Future of Our Block




May 20, 2026


Dear saints, 
In recent weeks, we have rightly paid a lot of attention to the nature of a building on our block - the Egleston building. We have talked about it, toured it, reported on the major features of that tour for those who missed it, and no doubt shared many a conversation about what we think of the building ourselves. As part of that due diligence, we are now able to share a thorough Conditions Summary of Egleston that our architects, Perkins&Will, have worked hard to put together.

In it you’ll find the following themes addressed:

  • Interior and Exterior Architectural Conditions
  • Site Features
  • A Code Assessment
  • An Envelope Assessment
  • And Other Themes, including: Accessibility, Energy Issues, and Egress

For those of you who enjoy getting under the hood with these sorts of things, the conditions summary will be an excellent read. For my own part, what I found most compelling about the document was this emphasis: that the assessment centers on the lived experience of those who use the building. This spoke to me because, as I shared in my sermon on Sunday, the beautiful thing about buildings is that if you build them the right way, you end up with people inside of them. All sorts of people.

 We have paid a lot of attention to the physicality of Egleston Hall. We have needed to do so in this work, and will continue to. Yet, of primary importance when it comes to our buildings is the people who use them. 

I love the vision of the people who planned for and built Egleston Hall in the early 20th century. I find their sense of what a church property could be to be wonderfully generous. Egleston was a building for the parish, and for the community that gathered in it from beyond the church membership. It expressed a vision for All Saints’ to be in the city, for the city - even before there was a city to be in as there is today. 

The vision for Egleston that emerged from our years of listening to one another in the parish engagement work that led to our master plan for the whole block is one that wants that sort of use of Egleston to rise again.  

No doubt, it won’t be the same as it is today, and cannot be if we are serious about being a church that welcomes everyone. We have to have buildings that are not only accessible but welcoming to all. 

For me, the heart of Egleston - whatever bricks and mortar we end up with - will be the life that is shared in and around the physical structure. As I preached from the pulpit, as a parish church famed for its decades-long commitment to inclusion, we should seek to build a place where all are welcome. In the words Teresa of Avila,

‘For it is true, together we live; and only at that shrine where all are welcome will God sing loud enough to be heard'.

It is my deep desire that our work will indeed enable us to be a church where God will sing loud enough to be heard because all will be welcome here. We are called not only to say those words from behind an altar, but to live out that invitation for all to be welcome across this block and in all that we do as a church.

As always, share what you are thinking. Through the Sundays of summer your fellow parishioners who are working so hard on this project will be available for you to have a heart-to-heart with. I warmly encourage you to tell them whatever is on your mind. Additionally, following a final note from me next week, as we move into June and July you will hear from some other voices from within our parish. 

Thinking of them and how much this truly is a team effort, I remain deeply thankful to the parishioners giving so much of themselves on the Egleston task force, the block development committee and the vestry. Their contact details are below should you wish to share a thought with them by email, or simply join me in expressing your gratitude.

For it is true, together we live'.


The Rev. Dr. Simon Mainwaring, Rector 




Video Archives

Sunday, April 19, 10:20 a.m. - 11:05 a.m., Ellis Hall and Online

Join the Egleston Task Force as the Conditions Assessment for Egleston Hall is shared and discussed together. There will be ample opportunity for parishioners to ask questions and offer comments. All are warmly encouraged to attend.

Sunday, March 22, 10:20 a.m. - 11:05 a.m., Ellis Hall and Online

Join our architects Perkins and Will and the parishioner teams leading the work on the first phase of our master plan for an opportunity to learn about our progress thus far and share your insights.

Campus Master Plan Presentation

Sunday, May 4, 10:20 a.m. - 11:05 a.m., Ellis Hall and Online

After a multi-year discernment process and input from hundreds of parishioners, All Saints’ is now ready to bring that process to its exciting conclusion. Join fellow parishioners as Simon shares the master plan for the future of our block. 

Future of Our Block Forum: The Future Church Report and Our Core Ministries

Sunday, October 13, 10:20 a.m. - 11:05 a.m., Ellis Hall and Online

Join our rector, Simon, this Sunday for the first in a three-part forum series offering an update on our discernment process for the future of the church on our block. During the forum you will hear a summary of the Future Church Task Force report from Simon, and from each of our core ministry leaders about their vision for the future.

Future Of Our Block Forum: Share Your Thoughts
Sunday, May 5, 10:20 a.m. - 11:05 a.m., Ellis Hall

Join Simon and the steering committee for the Future of Our Block as they share a summary of all of the wide array of reflections and insights we have heard via the block survey, town halls, home gatherings, online comments, e-mail and one-on-one conversations. There is a lot of great input to share!

Future of Our Block Parish Engagement Launch

Sunday January 21, 10:20 a.m. - 11:05 a.m., Ellis Hall

Join our Rector, Simon Mainwaring, as we launch our Future of Our Block parish engagement process. Simon will lay out the process for the next several weeks, the core questions we want to raise up as a parish and how you can lend your voice as we discern how God calls us to fashion our block for the future of All Saints'.

Future of Our Block Parish Engagement Launch

Sunday, January 28, 10:20 a.m. - 11:05 a.m., Ellis Hall

Join fellow parishioners in Ellis Hall for a town hall style conversation about the future of our block. Please come and share what's most important to you about our church, your ideas and visions for the block, and what you feel we should pay most attention to through this process. This is the first in a series of three town halls.

Future of Our Block: Town Hall #2

Sunday, February 11, 10:20 a.m. - 11:05 a.m., Ellis Hall

Join fellow parishioners in Ellis Hall for a town hall style conversation about the future of our block. Please come and share what's most important to you about our church, your ideas and visions for the block, and what you feel we should pay most attention to through this process. This is the second in a series of three town halls.

Future of Our Block: Town Hall #3

Sunday, February 18, 10:20 a.m. - 11:05 a.m., Ellis Hall

Join fellow parishioners in Ellis Hall for a town hall style conversation about the future of our block. Please come and share what's most important to you about our church, your ideas and visions for the block, and what you feel we should pay most attention to through this process. This is the third in a series of three town halls.



Future of Our Block E-Mail Update Archives

Monday, April 13, 2026

Dear saints,

Yesterday we held our annual parish meeting in Ellis Hall. A 
new slate of vestry members was duly elected and a presentation was made of our financial health as a church, which I am pleased to say is excellent...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, March 24, 2026

This past Sunday at All Saints’ was a wonderful window into who we are as a church. The 9:00 a.m. service was led by our children. They read, led the prayers and the Creed, and even pronounced the Peace...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, March 16, 2026

Dear saints,

The nations of the Haudenosaunee hold dear a value called the ‘Seventh Generation Principle’, which invites its people to ask how decisions that are made today might be of benefit for those who will follow them tomorrow....  

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, March 9, 2026

Dear saints,

I wonder if you can remember those curiously unique Sundays when we held services in the courtyard during the Covid pandemic? No doubt, there was much that I’d rather forget about those days, including having to mark out the minimum spacing the diocese required us to have between our ‘pods’ of seating...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, March 2, 2026

Dear saints,

Many of you may already know that I grew up a chorister. I was immensely fortunate to have been a member of a church choir that was led by a truly gifted organist and choirmaster. From when I was about nine years old, our parish choir began traveling around England to sing in some of the most glorious sacred spaces in Europe...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, February 23, 2026

Dear saints,

As someone whose vocation has been spent listening to people’s stories of their lives within the context of church communities, I have always marveled at how much history keeps on coming round again. Take, for example, the Boy Scouts...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, February 16, 2026

Dear saints,

This past week our architects, Perkins and Will, 
held its first listening sessions with the church staff and representatives of our core ministries. Among the many things that I marvel at about All Saints’ is the sheer volume of activity that happens on our block every week...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, February 9, 2026

Dear saints,

I am delighted to be able to share that All Saints’ has selected an architecture firm to partner with us through the first phase of the completion of our master plan. In mid-December of last year, our project management team, North Ave, initiated a Request for Proposals process...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, February 2, 2026

Dear saints,

Recently, I have been enjoying going back through All Saints’ vestry minutes, starting when All Saints’ was founded in 1903. It has been fascinating to see how many of the questions that occupy the vestry today were also on the minds of their predecessors 123 years ago...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, January 26, 2026

Dear saints,

This weekend’s winter storm offered a timely reminder of the importance of preparing well. I pray that each of you made it through safe and sound, and we continue to give thanks for all those who serve the public good with sacrifice and compassion helping those most in need, especially at times like these...


Click here to read the full letter.

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Dear saints,

In this season of Epiphany, Christians are encouraged to look to the glory of God made manifest in the world. As the Body of Christ, the Church is intended to be a vessel for that glory, a beacon of light for people to see and to take hope from....


Click here
to read the full letter.

Monday, May 5, 2025

Dear saints,

I am delighted to be able now to share with you the campus master plan for the future of the church on our city block. You may also access the recorded presentation of the master plan made yesterday in Ellis Hall. This master plan is the fruit of many years of labor and represents...


Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, April 28, 2025

Dear saints, 

It’s finally here! This Sunday, May 4th, following the 9:00 a.m. service, we will share with the parish our master plan for All Saints’ city block. No doubt, the master plan will have things to say about our buildings and grounds, and there is a lot that is of incredible value about them in their own right...


Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, April 21, 2025

Dear saints, 

It's easy, isn't it, to miss what's right in front of your eyes when you see it every day. On the Saturday before Palm Sunday, when the future of our block committee met with the vestry, we went on a walk around the West Peachtree side of our block...


Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, April 14, 2025

Dear saints, 

This past weekend, the Future of Our Block Steering Committee submitted its final report to the vestry. Whilst it was true that after six hours we were all glad to have reached the end of our time in the room together, there was also a deep sense of fulfillment that All Saints’ had faithfully completed the work entrusted to us with care and faithfulness.

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, April 7, 2025

Dear saints, 
Before I visited Israel for the first time, I was not sure what to expect seeing the places Jesus had walked and lived 2000 years before. I imagined that the stories that I had first heard as a young child, and over and over again throughout my life, would in some way become more real to me. And then I went there... 
Click here to read the whole newsletter.

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Dear saints, 
This weekend the Vestry and the Future of Our Block steering committee will be on retreat together as we continue to make great progress with our discernment work for the future of the church on our city block. We plan to cover a lot of ground...
Click here to read the whole newsletter.

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Dear saints, 
One of my favorite elements of our years-long discernment process over the future God calls us to on this block has been all of the learning I've been able to do....
Click here to read the whole newsletter.

Monday, August 19, 2024

Dear saints, 
As promised last week, for the next couple of months I will share a weekly note as we continue to discern how God calls us forward to be the church in this place. ....
Click here to read the whole newsletter.

Monday, August 12, 2024

Dear saints, 
It has been a busy summer for the Future of Our Block Steering Committee. We have worked through all of the excellent insights you offered as a parish during months of engagement this spring and I am delighted to share the fruits of that labor here... 
Click here to read the whole newsletter.

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Dear saints, 

Last Sunday, we offered back to you what we heard you say about the future of All Saints' on this city block. Sunday marked the end of our "information gathering" phase... 

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, April 29, 2024

Dear saints, 

Across the street from my office window in Egleston, I can see the North Avenue MARTA station. Over the past couple of weeks it has been getting a facelift...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, April 22, 2024

Dear saints, 

I’ve had the gift and opportunity to spend the past week with clergy from across the United States. It has been fascinating to hear about the relationships they and their church communities have toward their buildings...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, April 15, 2024

Dear saints, 

Well, there was no ice cream on the walls and nobody left Ellis Hall hungry on Sunday morning. Sundae Survey Sunday was a grand success not only because the ice cream and their many and varied toppings were truly fantastic, but also because we now have surpassed...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, April 8, 2024

Dear saints, 

In the early fifth century, bishop and theologian Augustine of Hippo wrote, "Receive what you are and become what you receive." Augustine was referring to the sacrament of the Eucharist. He goes on in his sermon: "If you, therefore, are Christ's body and members, it is your own mystery that is placed on the Lord's table! It is your own mystery that you are receiving! You are saying 'Amen' to what you are." What a wonderful image that is...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, April 1, 2024

Dear saints,

Greetings to one and all this Easter Monday. The staff and I are enjoying a few days respite this week following what was a truly wonderful Easter weekend at All Saints' this year.

For my own part, I have jumped across the pond to spend a few days with my mom...

Click here to read the whole newsletter.

Monday, March 25, 2024

Dear saints,

If there is a word that I have heard repeated more than any other as I have chatted to people about their hopes for our block, it is 'community'. People love our church building. Our music is food for the soul and our core ministries speak to what it means to be the people of God in this place. Yet, for most, it seems, it is the people, the relationships, the community of All Saints' that lies at the heart of who we are as a church...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, March 18, 2024

Dear saints,

This past Sunday, I preached about the retirement of Christendom. If Christendom was people choosing church on a Sunday morning, or for their child's baptism, or for their wedding day, Christendom's retirement is people choosing sports leagues and golf courses and sleep on a Sunday morning instead. That’s a rather crude way to put it, but the essence is there. You and I are living at the turning of a page...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Dear saints,

Thank you to everyone who has already filled out our parish survey. It is exciting to see so many of you engaging in this important discernment process. If you have not yet filled out a survey, please follow the link below. I am very grateful for your time.

As we imagine our future it is helpful to get a fuller sense of our present in terms of life on our block today...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, March 4, 2024

Dear saints,

We are now six weeks into this exciting season as a parish as we discern together the future of our block. We have held four town halls, we have begun a series of ten home gatherings across metro-Atlanta and QR-coded posters have been soliciting your vision for the block all over the campus...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, February 26, 2024

Dear saints,

In the last parish that I served, in San Diego, California, at some point in the 1960s they started a program called "TIO," which stood for "talk it over." The gist of it was that small groups of parishioners would meet in one another's homes, sit in a circle, and tell one another what they really had on their minds about their life together...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, February 19, 2024

Dear saints,

On Sunday, we had our final of four town hall meetings in Ellis Hall. It has been wonderful to hear an array of parishioners share their insights and visions for our block. We have recorded each of the sessions, and you can catch up...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, February 12, 2024

Dear saints,

One of the more (among many) charming things I learned about Atlanta on coming here nearly seven years ago was that in this city it is possible for a grand idea to become a bold reality. The grand idea belonged to Ryan Gravel, whose Georgia Tech Master's thesis, 'Belt Line - Atlanta Design of Infrastructure as a Reflection of Public Policy', has led to the transformation...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, February 5, 2024

Dear saints,

Yesterday, Ellis Hall was packed with parents and grandparents, teens and toddlers, and an array of parishioners enjoying every minute of the Children's Musical led by our Primary and Junior Choirs. It was also Karol Kimmell's final production...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, January 29, 2024

Dear saints,

Yesterday, we held the first of three town halls that we have scheduled as we move into our parish engagement phase of the future of our block work. It was an excellent beginning. The chair of our parish engagement team, Kate Stradtman, introduced Hank Houser of Houser Walker who is very capably facilitating the sessions...

Click here to read the full letter.

Monday, January 22, 2024

Dear saints,

It was thrilling yesterday to speak to a packed Ellis Hall as we launched our discernment work as a parish for the future of our block. During that forum I laid out what I believe are some of the key considerations for this time ahead. All Saints' and the city block is inhabits is a gift entrusted to us. Our call at this time is to prayerfully ask of one another how we should...

Click here to read the full letter.

Wednesday, January 17, 2024


Dear saints,

It is my delight to be able to welcome you to this new e-mail update from me about the future of our block. You can expect to get an update each week as we seek to keep the parish informed about where we are with our parish engagement process as we discern together how God calls us...


Click here
to read the full letter.


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