Abbey Foundation of Oregon

AFO Logo Reversed

Annual Report 2020

Dear friends,

Welcome to this new online Abbey Foundation of Oregon Annual Report. Since the foundation was established in 2002, we have mailed a printed annual report to our benefactors and friends. However, we are changing our primary mode of distribution this year.*


Along with its ravages, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought some positive changes. For one, in moving many of our events and communications online, the Abbey’s holy message and inspiration now reach an unprecedented number of people. Even a lemon of a year can yield great lemonade!


This report gives you a view into our audited fiscal year from July 2019 through June 2020, as well as the Hilltop experience through December. The Abbey Foundation is committed to transparent communication with you, which we offer along with our profound gratitude for the many ways you support and encourage the mission of Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary.


I hope it fulfills you to know that you belong to a community of thousands who care about and pray for our holy Hilltop – and the quiet encounters with Christ that take place there every day. The monks faithfully keep you in their prayers.


Sincerely yours in Christ,

John Meek, President
Abbey Foundation of Oregon

*Hard copies of the annual report are available upon request. Simply call 503.845.3030.

John Meek

“Whatever good work you begin to do, beg of God with most earnest prayer to perfect it.”

– St. Benedict

Our Mission

The Abbey Foundation of Oregon promotes the financial vitality of Mount Angel Abbey by seeking funding for current projects and long-term endowments for the monastery, seminary, guesthouse, and library. The trustees of the Foundation work collaboratively with the Abbot of Mount Angel Abbey to implement the monastic community’s Benedictine vision of prayer and work in service to the Church in western Oregon and beyond.


The Abbey Foundation of Oregon is an independent 509(a)(3) nonprofit organization that exists solely as a supporting organization for the work of Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary.

WE HOPE YOU WILL STAY
CONNECTED WITH MOUNT ANGEL

Join us for daily Mass, Midday Prayer and Vespers, live streamed on our website: mountangelabbey.org, or the Mount Angel Abbey YouTube channel.

Would you like to receive Abbot Jeremy’s weekly video messages by email? Just send us a note or sign up online and your email address will be added to our list.

Join Our E-Mail List

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

OFFICERS

PRESIDENT

John Meek
Managing Member,
Arcadia Consulting

VICE PRESIDENT

John Limb
Oregon Catholic Press (retired)

SECRETARY

Jim Zuiches ’61
Professor of Sociology &
University Administrator (retired)

PAST PRESIDENT

Brian Jackson
Owner, Brian C. Jackson,
Architect LLC

TREASURER

Rev. Martin Grassel, O.S.B.
Procurator, Mount Angel Abbey

ABBOT

Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B.
Mount Angel Abbey

TRUSTEES

Sr. Adele Marie Altenhofen, S.S.M.O.
President, SSMO Ministries Corporation

 

Mark Beckius

President, Reimers & Jolivette

 

Joanne DiBenedetto Burdick

Owner, DeBenedetto Design

 

Rev. Msgr. Donald Buxman ’62

Vicar for Clergy (retired),
Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon

 

Gene Dieringer

President, Dieringer’s Properties, Inc.

 

Steve English ’66

Partner, Perkins Coie, LLP

 

Paulette Furness

General Counsel (retired),
Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon

Lynn Cayanus Jones

Former AFO President

New Product Introduction Manager (retired),

Phillips Medical Systems/Ultrasound

 
Linda Keizer

Owner, Southern Oregon Storage

 

Paul Keller

Partner, Apercen Partners, LLC

 

Sally Killgore

Chair, Eugene Seminary Benefit Dinner

 

Claire Schulte, C.P.A.

Chief Financial Officer (former), Bigleaf Networks

 

Michael Tate

President, A-Professional Fire Systems

 

 

Rex Wardlaw

Senior Managing Director (retired),
First Republic Investment Management
 

Donald Williams

Chief Operating Officer (retired),
Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt P.C.

 

Rev. Charles Wood ’00

Parish Priest, St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church

 

Stephen Zimmer

Chairman of the Board, Custom Decorators

 

William Zuelke

Founder and Principal, Awakening to Holiness

ABBEY FOUNDATION WELCOMES THREE NEW TRUSTEES
Mark Beckius

Spouse: Valerie Beckius

Location: Lake Oswego

Parish: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton/Resurrection Catholic Parish

Roles: Father of two, president of Reimers & Jolivette (construction company), Legatus member

AFO Service: Member of the Building
Advisory Committee

“Our company and family have been involved with Mount Angel for over 50 years.”

Sally Killgore

Spouse: Steve Killgore

Location: Eugene

Parish: St. Alice Catholic Church

Roles: Mother of four, active church and community volunteer, master gardener,
Camino pilgrim

AFO Service: Co-chair of the Eugene
Seminary Benefit Dinner

 

“I can think outside of the box and work with others toward a common goal.”

Rex Wardlaw

Spouse: Becky Brauer

Location: Edmonds, Washington

Parish: St. James Cathedral

Roles: Retired Senior Managing Director, First Republic Investment Management, competitive runner, Camino pilgrim

AFO Service: Member of the Investment Committee 


“The best board members talk by the inch and listen by the foot.”

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Financial Block Assets
Financial Block Endowment 2
Financial Block Revenues 2
Financial Block Support 3

“Joy is a sign of generosity.”

– Saint Mother Teresa
Financial Block 2020 Donors
Financial Block 2020 Under 1k
Financial Block 2020 Estate
Financial Block 2020 Living Legacy

The Abbey Foundation of Oregon is audited annually by independent certified public accountants whose examination complies with generally accepted auditing standards. This annual report reflects the audited financial statements for the most recent fiscal year. The Foundation files its IRS Form 990 each fiscal year, which is available at our website, the Development Office, or upon request.

what you have made possible. . .

Card Monastery
Card Seminary
Card Library 2
Card Guesthouse

WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT CAN LAST FOREVER

ENDOWMENT FUNDS

Endowed gifts to Mount Angel provide annual financial support for generations to come and make a difference that is nothing short of eternal. Thanks to the individuals, families, and foundations listed below, the Abbey Foundation of Oregon was able to provide approximately $1 million to support the education and formation of seminarians and monks, the monks’ spiritual ministries, and the Hilltop facilities. Endowed funds are prudently invested by the Abbey Foundation, with 3-5 percent of the earned income provided to Mount Angel each year. Any remaining earnings are added to the original principal, which continues to grow and support Mount Angel’s mission in perpetuity.

OUR STATEMENT OF FAITH IN THE FUTURE

LEGACY SOCIETY

The Legacy Society includes the generous friends listed below. They have chosen to create a significant impact long after their lifetimes by including the Abbey Foundation of Oregon in their estate plans, or have told us the foundation is named in their will, living trust, retirement plan, life insurance policy, bank account, or as a remainder designation in a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust. Thank you!

Each of us leaves a legacy — through our faith, family, friendships, work and simple interactions with others every day. We offer prayers of thanksgiving for the hundreds of generous people who care deeply about Mount Angel’s mission and have taken special steps to include it in their legacies.

Slide-2

A Year of Generosity, Impact, and Faith

2019-2020 Honor Roll of Donors

Thanks and blessings to each and every benefactor! The monks, seminarians, faculty, employees, alumni, oblates, volunteers, guests, and friends of Mount Angel offer prayers of gratitude for the joyful record of generosity shown below.

 

The Abbey Foundation of Oregon and Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary gratefully acknowledge in the list below the contributions of all benefactors who contributed $100 or more between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020.

BENEFACTOR GIVING LEVELS

St. Benedict Benefactors – $50,000+

St. Scholastica Benefactors – $25,000-$49,999

St. Joseph Benefactors – $10,000-$24,999

St. Thomas Aquinas Benefactors – $5,000-$9,999

St. Anselm Benefactors – $2,500-$4,999

St. Therese Benefactors – $1,000-$2,499

St. Michael the Archangel Benefactors – $500-$999

St. Raphael the Archangel Benefactors – $100-$499

St. Gabriel the Archangel Benefactors –  Gifts in Kind

Many donors in the past year have given gifts in honor of friends and people they admire, or in memory of those who have died.

Every effort has been made to achieve a complete and accurate report. If you have questions, please contact Melissa Eddings at 971.343.2702 or melissa.eddings@mtangel.edu.

The Guardian Angel Circle

Sustains Mount Angel

With gratitude, we have included a new section in our annual report, which honors our friends and benefactors who make regular donations in support of Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary’s mission and ministries.

Our Guardian Angels show their loyalty in various ways, including:

Making gifts of any amount at least once a year for ten or more years in a row! Some are on a streak for more than 35!

Setting up sustaining gifts through automatic payments from a credit card or bank account at recurring intervals.

Would you like to join the ranks of our Guardian Angels? Want to learn more? Please call 503.845.3030 or email development@mtangel.edu.

Benedictine Brewery and St. Michael Taproom

St. Benedict envisioned monasteries as self-sufficient communities. Consequently, the Benedictines of the Middle Ages brewed in their own facilities, with their own labor, using ingredients grown on their own farms. In the complex world of the twenty-first century, the monks of Mount Angel strive for the same:

  • The monks do the brewing.
  • The water comes from their own well.
  • The hops come from their own land,
    where they have grown since the 1880’s.
WHEN CAN AN APPARENT LOSS BE COUNTED AS A NEAR MIRACLE?

When the Benedictine Brewery and Taproom, now in their third year of business, not only survive but thrive in the year of coronavirus restrictions! Taproom operations for 2020 were significantly impacted by external events, especially the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent constraints on public gatherings and restaurant/brewery operations. The friends of the brewery tasted and believed that better days are ahead!

PRODUCTION

Production for Benedictine Brewery, for the first time, was performed exclusively by monks of Mount Angel Abbey and no batches were brewed under contract with other breweries. Production capacity was expanded in the spring by the addition of a 10-barrel fermenter, allowing six batches of beer to be in production at a time. This gives the brewery the capacity to produce 420 barrels annually.

BY THE BARREL

2019 – 146.36
2020 – 178.32

In Production:

Black Habit
St. Michael
Haustus
St. Raphael
St. Benedict
St. Gabriel
Dark Night
Tyrant
Hemina
Canticle
Dunkel prototype

NEW ADDITION

A notable addition to the taproom in the fall of 2020 was the additional outdoor seating made possible with a heated pavilion. Matching the brewery itself in its timber-frame construction and simplicity, the pavilion enabled the brewery to be a place of warmth and community even while maintaining social distance and safety.

CONTACT US

JODI KILCUP

Executive Director

jodi.kilcup@mtangel.edu

503.928.0173

MELISSA EDDINGS

Development Manager

melissa.eddings@mtangel.edu

971.343.2702

PATRICK J. REGAN

Senior Philanthropic Advisor

patrick.regan@mtangel.edu

503.593.8124

SUSAN GALLAGHER

Planned Giving Manager

susan.gallagher@mtangel.edu

503.312.5425

If you have questions regarding your 2020 donations, please contact the Development Office at 503.845.3030 or development@mtangel.edu.

Thank you for considering a contribution to Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary! The monks offer prayers of gratitude every day for you and all our generous benefactors.

DONATE

Box 497, Saint Benedict, OR 97373-0497

MOUNTANGELABBEY.ORG