Annual Report & Independent Audit Results

Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer...
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Romans 12:12, 15

Until March 2020, as many as 2,000 parishioners and guests gathered each week for daily and weekend Masses, weddings, funerals, baptisms, anointing of the sick, and reconciliation. More than 200 adults and youth volunteered as liturgical ministers serving as Hospitality Ministers, Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, Cantors, Choir and Contemporary Ensemble members, also those working in the background to make sure our vessels and linens are clean, our candles and holy water fonts are full, and more. Although the pandemic halted many of these ministries, we continued to offer various liturgies to our St. Austin community not only in person, but also virtually.

Thanks to God, and of course to those in the healthcare field who developed a vaccine for COVID-19, we’ve opened our doors to our parishioners and community again, and a number of our liturgical ministers have been able to serve, albeit with limitations. Our livestreamed weekday and weekend Masses reach households across the United States and beyond. We’ve celebrated baptisms, first communions, weddings, and funerals, bringing family and friends together who would otherwise be unable to attend during this challenging time. We’ve witnessed bonds of friendship grow in our online community of daily Mass viewers.

What We Broadcast

*In 2020 - 2021 we livestreamed Baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations, Weddings, and an Ordination! 

The Breadth of Our Reach

For even if I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit,
rejoicing as I observe your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Colossians 2:5

While Community Life could have all but halted during the last year when COVID affected so many things in our lives, our community rallied to live richly and fully. Although the pandemic continues to interrupt our day-to-day lives, St. Austin’s continues to keep our community alive and full of hope and spirit. We developed creative strategies to maintain and nurture our community. We came together in the blue glow of our computer screens to meet with one another in "Brady Bunch" boxes over Zoom and GoogleMeets. We held parades and gathered in driveways and parks. We led with love as we established protocols and policies to protect our beloved community. Here's a summary of how we made community work in pandemic. 
 

• The joyous celebration of Fr. Paolo’s Ordination was only the second in our parish history and the first in 95 years.  The Paulists and St. Austin’s made sure the event was one for our community to remember including the livestreaming of all the liturgies and holding a Parade of Blessing that permitted parishioners to meet our newest Paulist.

• In two phases this Fall and Winter, our Parish Pastoral Council, with the support of many kind volunteers, conducted the Caring Connection. The initiative reached out to hundreds of parishioners to check in to see how they were doing and whether there was anything we could do as a community to provide support, encouragement, or pastoral care.

• We reset an annual tradition differently by holding our Christmas Bazaar outdoors despite threatening weather. We also conducted our first online marketplace enabling our parish ministries to market traditional and innovative wares of pecans, beautifully crafted items, an online auction, a virtual raffle, fair trade goods, and more. Tho’ very different from all the markets that went before, the Bazaar netted proceeds that supported the good works of our ministries.

• Another annual St. A miracle of sharing, our SVdP Christmas Basket project, matched families in need to generous donors. Our creative SVdP Elves creatively contrived to bring joy to hundreds of households with gifts and food (in the form of HEB gift cards).

• Our long-held Lenten practice of Soup Suppers and Stations were also reset to keep the light of those well-loved community rituals glowing. We livestreamed the stations and shared recipes for some of our favorite Lenten soups. As you might read this as winter sets in, take a look back at the recipes at Soup. 

• The Knights of Columbus helped with all of the wonderful parades that coursed down San Antonio Street and onto our blacktop. These parades allowed us to accumulate the donations for Micah 6 and Posada Esperanza described in Service above.

• Our Prayer Blanket ministry continued their work from home, producing beautiful blankets to demonstrate the support of our community in prayer. Their efforts brought comfort and healing whether physical, spiritual, or emotional to many in need and created beautiful memory quilts for the parish staff to commemorate the Move of a Century.

• Our Martha Ministry provided support and assistance to other ministries, in addition, several members took the lead in organizing our move and seeing it through to successful completion.

• Journey, our retreat ministry, formerly known as CRHP (Christ Renews His Parish) generously donated 27 cots to our parish Boy Scout troop. They continue to plan toward bringing us together in a faith-filled experience in the future.  

• Our Move of a Century brought our community together to pack up our school, parish offices, and the rectory. It was hot and messy, but the willing commitment, boundless energy, and resilient, smiling volunteers made the moves a success. Every effort was made to be wise stewards of our resources and reduce waste by offering parishes, schools, and organizations furniture and equipment through the Great Give Away and earning money to refresh the tired furniture we discovered in the Rectory move through the Sale of the Century.  Martha Schroeder and Colleen Debner led the efforts with grace and generosity. We give thanks for them and for all our MOVE IT volunteers. 

Every house is founded by someone, but the founder of all is God.

Hebrews 3:4

Staffing

• During this year we bid a fond farewell to K Kriesel, our receptionist and bulletin quilter of great talent.

• We joyfully welcomed into new permanent roles Stephen King in Technology and as our key livestream operator, Stanley Sifuentes in Stewardship & Communications, and Joy Morales in Reception.

• While many staff members worked from home this year, others were in the office. Our receptionists keep our phone lines open though our office was largely closed to the public. We received many expressions of gratitude that a real person responded to their call and that people were available to help them on campus.

Facilities

• Funds from the Diocese of Austin’s Encountering Christ capital and endowment campaign were used to update the church interior by ~

  • Installing new lighting system and sound systems. The work coincided with the onset of pandemic when we were perforce by pandemic away from our church home. In community we watched the work progress from our homes.

  • The pews were removed and the floors stripped, cleaned, and waxed.

  • Installation of a shade  that shields our altar from blinding sunlight and the heat it creates.

• At and around the Church (outside the scope of the Sanctuary Interior Project) ~ 

  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Bell tower sound system repaired

  • Organ tuned

• Campus-wide and related to our moves

  • Several air conditioning units were repaired or replaced

  • Packed and moved SACS school in May to San José Catholic Church

  • At the Rectory - Flooding & plumbing issues required that we close three rooms

  • Boiler inspections were conducted

  • With the help of energetic and committed volunteers we cleared out all buildings in preparation for the Move of the Century

  • Prepared the 2nd floor of MLK for occupation

    • Built cubicles, added internet, and electricity to the cubicles and space

    • Installed new carpeting in office area

    • Designed and installed interior and exterior branding and directional sign panels ​​​​​​​