A Letter from Fr. Perry Pauley

October 2024


To the All Saints’ Family,


When I think about the faithful people who have called All Saints’ their spiritual home over the generations, I would guess there are a million reasons why people have chosen to be part of this community in the heart of North Central. As I look at the sea of faces each Sunday, I think often about the reasons people feel passionately about supporting the mission and ministry of All Saints’.


I can feel that passion when our people talk about our prison ministry. The work that we do to support incarcerated women and their families has formed this community in profound ways. This is much more than buying Christmas gifts or writing cards and letters–it is the very act of doing justice and showing mercy while growing in humility.


I can feel it in the joy of our newly reformed Youth Group. The teens in our church gather weekly for fun and fellowship. They support one another, they spend time together away from church, they care about each other, they participate in the life of the whole parish…and they bring their friends. This is what community looks like, and it’s a joy for me to see these young people come together.


I can feel it in the friendship all around our parish. I see it in our choir, a mostly volunteer group who give their heart and soul to making music . . . together. There are many choirs that make beautiful music, but what makes our choir special is their togetherness. Whether they are laughing their way through practice, enjoying a late-night happy hour after rehearsal, or hosting one of their legendary potlucks, the Choir at All Saints’ is a community within the community. The same goes for our Peregrinos, the young adults of our parish. They share meals, play games, and simply hang out with one another because they are friends.


For me, All Saints’ is a place that fills me with hope. While the world around us seems like it could spin out of control at any moment, we gather here, week after week, from all walks of life, and from all over the city (and online, around the world) for one reason: To remind ourselves that we are the people of God, the Body of Christ in the world around us. We gather to offer our prayers, to share a Common Meal, and to go forth, together, in the power of the Spirit. This is what hope looks like, and in 2025 and beyond, we will share that hope far and wide.


In 2024, the theme of our campaign was getting our house in order and we've spent the year working on our campus. We have installed several new HVAC systems, developed an integrated church - school building management system, upgraded our lighting, and updated our sound system. These repairs and upgrades were necessary to make our spiritual home feel more like a home that we are proud to call our own. In 2025, our focus is community and the reasons we all give so generously of ourselves to make All Saints' great. In the upcoming year, we have plans to expand our programs for children and youth, continue to grow our choir, and build on the strength of our outreach ministries that bring hope and peace to those who need it most. Our goal is to raise one million dollars to make this growth possible, and with God's help and your faithfulness, we will get there.




What is the reason you will give to support All Saints’? 

Use Tax Deferred Accounts

for Your Pledge to All Saints’

 

Pay the remainder of your 2023 pledge using tax savings strategies.

 

Retirement Accounts

 

If you have attained the age of 70 ½ when you must take a required minimum distribution (aka, RMD, in investor lingo) from your taxable retirement account(s), you may be able to benefit financially in two ways. You will not have to pay tax on the distribution as taxable income and you may avoid a Medicare-indexed surcharge if your income is higher than the maximum allowed.

 

If you would like to designate All Saints’ Episcopal Church as the recipient (or partial recipient) of this year’s RMD you should contact your financial advisor or the company that holds your retirement investments (such as Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Vanguard – there are many others). Then make a request to have the amount transferred directly from your account to All Saints’ via check. You will be required to provide the All Saints’ tax ID number which is 86-0133389 so they know funds are going to a tax-exempt organization. It is helpful to the church office if we know to look for a check issued on your behalf and to which pledge year it should be applied. We will notify you when it has arrived. You may want to set this up in November or early December so that checks are dated and mailed in a timely manner and received by December 31 because investment companies often get swamped with year-end requests.

 

When you turn age 70 ½, the IRS requires you to take a distribution or pay a 50 percent penalty of the RMD amount. Wouldn’t you prefer to decide how your retirement funds are used than leaving it to the IRS?

 

Gifts of Stock, Bonds or Mutual Funds

 

A second option for giving to All Saints’ is through a gift of individual company stock, bond, mutual fund or other investment that you may have bought or inherited and has increased in value through the years. When donated, you will receive credit in your giving statement for the current market value at the time the stock is transferred to All Saints’. Please contact the church office for the information you will need to give to your financial organization to effect the transfer. It takes three business days from the time the trade is initiated until it shows up in our account.

 

If you have questions, please call or email Christina Berlinger at cberlinger@allsaintsoncentral.org