Parish Life

St. Alban’s Parish life is truly rich, intergenerational, and fun-seeking! Annual activities center around the seasons of the church calendar. Parish favorites include the Fall Harvest Festival with a Chili Cook-off, Fireside Christmas, and Shrove Tuesday pancake supper and talent show. There are opportunities for learning and practicing our faith in community, and serving others, including:

Hospitality

  • Bread Ministry

  • Coffee Hosts

  • Greeters

  • Welcome Committee

Learn, Pray & Serve

  • Brotherhood of St. Andrew

  • Community of Hope

  • Daughters of the King

  • Lay Eucharistic Visitors

Committees

  • Vestry

  • Buildings & Grounds

  • Finance

  • Stewardship

Worship Ministries

  • Acolytes

  • Altar Guild

  • Floral Guild

  • Lay Eucharistic Ministers

  • Readers and intercessors

  • Music, including choir, handbell choir, and occasional solo performers

  • Ushers

  • Vergers

  • Vestment Cleaning Guild

Fellowship

  • Clickety Clack

  • Game Night

  • Hardy Boys

  • One Meal at a Time

Formation & Learning

St. Alban’s is committed to Christian formation throughout the entire life of our parishioners. From birth to age three, children are lovingly cared for in our nursery during worship. The trained nursery staff are ready to play, read, sing, and give snacks and hugs. Once children have graduated from the nursery, they’re enveloped by the loving care of our children’s ministry, which includes Children’s Chapel, Godly Play, and Vacation Bible School. In grade seven, they join our youth ministry, which includes EYC (Episcopal Youth Community), Confirmation Class, and Mission Trip. If they stay in the area after graduating from high school, St. Alban’s is also home to South Austin Canterbury.

Adult formation is also important for St. Alban’s. Wednesday morning bible study is led by the rector and follows the Lectionary (a calendar of assigned readings). Adult Christian Education happens after the 10 a.m. service on Sundays; it may be led by clergy or lay leaders. Lay leaders also lead various small groups on a number of topics throughout the year.

Outreach - Partnerships off the Hill

Off our hill, St. Alban’s does outreach in the form of Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels, a partnership with Menchaca Elementary, Refugee Services of Texas, and El Buen Samaritano.

  • El Buen Samaritano, an outreach ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, improves the health and well-being of our community through culturally appropriate, family-focused, and integrated services on one 11-acre campus. St. Alban's participates through financial donations for their Hands for Hope fundraiser and goods for El Buen's food bank. You can learn more about El Buen Samaritano at their website, www.elbuen.org

  • Menchaca Elementary School - Early Readers Initiative provides mentors and books to at-risk students. Additionally, we give each first grader a book bag embroidered with their name. It has been a joy to work with the principal and librarian at Menchaca to make this happen since 2009.

  • Refugee Services of Texas - St. Alban's Welcome Teams

    Under this ministry, St Alban’s parishioners have helped resettle 20 families from countries all over the world. Our assistance is coordinated through the Refugee Services of Texas (RST), who receive families approved by the State Department for resettlement in our area. We ease their transition as they pick up the pieces of their lives and begin anew here. This involves donation of furniture, money and household goods to furnish the apartments provided by RST along with the actual setting up of those apartments. We greet the family at the airport and transport them to their apartment. A hot meal is provided that first night after their long journey, and a pantry stocked with one week’s worth of food also awaits them. Assistance with registering with the Social Security, wellness visits, pre-school immunizations, bus orientation and other needs are also generally accomplished in the first month of their arrival. Learn more about Refugee Services of Texas at their website, www.rstx.org

  • Meals on Wheels of Central Texas distributes over 3,000 meals every business day to homebound seniors and people with disabilities and provides other crucial services like in-home care, home repairs, respite care, grocery shopping and delivery, and pet care. St. Alban's helps by delivering some of those meals. We develop lasting relationships with the seniors we serve. In July 2019, Spectrum News did a story on Meals on Wheels featuring St. Alban's parishioners Dave and Susan Saxon! Watch it here. You can learn more about Wheels on Meals at www.mealsonwheelscentraltexas.org