaries.
What are your hopes for the future?
Certainly ... having more weddings here! Creating better advertising for weddings at COS. Looking into partnering with a catering company so that we can offer “full service” weddings.
WHAM and Youth Choirs
Taylor Vazquez-Reyes
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
Since WHAM began in September of 2021, Chaplain Annie and I, along with our accompanist Jane and our volunteers, have built a strong community of 5- to 13-year-old-singers. The big highlight thus far was our Christmas Eve Pageant. The students and parents gave it raving reviews, and the singers had a blast putting their best efforts forth. The youth choirs will be busy preparing for a music-filled spring, singing as part of the 10 a.m. service on February 20th, Palm Sunday, and our Spring Concert on May 14!
What challenges did your ministry face?
Rebuilding an existing program always has its challenges, but I believe that consistency, passion, and patience are the key recipe for success and growth. In Fall of 2021 we started with 18 students, and we already have 4 new students joining us for the spring, so we are excited at the small growth we have seen thus far.
What are your hopes for the future?
I would love the youth choirs to continue to grow closer to the 40-some singers we had before COVID. As our numbers grow, we can begin to participate more frequently in church services as well as outside events, such as choral festivals.
Worship at COS
8 AM Rite 1 Service
Tom Lenzo & Vera Hoalim
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
Being able to worship together, even though it was outdoors, then moving back into the historical sanctuary while socially distanced. Underlying these highlights was the fellowship of seeing and hearing the members of our church family!
What challenges did your ministry face?
For some members of our congregation, overcoming the fear of being in public during the pandemic. Regarding others not yet returning, it has been a challenge to keep in contact with them. Finally, there is a challenge of being in this sacred place with those who do not respect the need to properly wear face coverings to protect each other.
What are your hopes for the future?
That in the near future we can return to the sights, sounds, and rhythm of worship as it was prior to this dark period.
10 AM Rite 2 Service
Joanna Cory, Verger
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
2021 was an especially nourishing year for the parish family at COS. We were finally able to move our worship services from the patio and resume them inside the historic sanctuary. What great joy it has been to see our parish family once again gathered together inside the sanctuary each Sunday! Our Christmas services this year were rich and full of celebration and wonder as we gathered to remember the birth of our Lord Jesus. What great joy it was to have a Christmas Eve full of worship and wonder after the drought of formal worship these last couple of years. We also welcomed a new team of acolytes to serve at our worship services. As our former acolytes have grown and moved on in their lives, we have been blessed by a new team of young people who are quickly learning the skills of serving in their various roles as acolytes.
What challenges did your ministry face?
As joyful as it was to move our services back into the historic sanctuary, it was also a challenge. We were once again reminded of the changes that needed to be made regarding seating and movement within that space. After talking through the services and choreographing the movements of those serving, we were able to feel more comfortable in the space and move through the services without distractions. As a part of our movement back into the historic sanctuary, I presented a refreshment training session for the lectors and intercessors. We worked on the timing of movement to the lectern, voice projection within the larger, enclosed space, and the need to arrive early before the service to review the lesson or prayers of the people.
As we continue to present special occasions for worship, I have found that it will be helpful for all of those involved in various aspects of worship to meet and discuss the planning, movement, and instruction for participants to make for a smooth worship experience.
What are your hopes for the future?
As does the majority of our parish family, I look forward to the time when we will once again be able to have a full Eucharistic experience with chalice bearers. This will involve refreshment training for all involved but will be so fulfilling for all. Sometime in the not-too-distant future I look forward to a full Eucharist without latex gloves. I look forward, as well, to more services with blended language experience including our sisters and brothers who speak Mandarin.
11:15 SEED Family Centered Worship
Gabe Vazquez-Reyes, Youth Minister
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
SEED was created to give space for families to experience worship and music together in a fun, loving environment. Since we started in August 2021, we have developed a community with our young students and families and have been able to share, in a family-friendly way, the beautiful parts of our liturgy and worship experiences. As a great example of cross-pollination, our amazing installations in Grace Chapel have given us opportunities to engage in cultural experiences such as Dia de Muertos and the Lunar New Year, and have students and families experience these in the midst of a worship service.
What challenges did your ministry face?
As with all new ministries, SEED has had to re-invent itself a few times to continue to be relevant to the needs of our community. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic with all its variants presents challenges around participation and growth.
What are your hopes for the future?
The hope is to continue to respond to the needs of our families with children, and continue to be creative with our SEED format. I also hope to get to a place where we can have more collaborators telling stories, playing music, and interacting with our students.
4 PM Worship in the Garden
Virginia Barger
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
The establishment and continuation of the 4 p.m. Garden Service was the highlight! We have been blessed to have the pleasure of hearing the sermons in person and have enjoyed the variety of speakers. We are a small group, and Annie and Mike especially have used our setting to explore topics with parishioner input, almost like being at a retreat. We get to know the Scripture and each other at the same time. Also, solo musicians set the mood with interesting and appropriate pieces when they play guitar or violin for us to enjoy. We appreciate the casual meeting in the Telleen Courtyard whenever possible, but we move indoors to Grace Chapel as needed. Parishioners of the Garden Service are a small but dedicated contingent of COS.
What challenges did your ministry face?
As with other services, the question of “to mask” or “not to mask” has been prominent, but because we are outdoors perhaps parishioners feel more comfortable attending this service in the open air. Also, we can only guess that it is not always easy to find someone to lead the last service of the day, but remarkably we have been blessed that someone has stepped up every time.
What are your hopes for the future?
We hope that the 4 p.m. Garden Service will not only continue but will expand to add on a casual meal after the service, at 5 p.m. It would be a great time to relax and enjoy each other’s company in the afterglow of the service.
Youth Ministry
Gabe Vazquez-Reyes, Youth Minister
What were the highlights of the year for your ministry?
The biggest thing we have done is move spaces. Years ago, before my time, the church graciously invested in a dedicated Youth Center off the small parking lot. But as the pandemic has worn on, and as we have been looking at how to better use our assets on campus, we decided that maybe moving to Brown Hall Basement would work well as a meeting space. Taylor and I, with the help of Frank Chavez, our sexton, and Mario Hernandez, our assistant sexton, fixed up the Brown Hall basement as a lovely meeting space for students. In November we were able to use this space and host the students from around the Diocese for our Annual Grog Event! We had over 30 students show up for a fun evening.
What challenges did your ministry face?
The pandemic makes things difficult to plan for. Our basement is a great spot but, taking the temperature of our parents and students, we decided that an outdoor space would function better for the time being. In all things, Youth Group is supposed to lift up parents and students, so we try to be as safe as possible. Also, our students’ schedules are not getting less busy. Finding a time that works for most students is difficult.
What are your hopes for the future?
There are a lot of opportunities to rethink the way youth work can be done. We are looking to see what a service-based group could look like, and we are also looking to engage with the students who come to WHAM on Wednesdays. Our hope is to continue to create space here at COS, with a low threshold, where students can engage in their spiritual lives, supported by our clergy and staff.