St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Gilroy St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Gilroy CA
 

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St. Stephen's Annual Reports for 2008


Parochial Report

Burial of the Dead (5)

Betty Steidley - January 5
Evelyn White - January 10
Gordon Hunter - April 26
Floy Ebaugh - October 11
Raymond Becker - October 16

Holy Baptism (5)

Evan Olcott - November 30
Scott Tingley - November 30
Guillermo Antonio Villasana IV - November 30
Richard Norman Becker - November 30
Lili Elizabeth Marie Becker - November 30

Confirmation (6)

Marsie Cox - June 22, 2008
Paul Cox - June 22, 2008
Kathy Dettmer - June 22, 2008
Francine Head - June 22, 2008
Paige Moore - June 22, 2008
(Phil Ambler - June 15, 1008)

Quinceaqos (2)

Selena Pereyra - January 19
Fabida Martinez - February 16

Blessing of the Animals (1)

St. Francis Celebration - October 11

Ordination to the Priesthood (1)

Lawrence (Lorenzo) Robles - March 29

Blessing of Marriage (1)

Paul & Marsie Cox - July 21

Worship Music

Through 2008 we have enjoyed a consistently solid and delightful music ministry.
Bonnie Jacobs continues as our Sunday organist. Bonnie also augments the worship with her piano music. Thank you Bonnie!
Occasionally during the year we have been blessed with the musical talents of Michael Barnes (Bells and Horn) and Virginia Scott (Bells and Piano). If ever you hear them performing, you will understand what a treat and joy it is too have them among us. Thank you Michael and Virginia!
Again at Christmas we were fortunate to have Rachel Brown share her violin skills with us. Thank you Rachel, we look forward to hearing more!
On several occasions we were blessed with wonderful musical additions to our worship, including Bruce Cotter with his bagpipes, a choral quartet and Tom Dettmer with organ and piano offerings. We thank Tom and Kathy Dettmer for these musical blessings!
On the first Sunday of each month we have enjoyed the offerings of our awesome worship band. The group consists of Bruce (Mandolin), Susan (vocals), Dennis (Guitar) and Bruce (Guitar). Their music is always fun and lively and much appreciated. Thank you all!
The Coffee House Mini-Concert series was scaled back this year. Notably we enjoyed the music ministry of Bob Thomas, then Dick and Charlotte House. Both groups have established ministries that travel around this country offering concerts, selling CDs and otherwise giving and sharing their talents. We were blessed with each performance.
Related to our music ministry is music technology. We submitted a grant request to the diocese and were awarded $1700. Our proposal included purchasing a second wireless microphone and relocating the equipment from behind the altar to the back of the church adjacent to the organ. All of this was accomplished. For 2009 I want to invite anyone, of any age, that is interested in learning the use of the equipment (it really is very simple) to join me in growing this ministry.

Thank you Lord for each of these blessings!
Richard Wallstrom

Altar Guild

The St. Stephen's Altar Guild has six members:
  • Jeannette Dickens
  • Jane Olcott
  • Viviana Robles - Noon Service
  • Patricia Savage
  • Francine Head - Altar Guild co-directress
  • Manel de Silva Stanley - Altar Guild co-directress

I wish to thank all the members of the Altar Guild for the great support this past year. The Altar Guild has new co-directress, Francine Head and Manel de Silva Stanley.
Thanks to everyone, Altar Guild, Men's Group and many others for all of the hard work done to prepare the church for traditional and seasonal services and for the numerous special services such as weddings, the Bishop's visit, and the year of 2008, the ordination of Lawrence Robles.
Advent and Christmas season brought the year to its close by cleaning and polishing silver, brass and dusting all the pews, communion rails. This year the greening of the Church was done in stages. The family tree was set up and the Advent wreath decorated for the first Sunday of Advent, Poinsettias were added on the alter on the second Sunday of Advent, and the rest of the traditional greening was done on December 20th
Altar Guild again extends thanks to everyone for all of their help and support during 2008.

Patricia Savage

Outreach

The mission of the Episcopal Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ. To accomplish this it is necessary to reach out into the community and the world. A healthy church must have a balance between maintenance and mission and in this respect St. Stephens needs improvement. The parishioners of St. Stephens have provided outreach with their time, talent, and treasure. Our fair share to the Diocese, which is mandated by canon law, is 10% of our income.
Global Outreach
  • Heifer International (Contributions from Parishioners). Through our Lenten outreach project with Heifer International we were able to raise $665.00 which translated to 4 goats and 16 flocks of chickens. Our church family was able to give other families the chance to lift themselves out of poverty and become self reliant.
  • African Team Ministries (Contributions from Parishioners). Through the sale of hand-made craft items our parish was able to send a check for $877.00 to provide funds for orphan refugee relief, missions, and evangelism in East Africa. In addition two families have sponsored children providing school fees, tuition, books, and uniforms, ensuring that the children receive education and spiritual guidance.
  • United Thank Offering (UTO) (Contributions from Parishioners). The UTO is run by the Episcopal Church Women's group. UTO funds a wide variety of outreach and aid projects throughout the world. This year St. Stephen's contributed over $115.00 to UTO through the little blue boxes.

Diocesan Outreach
  • Diocesan Council (no funding from St Stephen's).The Council serves as the Board of Trustees, all Funding decisions are approve by this council. Tom Olcott is a member of this group as is Ed Markham in his position as Diocesan Treasurer.

Local Outreach
  • Gilroy Health Center (No funding from St. Stephen's).Hal Bellairs, with the assistance of Paige Moore, conducts monthly services along with communion at Gilroy Health Center.
  • St. Stephen's Resource Center (No funding from St. Stephen's).The mission of the Resource Center is to provide immediate basic aid to those in need in such a way that they become more independent as they receive the assistance that they require. The bulk of the funding comes from a FEMA grant which enables us to supply food and grocery certificates. The balance of funds comes from private contributions providing hygiene supplies and bus tokens. Again this year we have been able to add clean white socks, warm jackets, shoes, limited clothing, and back-to- school supplies for all the children of our clients. The Resource Center is an all volunteer organization which includes Anne Cantrell, Estella Hopkins, Tom Olcott, Hal Bellairs, Bobbie Wallstrom, and our two newest parish members Heather Ambler, and Teri Tingley. The Resource Center is open Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 9:00 to 11:00 am.
  • The Gilroy Armory (Personal Contributions).The Armory is open during the coldest months from December through March of each year to provide food and shelter for the homeless. Four families of St. Stephen's provided meals at the Gilroy Armory one Friday of each of these months. The volunteers purchase the food, prepare it, and serve the food to the clients at the Armory. This is a very rewarding ministry.
  • The Giving Tree (Personal Contributions).Again this year, St Stephen's partnered with the Salvation Army to provide Christmas gifts for underprivileged children. Our parish helped to provide a wonderful Christmas morning for 40 children in our community.
  • Facility UsageSt. Stephen's allows the following organizations to use it's facilities in most cases at little or no cost: 1. Boy Scouts of America (Troop 711), 2. Boy Scout Leaders, 3. AA What's the Point, 4. AA Birthday, 5. AA Women, 6. AA Monday Night Survivors, 7. AA Men's Spiritual Growth, 8. AA Step Study, 9. AA 10th Step, 10. AA Beginners Group, 11. AA Big Book Study Group, 12. AA Gut Level Group, 13. AA Wake Up, 14. AA Waterloo, 15. Take off Pounds (TOPS). There is occasional use by diocesan committees.

Submitted bt Bobbie Walstrom

Stewardship

Tom Olcott and Margaret Markham agreed to be chairmen for this years Stewardship Program. We met with Fr. Burley in September to pick a theme and work out a plan for this year. We chose to focus on the many blessing of St. Stephen's so we chose as a theme "Build on the success of the Preschool Preparation and Church Beautification Projects and Witness to the Fact that Abundant Giving of Time Talent, and Treasure Results in an Outpouring of Overflowing Blessings." We decided on an every member canvas to visit and involve everyone in the parish.
We invited the members of the Vestry to join us in the Stewardship program and to commit to being callers. On Oct. 6, we held a Training session for the callers to review the theology of good stewardship and to share the process of our program. We had 12 people attend. Teams were defined and names of parishioners to call on were chosen. Everyone accepted their assignments with enthusiasm.
Tom Olcott wrote a letter to be published in the Living Stones. Margaret Markham and Fr. Burley both sent letters to the parish about the upcoming visits and encouraging a focus on Stewardship for the coming year.
All callers were asked to make their own pledges and begin their calls starting October 18. Everone took very seriously their charge to call on 2-3 families to share the vision of St. Stephen's and see responses of those with ideas or needs from the church. Each family was given a pledge card and a jar of jam donated by Anne Cantrell. Calls were scheduled for October 18 through November 2.
Talks at church were given by Fr. Burley, Tom and Margaret to encourage parish support of Stewardship. All calls were made on time and pledge cards started arriving during offering times.
To celebrate the climax of Stewardship a "Festive Meal" was held on Saturday, November 23. Six callers acted as hostesses providing festive decorations and place settings. Jane Olcott prepared the tri-tip roast. Pot luck dishes added to the abundant feast. Members of the noon service provided home made tamales. Fr. Burley and Barbara Armenta made some presentations and we enjoyed music from Charlotte and Dick House. About 70 people attended and a very festive evening was enjoyed by all.
The Lord blessed our efforts mightily. The pledge income for 2009 is $78,150 with 33 pledging families. It as a 27% increase in pledging units and 7.7% increase in pledged income.
We truly did have so many blessings last year and there are signs of continued growth and blessings for the next year.
Tom and I thank everyone who helped and all who made their commitment for the coming year.

Margaret Markham & Tom Olcott

Daughters of the King

In March 2008, five ladies started the study to become members of the Daughters of the King. The study was lead by Joan Anderson a member of the St. Clare's Chapter, St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, Capitola, and president of the Daughters of the King for the Diocese of El Camino Real; and Patricia Savage, Daughters of the King member since 1991. The study was completed in August and the St. Anne's Chapter was installed on September 28th, 2008. The new daughters are Barbara Armenta, Anne Cantrell, Jeannette Dickens, Francine Head, and Margaret Markham.
St. Anne's Chapter of the Daughters of the King is a prayer ministry for St. Stephen's church and the parishioners. In addition, the Daughters are planning to develop an outreach that brings Christian fellowship to all women, including those who are house-bound.
The chapter is open to all women of the parish, if you are interested contact any Daughter or call Patricia Savage at 842-7346. There is information on Daughters of the King in the periodical rack in the narthex.

Patricia Savage

Internet Web Site

Our web site, www.ststephensgilroy.org has undergone some dynamic revisions this year and continues to grow in content as new ideas evolve. This last year I was delighted to figure out how to add dynamic scripture assists to our web site. On the opening page a daily scripture now appears that changes every day with no intervention by the webmaster. Also this year the daily readings page was enriched with the addition of dynamic links to actual scripture in both NIV and NRSV versions available to the readers with the click of a mouse.
Thanks to the wedding of Paul and Marcie Cox and the inability of some of Marcie's family to attend, I learned how to integrate a web camera so that they could see the wedding via the internet. After the wedding, I mounted the camera at the back of the sanctuary, and we leave it on all the time so that people can see our beautiful church any time they wish.
In the coming year I hope we are able to capture an audio image of the Sunday scripture readings and sermons that we can link to from our web site to give wider access to the messages.
I encourage all who have ideas for our web site to please provide them to me either in person, or send them to me in email. This is easily done by going to the contact page on the web site, locating the webmaster, and clicking on my email address which appears underlined in blue.

Paul W Savage, Webmaster

Report from the Junior Warden

We scheduled two cleanup workdays for 2008. The first one was held on March 31st with the Boy Scouts from Troop 711 assisting us. The side yard was cleared out and the accumulated trash was taken to the dump. Also, the garden shed was cleaned out and re-arranged. The second cleanup was scheduled for November 1st but we were rained out. Due to the holiday season's rapid approach, we were not able to re-schedule another cleanup day in 2008.
A display cabinet was built and installed in the church for the Altar Guild to display old church artifacts. This cabinet is dedicated to the memory of Jan Dettman who passed away two years ago. She was a long standing member of the Altar Guild.
The exterior of all four church buildings have been painted. The paint was purchased from funds generated by the "Buy a Can of Paint" drive and the painting was done by volunteers from the congregation, including Fr. Terry. An estimate of more than 1,000 hours of work was donated by the congregation. Ace Hardware on First Street generously gave us a very good discount on the paint.
The northern classroom wing and other facilities were modified so they could be used for a preschool. The work included opening the walls between the classrooms, installing a new water heater, repairing the roof overhang, installing a concrete handicap ramp, correcting electrical deficiencies, installing a concrete slab on the east side of the Parish Hall, revamping the playground surround and installing additional shredded bark. Again, I estimate at least another 1,000 hours of volunteer work was donated by the congregation.
I built and installed a document holder in the church to display various certificates.
The handrails in the stairway from the Sacristy to the Alter were replaced with sturdier handrails and grab bars.
A new urinal was installed in the Fellowship Hall men's room.
For the New Year the following projects are pending put are yet to be funded:
  • The church needs to be fumigated for termites. Estimated cost is $5,000.
  • Install security fencing to enclose the church grounds. Estimated cost is $10,000.
  • Re-seal and re-stripe the parking lot. Estimated cost is $3,500.
  • Erect a Lytch Gate at the front wall. The cost should be minimal if we can get donated lumber.
  • Complete placing concrete in the side yard of the Fellowship Hall. Estimated cost is $1,200.
  • Repair roof leak over Sacristy. Further investigation needed to determine extent of leak.
Yours in Christ,
Loren Cantrell, Junior Warden

Report from the Senior Warden

This was a year of challenges which were conquered by faith and prayers. This was the first full year that Father Terry was the pastor at Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church. His joyful spirit, constant presence, and unwavering faith in the Lord have brought us a sense of Christian identity to our parish.
The Vestry members gave tirelessly of their participation and prayer. They attended Vestry Training in Watsonville and Salinas, and they also participated in Fr. Terry's Vestry Retreat held at St. Stephen's. In 2008, the Vestry's goal was to grow the Church spiritually, inward and outward. These goals were met in many different ways.
The 2008 Budget was driven by belief that God would provide, and He provided for St. Stephen's. The year of 2008 began without a tenant to supplement the Church's coffer. God heard our prayers and brought Emeth Congregation to St. Stephen's door. Emeth relocated to their new facility in June leaving us, once again, with a reduction of income. Through prayer and inventive minds, we were able to fill the vacancy with a preschool, which operated under a locally licensed preschool teacher. Preparation for opening the preschool required effort beyond our imagination. The Lord blessed our Church with many workers who followed the lead of Jr. Warden, Loren Cantrell's superb construction abilities and energetic spirit to just do it. Generous parishioners opened their pocketbooks to pay for the renovation. Their funds were matched by Tom and Jane Olcott, who practice what they preach about tithing.
In the mix of the preschool classrooms renovation, routine church life was busy. Fr. Terry held us together with thoughtful Sunday sermons and ever present pastoral care. He taught Wednesday evening Bible Study and commenced the monthly Men's Prayer Breakfast. Fr. Terry taught a Catechism class which resulted in the confirmation of Marcy & Paul Cox, Kathy Dettmer, Francine Head, and Paige Moore. Richard Wallstrom applied for and received a Grant for the Audio Ministry which upgraded St. Stephen's sound system and added broadcasts by video to people in their homes. Our past treasurer, Patricia Savage, handed over the Financial Records to Stephen Ambler. Stephen was a welcomed addition to our Vestry team, and we appreciate his expertise, especially his participation in the Diocesan Auditor Training and Meeting that was held at St. Stephen's this year. Patricia continued her service for the Lord by organizing and initiating the installation of a new Chapter of Daughters of the King.
Lawrence Robles assisted St. Stephen's with the Sunday Noon Service and on occasion, the 8 and 10 AM services. Lawrence embraced his call in the Episcopal ministry this year and was ordained a priest in a ceremony held at Saint Stephen's Church, by Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves in the presence of many friends and colleagues within the Diocese.
We were grateful to have parishioners who organized and worked at this year's events, to mention a few: Parking Lot Sale, Soup & Salad Suppers, Passover Dinner, Blessings of the Animals, church work days, St. Patrick's party, E-scrip fundraiser, and website management. The 10 AM Sunday service was blessed with uplifting musical moments by the addition of regularly scheduled contemporary and gospel music. Along the lines of music, the Coffee House team decided to reorganize its concept and started with a special guest soloist, Bob Thomas. The altar guild graciously fulfilled the necessary preparations of St. Stephen's altar for every service. In addition, they cleaned and organized the Sacristy.
Several on-going ministries at St. Stephen's provided care to the community in 2008. The Resource Center, which is operated by St. Stephen's parishioners, offered the basics to several underprivileged people in Gilroy. Visitations were among the list of ministries performed by parishioners. Vision Literacy (an outside non-profit) taught reading at our site. Boy Scouts Troop met at St. Stephen's, and they helped with yard work on our work days. Alcohol Anonymous, a much needed service to the community, held meetings at St. Stephen's.
Additionally, many people in Gilroy received St. Stephen's warm hospitality in answer to special needs and care during life's events such as weddings, baptisms, and memorials. Most of the organizational responsibility of the events, which required culinary service at St. Stephen's, was directed by Anne Cantrell. This year, Anne was honored at UTO Ingathering (Episcopal Church Women's Annual Meeting), the Third Annual Parish Honored Women Awards.
December brought notice that the preschool operation would be leaving our church buildings. We, therefore, enter the new year with a vacancy that must be filled and with the challenge to obtain financial stability. While the loss of the preschool is an unfortunate thing, we have faith in God has something special is waiting for Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church.
"The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot keep us."

God's Blessings, Barbara Armenta

Report from the Rector

This has been an exciting year for St. Stephen's. We have grown in numbers, built the facility for our new pre-school, painted our entire church and ministry facility, and done new things. But most of all we have grown in faith. The Bible study has finished Genesis and Exodus, the Men's fellowship is studying themes in discipleship, and we have a new Daughters of the King chapter. The music ranges from spectacular choral offerings to foot-stomping praise music. New families have brought new energy, new skills.
This coming year I see the following projects coming to pass:
  • First of all we will be moving towards the creation of our own preschool program. True there may be income to be gained, but most of all our school will be a ministry, an outreach, and a presence in our community. Ultimately this will lead to even more new members and more energy.
  • Second, the music ministry that will include our webcam that allows shut-ins and those out of town to hear and see our services, sound recordings for those in hospitals and shut ins, and a rejuvenated Coffee House and other mini concerts.
  • Third, a new emphasis on our Sunday school and youth to match our growing numbers of children.
  • Fourth, as our commitment to stewardship expands, I am expecting a growing number of blessings that we will use to reach further out. It is my hope that we will begin to assign a greater percentage of our budget to outreach.
  • Fifth, I will seek to present opportunities for spiritual growth such as Faith Alive, Dare to Share and Life in the Spirit seminars.

A number of years ago I first came upon a small prayer from a faithful man of God, Jabez. Except for this small prayer, Jabez would be merely another name in passing among the servants of God. Here is the testimony of scripture about this quiet yet powerful man of faith:
"10 Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that thou wouldst bless me and enlarge my border, and that thy hand might be with me, and that thou wouldst keep me from harm so that it might not hurt me!" And God granted what he asked."
Ultimately it will not be the numbers of new members the Lord sends to us, or even the programs we accomplish that will mark our success as the People of God. It will be that we are a people of praise and prayer that are bold in seeking and asking an outpouring of God's blessing upon us as a parish, as individuals, and on those we serve.
The Lord paid a price to set us free from all that is past and all that holds us back. He did what he did to make us bold, powerful and joyful. This above all things will mark us as the People of God and the people of St. Stephen's.
I can't wait!


 
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