The Vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Elizabeth City Parish, Hampton, Virginia, met on February 12, 2009. The Reverend Donna-Mae Siderius opened the meeting at 7:05 pm. Present were Bob Harper, Senior Warden, Jay Hogg, Ann Rice, Ruth Simmons, Betsy Clark, Kay Olson, registrar, Kevin Van Sloten, Nick McMahon, Youth Representative, Peggy Hayes, Charles Edmonson, Susanna Stephens, and Bettyrene Pope. Also present were The Reverend James Hutton and Treasurer Connie Heath. Linda McMahon and Jim Tormey, guest speakers, were also present. Absent was Kevin Eley.
Guest Speaker
Linda McMahon, 2010 Project manager, gave an up-date on the 2010 plans: The city of Hampton expects to host around 50,000 people the week-end of July 9, 10, & 11 of July, 2010. The “Signature” event on Sunday, July 11, will be the service at St. John’s Church. The VA Air & Space Museum is available at no charge for the reception. Other plans include Bay Days activities, a 2010 New Year’s Day Levee presented by the City, and a float in the 2009 Holidaze Parade in Downtown Hampton. Volunteers are still needed to work on all committees. The birthday cake for the July 11 celebration will be made by Charm City Cakes of Baltimore (“Ace of Cakes” on the Food channel) and will be paid for by the City. A videographer was at St. John’s on 8 February to film footage for our link to City of Hampton’s web site.
Jim Tormey spoke of the condition of the second and third sites of the Church. The second site, located on the Hampton University property, is in very bad condition and needs to be cleaned up. The third site located on Pembroke Avenue (in front of Pembroke Construction) consists of a low brick wall and two groups of 4 grave stones. The grave stones are deteriorating badly. Jack Peet looked at the site and determined a cost of having these stones restored. Jim said the price was extraordinarily high but Mr.Peet would look into finding a method less expensive. Jim also asked for two site markers to be made by “Civil War Markers” at a cost of $2,600.00 each. A motion was made by Charlie Edmonson and seconded by Bob Harper requesting consideration for funding from the Endowment Board for $5,200.00 to cover the expenses of each of the site markers. The motion carried. Action taken: A motion was made and seconded requesting consideration for funding from the Endowment Board for $5,200.00 to cover the expense of two site markers. The motion carried.
Jim also spoke about the book signing of his new book on St. John’s to be held on Sunday, April 26, 2009.
Donna-Mae led the vestry in devotions using 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27. “All parts need to work together for there to be a whole body” A discussion was held on how the vestry works together, and the NORMS needed to govern the ways we will strive to live and work together.
The Vestry Resource Guide will be used again this year for devotions. The vestry priorities for 2009, as suggested by the outgoing vestry, include 2010 planning, envisioning and growth. The vestry will interview The Reverend Larry A. Crowell as a possible envisioning facilitator for St. John’s.
Senior Warden, Bob Harper gave a report about the importance of “Care Groups.” Each vestry person is assigned a group from the congregation and is asked to keep in touch with them and to keep them informed of what is happening in the parish. He said it is important for parishioners to know someone on vestry cares for them year long and not just at stewardship time.
Bob also asked each vestry member to be aware of all phases of ministry at St. John’s and to give consideration to the committee on which they would like to serve.
Parish Financial Secretary, Bill Boyer, gave a report on the “Financial Framework of St. John’s Church”. The report presented an overview of the various funds and endowments relating to the finances of the parish.
The election of officers was held for the 2009 Vestry: Senior Warden: Bob Harper Junior Warden: Bettyrene Pope Registrar: Kay Olson
Minutes of the January meeting were approved as written.
Treasurer’s Report: Connie Heath reported she and Bill are looking into some short term CD’s to help “grow funds”. One correction was made to the typed report. The name of the fund donating to the Night’s Welcome Fund was the Andrew Duncan Fund.
Bettyrene Pope made a motion with Kevin Van Sloten seconding the motion for Bob Harper to respond to Sylvia Edgar about a concern she wrote in a letter to vestry members.
There were no exchanges of Tacky Lights at this meeting.
Beginning with the March meeting, Vestry meetings will begin at 6:30pm.
Submitted by Kay Olson, Registrar