Vestry Meeting
April 16, 2009
I.
The meeting was
called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Carolyn Ito, Senior Warden.
Present: Debbie
Coleman, Jean Dickey, Polly Foote, Shirley Smith Graham, Rector, Lois Headden, Register,
Carolyn Ito, Senior Warden, Sarah Noble, Gary Osborn, Larry Williams, Junior Warden,
Nellie Williams, and Lloyd Woods, Treasurer.
Absent: Ginger Ambler, Dani Jaworski, Andy McNeil, Ed Pease, and Dorsey
Smith.
II.. OPENING PRAYER: Nellie Williams read a writing by Mother
Theresa.
III. REHEARSAL OF NORMS: The
Rehearsal of Norms was led by Larry Williams.
IV. NUTURE: Shirley wanted to share with the vestry that
it isn'ng a vestry member. Your experience as community and worship
changes. She explained how to keep
feeling connected, open and equal in God to the person who is talking to you.
V. APPROVAL OF VESTRY MINUTES: A motion was made and seconded to accept the March 19, 2009
Vestry Minutes as corrected.
VI. TREASURER=S REPORT: Lloyd Woods reported that year-to-date
revenues have exceeded
expenses but that we are $24,000 behind last year in pledged income. He feels this is because our expenses have
increased because of the addition
of Sven vanBaars, Assistant Rector.
Lloyd reported that revenues are slower coming in this year compared to
last year. Pledges are being paid when due rather than
being prepaid monthly or quarterly. However, revenues exceed expenses by about
$7,000 year-to-date.
Since individuals are not required to take the Required Minimum
Distribution (RMD)
from their IRA’s in 2009, fewer people are using these funds to prepay
Their pledges in a lump sum. In
spite of all these factors, Lloyd is guardedly optimistic about the
results for the year.
The Income and Expense Summary totals as of March 2009 are attached to these minutes.
VII. MAJOR EXPENDITURES GUIDELINES:
1. The minimum guideline for the
number of bids for all expenditures is:
a. Up to $2,000, one bid
b. $2,000 to $5,000, two bids
unless they are more than 20% apart, then a 3rd bid must be requested
c. More than $5,000, 3 bids
2. The minimum guideline for
approval authority for all expenditures is:
a. Up to $2,000 by Junior Warden
b. $2,000 to $5,000 by the Executive Committee
c. More than $5,000 by the Finance Committee
which must have three or more written, signed estimates in hand.
3.
4. Sole sources are allowable in
appropriate situations.
5. Emergency situations may
necessitate deviations from the guidelines.
Deviations
from guidelines should go before the Executive Committee prior to action.
A motion was made and seconded to accept the Major Expenditures
Guidelines. Motion passed
unanimously.
A question was raised as to where we would get the money for Major
Expenses. Lloyd Woods explained that money
that had been previously restricted had become unrestricted and
put into an account titled Capital Major Maintenance, and Replacement Budget.
VIII. VESTRY
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A.
Shirley wanted the vestry to thank Tom Luckum for returning on the day after Easter to plant the flowers that had
been donated on Easter under the cross. Instead of decorating the cross with flowers
this year, parishioners were asked to bring
flowers to be planted.
B. Nominating
Committee Report: No report
C. Stewardship Committee
Report: Sarah Noble reported
that the Stewardship
Committee met on March 26, 2009 and discussed the information to be presented at the
Adult Forum on April 26th. This forum is planned as a basic introduction
to some opportunities for giving at St. Martin=s. A handout
will be available at this session describing the distinction between annual, outright
and planned giving options.
Plans to implement the Cottage Meeting program for the fall pledge
campaign are continuing. The general outline of the campaign follows:
September 27, 2009 -
Opening Festive Dinner for the Parish, hosted by the Fellowship
Committee, with possible entertainment.
No dessert will be served.
October 5, 2009 -
Cottage Meetings begin. Dessert will be
served at these meetings. These meetings will have about 8-15 family
units based on
information gathered for the Ameet-and-greets@ held for Shirley and Sven. These meetings will include a speaker other
than the host family and one of the
rectors will attend. The presentation
will present the stewardship
message and also information about how pledges are used. Pledge cards will be
available. Training for presenters and hosts
will be done
following plans outlined in the Cottage Meeting Stewardship
Program from TENS (The
Episcopal Network for Stewardship).
November 15, 2009 -
Ingathering and blessing of pledges at Sunday worship services.
The next Stewardship Committee Meeting is April 23, 2009.
D. Finance Committee Report: Andy McNeil was not present to give a report.
Shirley wanted the results from the April 26th forum
published in AThe Cloak@. She
also stated that the Building Use Fees would be published on our web site on April 17th.
IX. FORWARD
IN FAITH STRATEGIC PLAN ITEMS:
A. Needs Assessment Report: Gary Osborn reported that he has contacted the Needs Assessment
Committee to set up a meeting or meetings for the purpose of re-starting
the process and to work on the report of its findings. He still hopes to have a
report for the vestry by the May meeting.
Jean Dickey suggested
that when the Needs Assessment Committee gets through with their
work, they need to communicate their findings to the congregation. This report should include what we need, a
reasonable assessment about
the steps to be taken and what the approach will be.
B.
Gift Acceptance Policy and Endowment Enabling Resolution: A draft of this document was
delivered to the vestry for review, parallel to legal review. Shirley explained that this document is a
giving vehicle for people in their wills. Both these documents will be reviewed by a
lawyer and they have
also been sent to the Episcopal Church Foundation.
C. Review of Strategic Plan:
Carolyn Ito reviewed each category
in the Strategic
Plan to see what had been completed and what still needed work. Some of the items
discussed were:
1. The vestry felt that a point person for
transportation was needed. Shirley
will draft a description of what a transportation ombudsman does and
give this to the Nominating Committee for them to find a point
person.
2. Under Goal Number II, discussion was held
about older parishioners and William
and Mary Students. A question was raised
as to whether there was another
time for a service for Young Adults who come from the college. Shirley explained that Sven is looking into
this. The clergy
are taking active steps to identify the twenty and thirty year olds who attend our
services by passing out special cards for them to fill out.
Since Dani
Jaworski wasn=t at the meeting Carolyn Ito will follow up with her and
also talk to her about being the liaison for the Fellowship Committee and for
her to find other people to do the work.
X. ESTABLISHED MINISTRY ITEMS:
A. Schedule for Featuring
Ministry Areas: Carolyn Ito explained how this scheduling would
work. She stated that we would not
schedule ministry area speakers in January, April, July and
October since those are months when we review Forward in
Faith and omit scheduling in December as agendas are just too full.
Schedule:
2009
May
Ann Faith Formation: Children,
Youth, Adults
June
Phaedra Music
August Tim Administration
September
Joe Stewardship
November Alan W. Outreach
2010
February Roma Hospitality
March
Pastoral
Care
Other groups that are
not scheduled but appropriate - the Kitchen Committee
and the Memorial Garden Committee.
Logistics: The presenter will be given written guidelines for the time
frame and format. Presenters are asked to focus on present
goals, successes, charge and work. This may include informing the vestry how the
vestry can help. The presentation should take no more than 7.5
minutes. A short (3-5 minute) time may follow
for questions. A handout would be
appreciated and should
be given to Tim for duplication three days before the vestry meeting. The presenters will be
asked to come at 7:30 p.m.
B. Letter
of Appreciation: Debbie Coleman
distributed an edited copy of a letter that had been written by Allan
Willey, chairman of the Outreach Committee, detailing the work Skip
Floyd had done for AFrom His Hands Ministry@. This letter and the vestry=s thanks will be given to Skip at the 11:00 a.m.
service on May 17th.
Shirley and the vestry thanked Debbie for compiling this information and
the letter will be
in the June Newsletter.
C. Summary of Financial Assistance Available: Shirley explained that there is money available to
parishioners and non-parishioners.
These funds are provided by the
money collected in the loose plate offering on the first Sunday of each month.
XI. SENIOR WARDEN=S REPORT: Carolyn Ito reported that she had sent thank
you notes to Mary Rupe and
Bill Hawthorne.
Under Administrative (Office) she reported the following:
1.
Doris Gibson, frequent office volunteer, has a new job and cannot help
in the office. She was responsible for membership follow
up. Two more volunteers will be needed for the
work to be done well and consistently.
2. Tim found a far less expensive
trash service, Waste Management.
3. Tim had good help for bulletin
preparation for Holy Week. He noted the
help from Ann Duff
and Carol Haas especially.
4. Tim continues to work toward
sending more newsletters by email.
5. The Lenten Devotional series
was very well received. Tim asks for our
guidance
for next year in terms of using an opt out or an opt in procedure.
Carolyn explained that she has had a few emails from Kent James and he
has given her the name
of the architect who drew up the plans of a new building that were on display at the Parish
Retreat in 2008.
XII. JUNIOR WARDEN=S REPORT: Larry Williams reported:
A. New Developments
Doug Finch noted that
the Hot Water Recirculating Pump in the Sexton=s office is inoperative. It is currently shut off until we can
determine the most effective course of action for repairs.
Tim has determined we cold save approximately
$75/month by transferring our refuse collection to Waste Management. A new contract will be for one year.
The Sacristy piscina
drywell is clogged. If our plans are
accurate, we should be able to dig out the drywell. After a call to Miss Utility for marking, we will conduct some exploratory
digging.
B.
Parking
Lot Repair
Specifications for
multiple bids for parking lot repair have been refined. Potential Bidders (B & H Contractors,
Claymac Corporation, and Shouse-
Manning
Construction) will be contacted before May 1, 2009. Hopefully, repair work will be scheduled and completed in
June.
C. Parking Lot Redesign
The first meeting of the Ad Hoc
Committee for Parking Lot Redesign is scheduled for Thursday, April 30, 2009 at
7:00 p.m. in the library. The Committee will evaluate all economically
feasible code compliant alternatives.
The Forward in Faith completion goal for developing bid specifications is August 2009.
D. Grounds
Bill Hawthorne has removed the dead trees
along our driveway. Carolyn Ito will draft a
letter of thanks for this pro bono work.
Larry will draft an article for AThe Cloak@, letting the parish know of this work and
thanking Bill
for eliminating the hazard. We
will have our Spring Clean Up on Saturday,
May 9. Jean Dickey, Garry Osborn and
Larry will provide guidance
to volunteers.
E. Rezoning Application
The rezoning request at
F. Siding
Replacement: Polly Foote
volunteered to help Larry Williams find
contractors who could replace the siding on the Parish Hall and Church. Larry felt that he could have a package of
costs to replace the siding within
the next thirty days.
Jean Dickey suggested that we assemble a crew
to paint the siding before it
is put up.
XIII. RECTOR=S REPORT: Shirley
thanked the vestry for their participation in the Holy Week Services.
A. Prayer Books: Shirley reported that we had received a gift
of $500 from a
parishioner and along with $133 from another fund had enabled us to buy 34 Prayer Books.
B. Blessing of the Oils
Service: This Diocesan service
was well attended.
C. Tracking Trends: Shirley and the Pastoral Care Committee have
been tracking
which group of parishioners they have spent most of their time ministering to. These include those with addiction problems,
pre-teens, the
elderly and the sandwich generation (those who care for elderly parents). She feels that this next to liturgy and
sermon preparation has taken most of her
time this past month.
XIV. IMPORTANT DATES:
. Reception honoring Susan Axtell as Director of Co-Op, May 3.
. Spring
Clean-Up Day, May 9
. May Ministry Market
(featuring Outreach-oriented ministries), May 17
XV. NORMS CHECK-IN: Larry Williams felt that the vestry did well
with the norms this
evening.
XVI. CLOSING PRAYER: Debbie Coleman read a selection written by
Henry Nouwen.
The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m.