The vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Elizabeth City Parish, was called to order on January 21, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. Present were: Senior Warden Bob Harper, Junior Warden Bettyrene Pope, Pat Dennehey, Charlie Edmonson, Stephen Rous, Ruth Simmons, Denine Miller, Greg Brauer, Emily Klotz, Youth Representative Darius Rowe, Treasurer Linda Curtis, The Reverend Samantha Vincent-Alexander, and The Reverend Mark Riley.
The meeting opened with a reading and discussion of Matthew 4:12-23.
Treasurer’s Report, Linda Curtis
Linda presented the December 2019 report. St. John’s ended the year with actual income ($598,034.33) higher than budgeted income ($543,123.00). And, despite the high water bills due to leaks, the actual expenses ($540,050.49) were less than budgeted expenses ($542,123.00). The surplus was transferred to the reserve fund.
Linda then presented the 2020 budget. Motion by Charlie Edmonson, seconded by Bettyrene Pope: The vestry accepts the 2020 budget as presented with the following change: increase the rector’s salary to $80,121, and the associate rector’s salary to $54,488, along with appropriate pension changes. Motion approved unanimously.
The vestry commended Linda for all her work on the budget and throughout the year.
The December minutes were reviewed and no changes were made.
Rector’s Report, Samantha Vincent-Alexander
Website: The website draft looks good; they are in the process of adding content and pictures.
Annual Meeting: The meeting will be January 26, and food will be provided by the Paradise Ocean Beach Club. For her presentation, Samantha will focus on explaining her sabbatical. She plans to complete her yoga certification and attend a writing conference. She is pursuing scholarships to help with the costs.
Soft Space: Samantha polled families with young children, and they are excited about a “soft space” that will be created by removing a pew near the Pocahontas window.
Playground: A representative from Playworld met with Samantha, Heidi Southcombe, and Emily Klotz to measure the space and to discuss options and costs. The area, located by the big tree between St. John’s education wing and the jail, measures 45’ deep and ranges from 45’ to 55’ wide.
Canoeing the Mountains: Samantha hopes that Bob Harper will lead a group to continue discussions and create action plans.
Assistant Rector’s Report, Mark Riley
Adult Forum: The adult class is following The Good Book Club program, which is looking at the Gospel of John.
Outreach: Over 500 items were donated to the food bank through St. Johns’ reverse advent calendar program. The donations came at a great time, right after Christmas, when the food bank’s stores were low. We are now collecting cans of soup, in a “souper bowl” competition with St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
Little Free Pantry: Mark is putting the finishing touches on the pantry, which will hold canned goods (with pull tab openings), plastic spoons, and socks.
Senior Warden’s Report, Bob Harper
David: Bob thanked TowneBank for their sponsorship of David, A Choral Drama by Deborah Carr, which was a beautiful performance.
Oyster Roast: Bob acknowledged the men’s group for their successful oyster roast.
Junior Warden’s Report, Bettyrene Pope
Night’s Welcome: The vestry will serve dinner on Tuesday, February 11. Bettyrene will be in contact regarding the menu. She still needs overnight volunteers.
St. John’s Signs: Charlie Edmonson volunteered to spearhead the effort to repair or replace the weathered signs. Roughly $2,000 collected from the Christmas services will go towards this project.
Thanksgiving Funds: The collection from the Thanksgiving service was $150. Motion by Denine Miller, seconded by Charlie Edmonson: The vestry will use $150 from the Thanksgiving collection to purchase soup cans for the “souper bowl” campaign. Motion approved unanimously.
Committee Reports
Denine reported that the altar guild ordered two new torches.
Ushers should be reminded to hand out prayer request names.
The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.