The regular meeting of the vestry of St John’s Church, Elizabeth City Parish, Hampton, Virginia was held at the parish house on July 8, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. The Reverend Donna Mae Siderius, Rector presided. She welcomed everyone and opened the meeting with a prayer.
Vestry members present were William Andrews, Greg Brauer, Linda Curtis, Frank Edgar, Sr. Senior Warden, Peggy Hayes, Connie Heath – Treasurer, Bill Kirkland, Vestal Lewis, Denine Miller, Elizabeth Phillips, Bettyrene Pope- Registrar, Sandy Smith, Jim Shoemaker, and Bill Terrill- Junior Warden.
Absent was Eric Stewart.
Also present were David and Susan Copley.
Frank Edgar, Sr. gave the devotions.
Donna Mae talked about the future of St. John’s. A “vision” is the capacity to see differently from the way others see. She brought up qualities of leadership that include having a “vision”. These qualities are:
- Persistence – uncommon persistence
- Stamina – the capacity to deal with mutiny
- Self regulation – in faces of sabotage – seduction or attack
In the “Visioning” for the future, DMS gave out information gathered from Percept and the impact on the growth of the church in the next five years. The population was delineated by multiple categories and zip codes. Due to the fact that the majority of our parishioners live in Hampton, we broke up into groups by zip codes. Returning to the full group, much discussion ensued about “surprises” we didn’t know about our community population. Utilizing this information will be helpful in planning our future programs.
Rector’s Report- DMS reports that St. John’s is a busy place with lots of abounding energy. Meetings have taken place with Kathy Dansey and staff in planning the liturgical calendar through December, 2003. Dates to remember: August 4-8- Inquirer’s Class Time: 7-9 pm in the church September 28- Bishop Bane will be here for Confirmation August 10 – Ice Cream Social following 10 am service The Annual Community Thanksgiving Service will be held at St. John’s this year. December 6 – Saturday at 11:00 am Ordination of Susan and David Copley September 6- Diocesan Workshop September 27- Special Diocesan Workshop
Assistant Rectors’ Report- Susan expressed her gratefulness for being here. She was exuberant about getting to know the parishioners. She and David have met with all the staff members. David will have the office that was Kandi’s and Susan’s office will be on the stage.
David echoed Susan’s comments. He is learning about this church community. He talked about Liberia and the college that was there. Cuttington College, in spite of the turmoil, is still anticipating holding a graduation in the future.
Registrar’s Report- Bettyrene presented the minutes of the last meeting. They were approved as corrected.
Treasurer’s Report- Connie reported a current bank balance of $32,984.79. She reviewed the budget, expenses, balances, designated offerings and special accounts. The current budget has been revised to reflect adjustments with the addition of the assistant rectors. Much discussion followed concerning the budget.
A meeting is tentatively scheduled for July 23rd for interested persons about Stewardship and the development of a plan for St. John’s. Jim Shoemaker will be chairman.
Connie moved that Gwen Cumming be elected to serve as Assistant Treasurer. It was seconded. The vote was taken and the motion passed.
Gwen Cumming will serve as Assistant Treasurer.
Senior Warden- Frank Edgar, Sr. had no report.
- Junior Warden- Bill Terrill reviewed the report from The Structures Group. The floor in the parish house needs to be stabilized before any other work can be considered. The asbestos removal is the first priority and the work will begin on August 4th and take approximately three weeks. Town meetings have been scheduled for July 13, 27, and August 17 to receive input from parishioners on the uses and dreams for uses of the parish house.
Christian Education Meeting- Sandy Smith gave the following attached report.
Outreach- Elizabeth reported her committee met on June 25th. The All Things to All People Bake Sale will be held on July 27th after the 10:00 am service. Plans are being made to publish a cookbook late next spring. Party and entertaining types of food recipes will be the theme. Proceeds of the cookbook will be specified for a designated project. The corporate Thanksgiving will be held again this year the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
Empower Hampton Roads- Donna Mae, Bob Harper, Joe Drewry, and Jane Heiby have attended some formational meetings concerning this organization. It is a faith-based group, made up of diverse churches throughout the area. Their next meeting will be on July 31. 7-9 pm at Hidenwood Presbyterian. More information is desired by the vestry members. We will review and revisit this at a later date.
Parish Structure Chart- There have been some revisions to this chart. A box denotes a Commission and the Committees are listed under the boxes. David and Susan have been assigned to Church Growth. Evangelism has been moved to this commission. A list of these ministries and the descriptions of what they do will be compiled and made available to the congregation.
Communion Silver – Vestal Lewis reported he has been back in touch with Sotheby’s and the expert John Ward is away expected to return in July. Upon his return, Vestal will be talking further with him.
Sound System- Greg Brauer talked about a long-range plan for the sound system that would be expandable by phases. Phase I currently is to put in place a system with speakers in the Parish House. Phase II is to develop the capability to have sound from the church to the Parish House. Greg will get two proposals for a system and determine which is the better. By general consent, he will purchase a system if the dollar figure is within the $2000 range.
Signage- The previous work will be revitalized and Sign Express will have cost estimates for us at the September meeting. Money will be requested to pay for this project from the Endowment Fund.
Good of the Parish- The suggestion was made that we reflect on how to have “shorter” meetings.
The Tacky Light Award was given to Linda Curtis.
David Copley led closing prayers.
The meeting was adjourned.
Note: There will be no August meeting.
Bettyrene Pope Registrar
Minutes: Approved: Oct. 7, 2003
) Approved as corrected: