Parish Profile

Mission

The mission of Holy Communion Episcopal Church is to be an open, diverse, accepting, and welcoming Episcopal community sharing in faith, worship, fellowship, education, and outreach, building a solid foundation in our growing community.

As a small, active, and growing parish, Holy Communion Episcopal Church has recently experienced a period of transition which has both strengthened and unified us. We have defined three major goals:

1) To increase our membership, filling the church for services and broadening the opportunities for member participation
2) To expand our existing programs and create new ones
3) To keep the parish on a stable financial base


High on the list of "what we like" is the strong support of our Episcopalian heritage and the very positive interaction among the members of our parish. High on the list of "what we want" is a full-time rector with the enthusiasm and vision to meet the challenges of a growing parish in a growing community.

Who We Are

The members of Holy Communion Episcopal Church are proud of the physical beauty of our church, as well as the freedom and openness to think, learn, discuss, and disagree among ourselves. We recognize that the development of faith in each individual is unique, and we strive to direct our programs accordingly. Over the past decade our church population has consisted largely of adult members. However, with the number of young families steadily increasing, our educational programs have gained new importance and our Sunday school has been wonderfully revitalized. A new acolyte program is in full swing and confirmation classes are underway again. Children are encouraged to participate in all facets of worship and we recently welcomed a seventh grader into our formerly all-adult choir. We also encourage children to participate in all outreach and fellowship activities and hope to provide scholarships encouraging young people to attend Diocesan sponsored summer camps.

Our Music Program, always an important aspect of worship here, has undergone a marvelous revitalization this past year with the hiring of a new Music Director/Organist and new Choir Director. This well-known, respected, and extremely talented husband and wife team came to Holy Communion from a much larger church in the area because of the potential they saw in us. Since their arrival, our choir has grown in both size and ability, and the overall quality of music has improved dramatically. Last fall we began a very successful free-to-the-public series of musical programs called the "Broad Street Concert Series." Conceived and developed by this new team, the five-part series offered a wide range of musical programs and styles, including an amazing "Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" during Advent which featured a 40-member ecumenical choir and a small orchestra drawn from several local symphonies.

Our Fellowship Program has provided wonderful opportunities to interact as a parish and really appreciate one another as individuals. Our after-service Coffee Hours are well attended, as are our monthly brunches, Chili Cook-Off, and Summer Cook-Out. Our "Caroling Caravan" in 2006 took many of us to nursing homes around the lake to sing, give out cookies, and provide some extra Christmas cheer to people who really needed it. Spring and Fall Clean-Up days for the grounds and gardens prove to be almost more fun than work. Our annual Easter Egg Hunt brings out the child in all of us.

A major parish event and significant fund raiser for Holy Communion Episcopal Church is our annual Antique Show in August, which is considered one of the most prestigious in Southeastern Wisconsin. Now in its 52nd year, the Antique Show attracts quality dealers from around the Midwest and is highly anticipated by our own residents, surrounding communities, and weekenders from Milwaukee and Chicago alike. Kicked off by an elegant Preview Party and Silent Auction the night before, this two-day event is the result of months of planning and hard work by the whole church and is hugely gratifying to all of us.

Outreach Work at Holy Communion has also become increasingly important to us. Many of us walk for Crop Walk in October and have worked on Habitat for Humanity projects. We actively support Burlington's Transitional Living Center, which provides temporary housing for the homeless and others at a crossroads in their lives. We've designated the last Sunday of each month as Food Pantry Sunday and collect baskets full of non-perishable food items as part of our regular offering. Besides a monthly cash collection for the Milwaukee Diocese's Haiti Project, we've also put together over a hundred layette kits for young Haitian mothers and babies and dozens of dental hygiene kits for the school children at St. Marc's in Jeannette. Our "Blessing of the Animals" Service near the Feast of St. Francis each year is set up to benefit the Lakeland Animal Welfare Society and is always well and joyfully attended. The free-will offering at each "Broad Street" concert program also goes to Outreach work. We are also able to provide space for several AA, Al-Anon, and NA meetings during the week.

Our worship services are Eucharist centered and supported by organ, choir, and other instruments. We celebrate Holy Eucharist each Sunday at 9:30 AM and Wednesday at 10 AM as well as Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In the past we have also had a weekly Saturday Eucharist and would look forward to reinstating this service.

Holy Communion Episcopal Church Today

Holy Communion Episcopal Church is today a growing faith community whose parishioners are encouraged to participate by sharing their broad life experiences, insights, and talents. Our present congregation consists of approximately 52 pledging families. This number accounts for approximately half of our regular membership. As Lake Geneva is a resort area, we also have seasonal members and visitors who actively help support the church financially. In the last year, we've welcomed 10 new families.

Our congregation is one of the oldest in Wisconsin, dating from 1850. It was established by the Right Reverend Jackson Kemper, the first Episcopal bishop of the Wisconsin Territory.

The church building is of Gothic design, constructed in 1880 out of native granite. We have recently completed a major tuck-pointing project and have restored the stonework surrounds framing our lovely rose window, several arched windows, and the two main doors to the nave. Other renovation work is currently underway.

The church building boasts magnificent stained glass windows, including one Tiffany window and several others designed and executed in Germany in the 19th century. The organ is a Hook & Hastings tracker-action pipe organ, installed in 1883. It has been well maintained, was restored in 1960, and still guides our services. An attached guild hall holds administrative offices, a library, the nursery, church school rooms, a music room, restrooms, and a large dining facility.

Our Community

Holy Communion Episcopal Church is prominently located in the heart of the city of Lake Geneva on the east end of Geneva Lake. The area is a major resort and recreation center, and the lake is one of the deepest spring-fed lakes in Wisconsin. Within an easy commute from Chicago or Milwaukee, the area is often referred to as "The Newport of the Midwest" and has historically been the summer playground of some of the wealthiest business barons of the Chicago area. The lake boasts a number of magnificent historic mansions along its shore.

Lake Geneva is also very business and commercially oriented. The surrounding communities - Williams Bay, Fontana, and Walworth - together with the neighboring village of Genoa City to the south bring the total population of the area to over 18,500. In the summer, the population swells to as much as 30,000. Well served by major highway systems, Lake Geneva is an hour's drive southwest of Milwaukee and about two hours northwest of Chicago's Loop.

Lake Geneva is a major population center of Walworth County, which is the fastest growing area in Wisconsin. Between 1990 and 2006, Walworth County's population increased by 37%, while the average increase for the rest of Wisconsin was approximately 11.5%. Hispanics form 8% of Walworth County's population, one of the highest levels for Hispanics in the state. The county has three colleges: George Williams College of Aurora University, five miles East of Lake Geneva in Williams Bay; Gateway Technical College, five miles North of Lake Geneva in Elkhorn; and the University of Wisconsin's Whitewater campus, twenty-five miles Northwest of Lake Geneva. The county supports nine weekly newspapers. The community is served by both the Mercy and Aurora Health Care Systems. The local school district is considered one of the finest in Wisconsin.

Where We Want To Go

Our core values are traditional worship, sacraments and liturgy. We are proud of our diversity, our acceptance of one another, and our welcoming environment.

Where do we want to go in the future? Our intent is to have a full-time rector and the financial base to support all the parish's needs. We do not expect the rector to do it all alone; rather, we are looking for one who will work closely with the vestry and the congregation to help make our vision of the future a reality.

Our parish survey asked our members what we would expect of a new rector. The top answers were these:

• a pastor with a good sense of humor
• one with the ability to preach and make the Gospel relevant to our contemporary lives
• an embracing leader who can welcome and include parishioners of diverse backgrounds and varying needs
• a theologian
• a counselor
• a good communicator
• a spiritual guide and leader
• a teacher who can work well with our youth

Because of the extraordinary growth of the Lake Geneva area, we see a great opportunity for the further development of our parish, and we seek a person who will be excited and enthusiastic about expanding our parish accordingly - a person who would help us meet the challenges of this growing community.