Groups & Ministries

Everyone who enters our sanctuary or chapel to attend Sunday, Easter or Christmas services, First Wednesday Chapel Eucharist, baptisms, marriage ceremonies or memorial services witnesses the work of the members of the Altar Guild. The Guild members arrange altar and chapel flowers, care for the linens, brass and silver, and assure that the vestments and banners are ready for each service and season. During Christmas and Holy Week they beautify the church with special decorations.

The Guild is divided into rotating teams comprising two or three members. Each team determines its own preparation schedule; however, most teams meet for 30 – 40 minutes on a Friday or Saturday. On Sunday morning one team member cleans up after the 8am service and the others clean up after the 10am service.

Mary Cloutier coordinates the altar flower donations, contacting people who have given flowers in the previous year, communicating with the florist and providing Grace Notes bulletin announcements. If you’d like to donate or arrange flowers, please talk with Mary.

Sheila Baraze (sbaraze@pacbell.net), Mary Cloutier (cloutier_34@yahoo.com), and Arlene Leslie (arleneleslie@comcast.net) serve as co-directors and share the responsibilities for coordinating Guild activities.

All interested men, women and teenagers are invited to join this ministry. We’re seeking additional members so there can be 3 and possibly 4 members per team.

The All Saints’ Book Club meets irregularly, but tries to meet every 6 – 8 weeks to read modern popular literature selected by members. We select both fiction and non-fiction. This last year we read The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen and The Pearl That Broke its Shell by Nadia Hashimi. We meet on various Sundays after church, after coordinating with adult forums. Please feel free to join us. We are an informal group and members are welcome to just listen or to speak about the book.

The All Saints’ Sunday School program currently consists of two age groups. For children aged three to six The Godly Play curriculum provides a story-based interactive introduction to both the Old and New Testaments. For the seven- to eleven-year-old group the lectionary-based Seasons of the Spirit curriculum offers a variety of activities based on the same scriptural readings their families experience in church each week. Leslie Bannerman, Dennis Manalo, and Barbara Sawka rotate as Godly Play teachers, while Marianne Witscher teaches Seasons of the Spirit. Darlene Luna serves as our childcare provider in Small Saints.

The first Sunday of each month the 10 am service incorporates children and youth as greeters, lectors, and usher assistants, and Rodney Gehrke includes Junior Choir participation in services on a regular basis – all ways to nurture and welcome the children to our broader parish life. Following the tradition of some years now, Father Terry with the help of parents and grandparents orchestrated the Christmas pageant as the focal point of the Family Service on Christmas Eve. The children also crafted celebratory “birthday” cards and signs and posed for photographs – all to be included in the time capsule commemorating the church’s 125th anniversary.

We especially value parish volunteers who assist in both Small Saints and the Godly Play program – you are always needed and welcome! Please contact Barbara Sawka or Marianne Witscher for more information on helping in Small Saints or with either of the Sunday School classes.

The All Saints’ Counters are a group of parishioners who share responsibility for counting, recording, and depositing each week’s income (including pledges, plate, rents, donations, and other miscellaneous receipts). Counting usually takes place on Monday morning when income is sorted and recorded for posting by the Parish Administrator and then deposited. Counters work in rotating teams of two so that any individual counts only once every three to four weeks. Parish Administrator Susan Reaves works closely with the team and is always available to answer questions and give direction when necessary.

Our dedicated team of counters includes Susan Barkan, Mary Cloutier, Bruce Delagi, Chris Gandel, Laurie Jarrett, Dianne Krueger, Barbara Sawka, Margaret Weil, and Kate Zablocki. Those interested in learning about or joining this ministry may contact Barbara Sawka.

The Eucharistic Visitor Ministry to the sick and home-bound at All Saints’ is carried out by men and women who have been trained for this ministry. Eucharistic Visitors (EVs) are first trained as Eucharistic Ministers (EMs – lay persons who assist the priest at the altar during services). Eucharistic Ministers usually serve as EMs for two years before they take EV training. After the Sunday service, the EV takes the Blessed Sacrament to persons confined to home or hospital, so that they are linked not only to Christ but also to the gathered worshiping community. The EVs serve an important role in augmenting the sacramental ministry provided by the clergy. EVs also coordinate with the pastoral care team to facilitate other needed services to parish members. This ministry was authorized by the national church in 1985 and All Saints’ has had EVs since that time. If you would like to join this ministry or receive EV services, contact the Rector.

Hospitality, the providing of snacks after the 10:00 service, is a work of all our members. A signup sheet in the parish hall is always available, and with it a list of suggested foodstuffs. Vestry members provide timely reminders to the congregation when it looks like lean times ahead. Thank you all who contribute – your continued support is welcome and an important element in building and enhancing our common life .

All Saints’ is blessed to have dedicated Eucharistic Ministers (EMs). Every Sunday one EM assists at the 8am service and two assist at the 10am service.  If anyone (man or woman) is interested in becoming a Eucharistic Minister, or just interested in learning more about this ministry, please contact Fr. Terry (tpgleeson@asaints.org) or Arlene Leslie (arleneleslie@comcast.net). Training will be provided! Come be a part of this important ministry!

All Saints’ Men’s Group is an open forum where men can talk with other men about common issues of living in a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-faith community such as Palo Alto. The Men’s Breakfast Group meets the fourth Tuesday morning each month from 8-9:30 to enjoy coffee, pastries, and conversation. As men we share spirituality and support for each other in personal difficulties and triumphs alike. We bear witness to each other’s lives. Together, the men also prepare the parish Christmas dinner and Easter meal, along with at least one dinner for Hotel de Zink.

Contacts: Ken Van Bree or John Tinsley

Liturgy and music making at All Saints’ inspires us and holds us together. We are a congregation that loves to sing and to listen, both of which are assisted by our wonderful acoustic and our two fine Flentrop organs (as well as the grand piano and harpsichord).

Our adult choir now numbers 26 members. Beyond supporting the weekly Eucharist through hymns, descants, canticles, and anthems, the choir offers three or four Evensongs, an Advent Lessons and Carols liturgy, as well as extra liturgies on Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and of course Christmas Eve. Evensongs continue to attract many friends from other congregations and faith traditions, and visiting vocalists regularly assist our own choir. Our choir is also regularly invited to provide Compline at Stanford’s Memorial Church. Easter Day and Christmas Eve we are joined by the Whole Noyse, the premiere Bay Area early-music wind band.

The Junior Choir continues to sing about once a month during the school year. The children are full of energy (and sometimes a challenge to harness….) but they are always ready to sing in liturgy.

Anyone interested in joining the choir or otherwise contributing to the music of All Saints’, please contact our Director of Music, Rodney Gehrke.