Future of Our Block

Learn more here:
April 21, 2026 Egleston Condition Assessment Forum Powerpoint
March 22, 2026 Parish Forum with Perkins&Will Powerpoint
Campus Master Plan: In the City, For the City
2019 Campus-wide Building Assessment
Future Church Task Force Report
Future of Our Block Parish Engagement Report
Future of Our Block Parish Engagement Report Appendix

April 30, 2026

Dear saints, 

Last Sunday, three groups of parishioners had the opportunity to tour the Egleston building and see closer up what the forum the previous Sunday had talked through as we examined together an assessment of its condition. It was good to be able to answer questions and allow folks to get a sense of the building in its current state. 

Given that most of us were not on the tours, here are some of the elements the tour covered. And should you wish to do a self-guided look around at some point during the week, please let me know. We’d love to welcome you into our beloved staff home!

Perhaps most easy to notice are the sheer number of cracks that have appeared following the dewatering Briley Brisendine had noted last weekend had occurred on the site. Cracks can be seen along several of the jambstones (vertical stones placed at the sides of door or window openings). In several areas the masonry has discernibly shifted and there are numerous separations between window frames and jambstones readily visible.

To start at the top and move down, on the third floor of Egleston, joints between the bays have opened above the buttress and continue up to the capstone at the roof. The capstone buttress has fractured and several of the bricks have cracked. Millwork at the ceiling has visibly separated in several locations around the room. Cracks within staff offices are plentiful, and in some offices there is damage to ceilings. 

One of the more striking stops on the tour is at the connector between Egleston and the Parish House where it is possible to see the connector pulling away from the wall of the Parish House. 

In the library, what was hard to see on the tour but was visible before we did some temporary aesthetic fixes, were cracks in the brick masonry behind the plaster finish. Before those aesthetic repairs, wallpaper, plaster, and stucco finishes were cracked all the way through in some cases, and in a number of places had pulled away from the brick masonry wall behind. Some sections of the plaster and stucco finish were found to be no longer attached to the inside face of the masonry. On the south wall of the library it was possible then to see the south wall pulling away from the ends of the joists. 

Finally, in the basement where the choir suite is located, items of note include doors along the east wall that had shifted and had been difficult to operate, baseboards and crown moldings that had separated from the wall, and cracks in the ceiling of the hallway that are visible leading to the boiler room.

When the staff asked how the tours had gone this week at our Tuesday staff meeting, they let me know that they would have loved to have been there. “Please tell people that I can’t work in my office”, was one of the comments. It was an important reminder that with all of this talk of masonry walls and jambstones, Egleston is a building made for people, and if all of the details we have collated about its damage tell us anything, it is that we need to act so that it can once more be a building fit for people. Today, it is not. 

Part of what the Egleston Task Force has been trying to do these past two weeks is to invite you, the parish, into the challenge they face: how to most responsibly remedy the damage the Egleston building has suffered and fulfill the vision of the master plan. We want to do that as thoroughly as possible hence all of this detail about what is going on with the building. With that in mind, our architects, Perkins&Will, are working on a longer report which will allow you to get under the hood with all this even more, and for the visual learners among us, we are also preparing a video tour of Egleston so you will be able to see what folks saw last weekend, at your leisure. 

With all of the conversations we’ve been having of late about the problems this delightful building has, it is also important to remember the memories of the life of this parish that Egleston holds. I loved hearing at our visit to Canterbury Court recently how one of the residents there met his future wife at an Agnes Scott-Georgia Tech dance held in Egleston Hall. Just this week, we held a small funeral reception in the library, and I was reminded of the opening of our little exhibition of Harry Pritchett’s years here as rector, when a number of us gathered with his family and gave thanks for a priest who urged this church to remember how God is a surprise. God has a vibrant and exciting future in store for this church right there on the corner of West Peachtree and Ponce, and across this city block. The surprise is not that God will indeed do a new thing with this church and its buildings, it is that we don’t know what that new thing is quite yet. We have to have faith, which is handy, because faith is one thing this church has in abundant supply. 

As always, reach out with any questions or comments you might have, and keep on reminding one another of the life and hope you find here. 

See you in church.

Peace, 

The Rev. Dr. Simon Mainwaring, Rector 

Video Archives

Future of the Block: Parish Listening Forum

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.

Future of the Block: Update with our Architects

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... 
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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....
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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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