ST. MARK'S AND ST. JOHN'S AN E.D.E.N COMMUNITY
2023 ANNUAL REPORT
CONTENTS
04 Staff Reports 10 Congregation & Community 12 E.D.E.N. Impact at a Glance 13 E.D.E.N. Volunteers & Mission Programs 19 SMSJ Partnerships 22 Financial Reports & 2024 Budget PAGE 2
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RECTOR'S REPORT
THE REV'D CYNTHIA RASMUSSEN Dear Friends in Christ, As we turn the page on another year, it's with hearts overflowing with gratitude that we reflect on the blessings showered upon St. Mark’s and St. John’s over 2023. God’s work in and through us this past year has been a testament to the enduring power of faith, the strength of our spiritual community and neighbors, and the impact of spreading God's message of love in ever-expanding ways. Seeds of Growth This year, we witnessed a blossoming of our congregational life and ministry. We welcomed new members into our fold, individuals from different backgrounds drawn by the beacon of Christ's love and the warmth of our fellowship. Our weekly worship services saw an average attendance of 35, which included an increasing number of weekly YouTube participants. People continue to be fed through common prayer with a deep commitment to community. Online Presence: Sharing and Receiving God’s Light We have come to recognize the power of technology to deepen our ties with one another and the world by embracing and investing in building our presence on several online platforms. Our website, Facebook, YouTube channel, and Instagram platforms are updated regularly and have drawn more and more followers. We are eager to have more members sign into OnRealm.org, our online community (including financial) platform that makes reaching out to folks in the community and signing up for activities easy. These online spaces have become a way for us to share and receive God’s light. We look forward to finding ways to increase activity and interest in all these spaces. Let us know if you are interested in helping.
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Pastoral Care, Volunteerism, and Membership Maria did an incredible job in 2023 in promoting and building our volunteer base. It was exciting to watch, and the parish benefited immensely from the loving energy of countless volunteers who planted seeds, moved soil in and out of garden beds, built food pantries, filled innumerable bags of food, handed out food to neighbors, grew thousands of pounds of veggies, kept bees and sold honey, attended neighborhood meetings, made the first micro-brew (“Lokal Trellis”) from homegrown hops, set-up and took down Farm Stand tents, ladled soup and threw pots for Empty Bowls. What an incredible blessing. In many ways, these moments of connection are the heartbeat of SMSJ. Our community is energized and profoundly impacted as we express a living faith. I invite you to share this story of commitment, joy, and resilience in Christ, and I encourage each of you to participate in our 2024 first Sunday of the month, “Connection Time,” following worship. With gratitude,
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OPERATIONS AND MISSIONS DIRECTOR REPORT MARIA HARTZ
This past year at St. Mark’s and St. John’s has been one of beautiful transformation and change. The winter season brought delightful anticipation of sprouting seeds, the taste of juicy cherry tomatoes, and bees buzzing around our church roof. While our gardens were put to sleep, my days were full of planning, organizing, and paving the way forward for what was to come at SMSJ. Purely by coincidence, our garden seed-starting retreat fell at the beginning of Holy Week. Just before Palm Sunday, we tediously pushed tiny seeds into soil trays and prayed that they would soon become an abundant source of fresh food for our neighbors. Those seeds were filled with hope. Minuscule reminders of hope in the resurrection went under lamps in the grow room to be tenderly cared for in the following weeks. As those seeds began to sprout and the ground began to defrost, I was left inspired about what was to come. The bulk of my year was spent in what felt like a volunteer hosting marathon. From April to October, more than 500 volunteers stepped foot onto E.D.E.N. Garden soil. Countless hours of laborious love were spent mulching, weeding, planting, and digging. Even more amazing than the work itself was knowing that 500 more people were ready to share our story to those they know. Good news is contagious. Reflections of hope and resurrection through our gardens cannot be contained to the lots where they stand. Rather, this good news has been shared all over Rochester and beyond.
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As much as I wish every day could be spent with my hands in the dirt, other duties called around SMSJ. We’ve executed a number of building improvements, including the installation of security cameras, a new exterior door on our office entrance, and repairs to our Gazebo on Rosewood Terrace. Caring for a building nearly 100 years old comes with its challenges, but we continue to make responsible decisions to keep our church as safe, beautiful, and efficient as possible. Making improvements to our building, particularly the repair of the Gazebo entrance, became a timely task of hospitality as we welcomed our Food Shelf guests back inside our building for the first time since the pandemic hit in 2020. We’ve once again invited our neighbors into the Great Hall to receive needed food and also be able to offer listening ears and prayer when requested. Overseeing this ministry this year has become not only an opportunity to connect with our neighbors to meet their physical needs, but also a chance to build relationships and offer pastoral care to those who seek it. Not a week goes by where I am not grateful to the SMSJ community for taking a chance on me and welcoming me to this place. To land in a congregation so welcoming, warm, passionate, and mission-minded has been life and career changing for me. I feel so fortunate to have a safe and affirming place to deeply explore my call to ministry, and to be on a journey of congregational life with you all. I look forward to the year ahead, prepared with many lessons learned in 2023.
“Never underestimate the importance of the beginning. Of anything. The beginning has the seeds of everything else to come.” -Carolyn Coman
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CO-WARDEN'S REPORT MICHELE HOLMES & WALT SNYDER
The highlights of 2023 for our Wardens were... Meeting the challenges of the year with optimism, creativity, grace and thanksgiving. Watching staff helping to address the needs of our building, community, and congregation - intervening flooding in the Great Hall, navigating a shift in mission volunteers, working on garden repairs, and more. Watching the peach tree in the E.D.E.N. Church garden blossom, produce, and seem to defy physics with all the peaches it produced! Watching Freedom Scholars receive fresh peaches as they filed in for learning and fun was such a joy. Saying “God’s peace be with you” to each of my church family (whom I’ve grown so close to) with a smile, hug, or fist bump. Our Empty Bowls fundraiser and all the joy and energy that was brought into that space. Having a beautiful church to attend, with an exceptional Pastor, that gives us an opportunity to serve, and that is accepting and loving towards all.
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MUSIC REPORT ANDY LACEY, MUSICIAN We have had another spectacular year of music here at St. Mark's and St. John's. We have introduced great new songs and hymns to our repertoire and continue to make strides to be more of an ally to our friends and neighbors in the community. I have greatly appreciated the hard work of Maria Hartz with our handball choir, it is always a blessing to hear those bells ring once a month! I would also like to thank Rob for his consistent and continued dedication to our services. As well as the fantastic job he does on the sound board every week. Thank you! My studio continues to be mostly virtual, although I do use the studio space one day a week for in person lessons, and often as an office for getting work done. I have also added a colleague who teaches some students out the room on a different day of the week than me. If anyone knows of someone who would be interested in lessons of any kind, voice, piano, guitar, etc. have them contact me. We performed the national anthem this year once again at a Red Wings game in July and had a great time, I look forward to doing it again next year! This year, I tuned our August Forester grand piano in the sanctuary and it is sounding great! I'm grateful for the opportunity to improve the instruments I play on myself. Thank you all for an incredible year and for being a wonderful community of the followers of Christ, it is a pleasure to serve with you.
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CONGREGATION & COMMUNITY
ALTAR GUILD, FAITH FORMATION, AND MORE The Altar Guild is a small but mighty force responsible for assisting the Pastor to prepare the Altar and location for all services at SMSJ. Altar Guild is an invaluable ministry role, and is always seeking new members to assist Mary Estey and her team. Curious about what this ministry entails? Our Altar Guild takes care of: Changing seasonal hangings and linens Ensuring Worship space is clean and in good condition for service Preparing for Eucharist Decorating for special occasions and holidays Congregational community life at SMSJ continues to flourish. Our monthly Family Fun Days have created an opportunity to gather with old and new friends for fun and fellowship. Potlucks and fundraisers have fostered a means to share meals with each other and grow our community. Our Lenten Celtic Ways to Pray study group was a unique opportunity to learn about different prayer practices and connecting our faith to the creation around us. We continue to make beautiful music through our monthly handbell ensemble, and hope to continue to grow this musical ministry in the new year.
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HONEY FROM OUR BEE HIVES GETTING JARRED FOR FARM STAND JULY 2023
TASTING CARROTS FRESH FROM EDEN 1199 SEPTEMBER 2023
A DAY OF MULCHING AT EDEN PARSELLS WITH U OF R STAFF APRIL 2023
SERVING DELICIOUS SOUP AT EMPTY BOWLS NOVEMBER 2023
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E.D.E.N. IMPACT AT A GLANCE E.D.E.N. Food Shelf 31,000 lbs of food distributed 6,960 individuals impacted 215 households served 14 zip codes represented E.D.E.N. Gardens 3,000+ lbs of produce grown garden beds 103 producing food volunteer hours 32 donated weekly 5 gardens refurbished E.D.E.N. Farm Stand $700 raised this season hours 160 volunteer donated 120 neighborhood shoppers 8 weeks of Farm Stand PAGE 12
E.D.E.N. MISSION VOLUNTEERS Volunteer Hours Donated Farm Stand 160 hours donated
Food Bagging 192 hours donated
Food Shelf Distribution 208 hours donated
Our E.D.E.N. mission programs have been graciously sustained by 35 weekly volunteers as well as 16 unique volunteer groups who served consistently all year long!
Weekly Gardening 768 hours donated
Special thanks to our many volunteer groups from: Eastman School of Music Nazareth University Rochester Institute of Technology St. John Fisher University St. Paul’s Episcopal Church St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church Teen Empowerment University of Rochester Webster Thomas High School
WE WELCOMED 573 VOLUNTEERS FROM VISITING GROUPS! (THAT’S OVER 4,000 HOURS OF SERVICE DONATED) PAGE 13
E.D.E.N. GARDENS If you don’t believe in the power of holy transformation, take a look at the photos below that show the difference that 5 years, hundreds of hours, and countless volunteers can make on a vacant City lot. After SMSJ acquired the 336 Parsells Ave lot in 2018, an abundance of hard work needed to be put in to make it a green growing space for food production. After a couple years of battling bindweed in our garden beds, manual watering, and a lawn constantly needing to be mowed, it was time for some additional changes. E.D.E.N. Parsells was one of our three gardens to be originally selected for renovation through the Partners for Places grant. Through this grant funding, wooden garden beds were replaced with new metal ones that will last nearly 20 years. Ground cover was added to help tackle the invasive weeds, and automatic irrigation was installed at this garden for the first time! Other transformations continued at E.D.E.N. Children’s and Denver, the other two gardens originally selected to be part of the Partners for Places project. Work that began in 2020 was finally completed thanks to so many volunteers from across
EDEN PARSELLS - 2018
EDEN PARSELLS - 2023
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Rochester. Our Children’s Garden now has an accessible stone ramp for wheelchairs and strollers, as well as a pergola for plants to vine and provide a shaded seating area. Our Denver Garden is home to a natural food forest, filled with blueberry bushes, pear trees, and more! With additional grant funding from Partners for Places as well as our friends at First Baptist Church, we were able to purchase new garden beds for our E.D.E.N. Merchants and 1199 Gardens as well. This investment has not only been an asset to curb appeal and food production, but we hope also shows our commitment to our neighbors that we are here to stay and do this important work. Throughout this garden season, we have made the conscious effort to build deeper relationships with the neighbors of our gardens. By sharing produce right off the vine, teaching others how to harvest, and educating others about the work that we do, we prayerfully and thoughtfully continue this holy work of growing food for all who need it in Beechwood and beyond.
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FOOD SHELF Our Food Shelf program made several large transitions this year as we shifted leadership in pantry operations, navigated changes with our partners at Foodlink, and helped many of our neighbors move through the end of additional food-related benefits they were receiving since the pandemic began. At the beginning of 2023, Maria took over the menu planning, deliveries, invintory, volunteer coordination, and Foodlink partnership management that was previously roles that volunteer leadership had overseen. This was not a small nor easy shift, but we have all taken it in stride to best serve our guests. We are continuously praying for the right person to come our way to help lift this load, and invite you to pray along with us as we continue this holy work. We were grateful for our friends at MVP who were present at Food Shelf every week for several months at the start of the year helping to get neighbors signed up for low-cost medical insurance who needed it. This partnership was at the heart of our mission as we work to meet as many needs as we can through our programs. Through our work with SMSJ, growth and learning has been evident in us all. Working together, bringing a community together along with our own, has further proven our ability to benefit one another...Showing the true value of service and what it can do to us all, inspiring change and leadership growth. -Helene G. Titan Service Scholar at Webster Thomas High School
This year has been one of building new relationships through Food Shelf. In April, our friends at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church reached out to us about how they might be able to help serve our ministries and our neighbors. Teams of volunteers have faithfully been showing up to bag 192 bags of food every other week, and this has been
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such a wonderful display of faith and partnership in action! This has been a huge gift in ensuring bags get packed for distribution. The mid-year point continued to bring transition and change as we needed to adjust our pantry experience to be more compliant with standards required as a Foodlink partner agency. For the first time since 2020, we once again welcomed guests down the stairs into the Great Hall to collect guest information and distribute food. This transition certainly had some bumps in the road, but overall has wound up being an extremely positive change. We’ve also learned more about other pantries in Rochester, and are proud to say that we have some of the lowest barriers standing in the way of someone needing food. We continue to place no limitation on zip code, frequency of attendance, or income level.
Individuals Served by Zip Code 5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
No n-C ity Zip Cod es
Oth er Cit yZ ip C ode s
146 05
146 21
146 09
0
Although a hard adjustment at first, these new guidelines have allowed us to build deeper relationships with our neighbors as we learn everyone’s names, faces, and stories. We have been given the gift of a bit more time with guests and are able to lend a listening ear to those who need it. This ministry would not be possible without the countless folks who have dedicated time to help unloading the Foodlink truck, bagging food, and distributing it every single Wednesday. As one of very few pantries in 14609, we are proud to continue to serve our neighbors each week.
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E.D.E.N. FARM STAND
The SMSJ Farm Stand was open every Saturday morning on the church lawn from 9:30 until noon this past summer. Friends and neighbors from the Beechwood neighborhood stopped by to purchase fruits and vegetables from the EDEN Gardens. They are sold at a reasonable price along with jam and baked goods. Music was provided by Deb and Walt Snyder. The weather cooperated most of our summer Saturdays! We had fewer people stop by the stand this year. The sidewalks around the church were under construction and it was more difficult to reach us. We will be thinking of some new ideas to improve our attendance in 2024. Ideas and suggestions are welcome! Money earned at the Farm Stand is used to fund start up costs of the gardens the following summer. We welcome anyone interested in helping out on a Saturday next summer to join us.
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SMSJ PARTNERSHIPS St. Mark’s and St. John’s is continuously blessed with partners who donate their time and talents to our ministry and missions. These partnerships allow us to go above and beyond what would be possible on our own. Local universities and high schools have supplied an invaluable volunteer group work force through garden renovation projects and lots of heavy lifting. Church communities in our Diocese and beyond have prayerfully supported us through grant funding. Nazareth University’s Weider Community Engagement program has been a faithful partner as we’ve hosted their Naz in Action Day, MLK Day of Service, Helping Hands Volunteer Group, and Alternative Spring Break Leaders in our Gardens and at Food Shelf. St. John Fisher University professor Sharon Delmendo has worked tirelessly at the E.D.E.N. Merchants Garden as a volunteer, and has begun strengthening the partnership between SJFU and SMSJ. Student volunteers from Sharon’s ENGL 3990 class have spent time in the garden learning about new composting techniques and working to improve our food production. An incredible highlight this year for our mission programs was all of the ways we were able to collaborate with our friends at Webster Thomas High School. They served with us for 10 different volunteer days this year, and we had nearly their entire freshmen class in our gardens for 6 of those days! These amazing students went above and beyond to support our neighbors by donating over 2,000 lbs of food collected during their spirit week competition. It is partnerships like these that are rooted in faithful service, food sovereignty education, and thoughtful relationships that continue to stretch and grow us and our ministries.
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Our students have valued getting to know the work that SMSJ does with the community, learning about the need and the impact of community engagement through community gardening, work in the food pantry, and discussions about access to healthy foods. -Adam L. & Jen C. Weider Community Engagement, Nazareth University
FREEDOM SCHOLARS LEARNING CENTER From FSLC Executive Director, Jeremy Smith “As the executive director of FSLC, Inc. I have had the privilege and honor of serving alongside such an impactful and inspiring faith based organization. As a partner with SMSJ I can attest to the genuine love they have for children and families! They continuously allow our scholars, in summer and after-school, access to their lovely community gardens and grow room which assist us in expanding our agriculture activities. This makes it easier for us to create more meaningful learning that stimulates their interest in garden literacy. SMSJ Staff allows our scholars to paint, jar honey, and even play music ensembles in the church with them not only to build relationships with them but to extend the church as safe space to play, learn, and have fun! SMSJ also extends this similar genuine love and support to our parents and families. In this current economic state we are in, a lot of our parents are struggling to maintain basic essentials (soap, diapers, tissue) on a consistent basis. SMSJ has been there to provide for them at times of need. This has been a tremendous connection for our families and they cherish it dearly, especially during the times they really need it! Knowing that there is non-biased and non-judgmental environment at SMSJ our parents feel they can ask and be comfortable asking without feeling any guilt. The genuine love, the constant support, and the building community that SMSJ displays provides us with a sense of the congregation being our allies and deep relationship rather than solely a partnership.”
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NAZARETH UNIVERSITY’S “NAZ IN ACTION” DAY AUGUST 2023
RETREAT HOSTED FOR ST. THOMAS’ EPISCOPAL CHURCH JULY 2023
CONSTRUCTION OF OUR LITTLE FREE PANTRY WITH WEBSTER THOMAS HS MARCH 2023
REMOVING OLD GARDEN BEDS AT E.D.E.N. PARSELLS APRIL 2023
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2023 FINANCIAL REPORT 2023 Revenue
2023 Expenses
Pledge & Plate
$99,941.08
Spritual/Educational
$1,371.54
Investment Draw
$47,500.00
Emergency Food Direct Costs
$24,465.71
Food Shelf
$24,664.62
Neighborhood Missions
$5,448.21
Neighborhood Development
$24,028.60
Staff
$121,173.26
Congregational Development Grant
$12,000
Property
$38,944.52
Additional Revenue
$1,064.12
Administration
$10,942.68
Diocesan/Episcopal Support
$11,356.00
Total Expenses
$214,762.92
Total Revenue
$209,474.16
Congregational Dev. Grant 6.7% Admin 5.6%
Neighborhood Dev. 7.8%
Epis. Supp. 5.6%
Emergency Food 14.1%
Neighborhood 4.6%
Property 14.2%
Food Shelf 20.3%
Pledge/Plate 50.4%
Investment Draw 14%
Staff 55.1%
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2024 APPROVED BUDGET 2024 Revenue
2024 Expenses
Pledge & Plate
97,405
Spritual/Educational
$1,450
Investment Draw
$45,000
Emergency Food Direct Costs
$21,500
Food Shelf
$21,500
Neighborhood Programming
$5,140
Neighborhood Development
$29,500
Staff
Congregational Development Grant
$11,000
Additional Revenue
Total Revenue
$122,722.84
Property
$36,385
Administration
$12,200
Diocesan Apportionment
$11,924
$1,350
204,951.00
$211,571.84
Total Expenses
Congregational Dev. Grant 6%
Admin 4.9%
Neighborhood Dev. 11.2%
Diosc. App. 5%
Property 14.8%
Neighborhood 6.2%
Pledge/Plate 43.9% Food Shelf 15.5%
Investment Draw 22.5%
Staff 53.9%
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Emergency Food 14.1%
THANK YOU
FOR ANOTHER GREAT YEAR!
St. Mark’s & St. John’s Episcopal Church 1245 Culver road | rochester, ny 14609 stmarksandstjohns.org