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St John's Groundbreaking

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    This is a picture of Father Al and Bishop Payne taken right after the ceremony. You can see what a festive day it was. The gentleman in the hat that you can see over Al's shoulder is the Rev. Paul Coke (retired). The lady with the white hair right behind Al is Barbara Haines, who is a member of the office staff at St. Matthew's. We felt very blessed to have a number of visitors including the Rev. David Hoster from St. George's, the Rev. Dale Chrisman, St. James -- Taylor and Billy Gammon, head of the Austin Regional Planning Board.

The balloon arch is at the location where the nave meets the narthex in the new church.  Of course, the architect has in mind to use double doors instead of the balloons, but for this day the balloons provided for a most festive look.  If you look closely, you can see a green stripe painted on the ground.  There were actually two of them to indicate the main aisle.  The chairs were set in the area where the pews will be.  The bishop has just started his sermon at this point in the service.

Father Al and his wife, LaVerne took great pleasure in showing the bishop the scale model of how the St. John's campus will look after the building project is finished. The model was made by parishioners, Ruth and Roger Hall. They did an outstanding job. Even the architect was impressed.

During the sermon Bishop Payne explained some things about the crosier he carries. It is 114 years old and is a legacy from the second diocesan bishop of the diocese, Bishop Gregg. In this picture, Bishop Payne is showing how it originally could have be used as a weapon.  Behind him in the picture is our Verger, Bill Beare.

Alaric and Jeremy Meilstrup.

The Rev. David Hoster, The Rev. Dale Chrisman, and Mrs. Payne along with a number of members of St. John's.

Bill Cox reads Genesis 28:10-17

Then, taking the spade, and breaking the ground, the Celebrant (the Bishop) continues:
"Therefore, I break ground for this building, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. May the Gospel be preached, the Sacraments administered, and prayers and praises offered in this place, from generation to generation. Amen."

During the service we formed a Chi using red ribbon and stretching one ribbon from the southeast corner to the northwest corner, and a second red ribbon from the southwest to the northeast corner, making an "X." The Chi is the Greek symbol for Christ. We choose the red ribbon to symbolize the blood of Christ that was given for us. 

The congregation follows the altar party to the groundbreaking site.

After the Chi was completed, Steve Meilstrup stretched a white ribbon completely around the four stakes, enclosing the area that includes the sanctuary and the nave. Following the rubrics, he moved move clockwise, beginning and ending at the Southeast corner.

The St. John's choir provided music for the groundbreaking ceremony.  They are sitting in the location that will be the choir area when the new church is completed. 

The verger, Bill Beare, leads the altar party to the groundbreaking site.

This is an overall view of the site, during the Bishop's sermon.  The bishop has just started his sermon at this point in the service.

The service completed, the altar party leaves the new church site.  In this photo you can see the Rev. Albert R. Rodriguez, Rector of St. John's, Mr. Will Carter, a seminarian at ETSS who served as the Bishop's Chaplain for the service, and the Rt. Rev. Claude E. Payne, Bishop of the Diocese of Texas.