April 16, 2025 The Vestry of St. John’s Church, Elizabeth City Parish, was called to order on April 16, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. by Rev. Lisa Erdeljon. Present were Darden Barrett – Senior Warden, Bettyrene Pope – Junior Warden, Ellen Griffith – Registrar, Scott Curtis, Bob Harper, Anne Rutherford, Andrew Mackey, Ron Kindley, Brad Norris, Rev Lisa Erdeljon, and Linda Curtis – Treasurer. The meeting opened at 6:31 p.m. with a prayer. Ascertainment of Quorum: A quorum was present. Approval of Minutes: A motion was made by Bob Harper to approve the minutes from the March 18th meeting as written. Seconded by Ron Kindley. The motion was approved unanimously. Approval of Agenda: A motion was made by Bob Harper to approve the agenda as written. Seconded by Ron Kindley. The motion was approved unanimously. Treasurer’s Report, Linda Curtis: Pledges, plate, and non-pledge revenue was all over the budgeted amount for March. Hoffman House reimbursed the church for their portion of property insurance. MBW Trust reimbursed the church for the deposit on the upgrade to the security system. Expenses included fixing the heat in the Sunday School Wing and water fountain. The first quarter of the Diocesan Pledge was paid in March. Outreach sent money to other funds within the church, as well as to outside groups. The deposit was paid for the new security system. The Music Foundation sent $2,000 to the Diocesan Investment Fund. The Episcopal Relief and Development fund money was sent out. We currently have 3 CDs, one of $54,188.34 which comes due in Nov 2026 at 5%, one of $108.951.39 which comes due in Feb 2028 at 4%, and the final one of $202,000.00 which comes due in Sept 2025 at 3.75% The water bill was up on usage, however that could be due to events in the church, however Linda and Bettyrene are monitoring and looking to ensure there is no leak. A motion was made by Darden Barrett to approve the money in the Money Market account into a CD. Seconded by Ron Kindley. The motion was approved unanimously. A motion was made by Ron Kindley to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Seconded by Bob Harper. The motion was approved unanimously. Senior Warden’s Report, Darden Barrett: Nothing to report other than they are getting a puppy on Good Friday. Junior Warden’s Report, Bettyrene Pope: Finishing up the Fire Inspection items and working on the progressing projects.
Rector’s Report, Rev. Lisa Erdeljon
Personal: NC House has still not sold, however Lisa has changed realtors. Lisa will be 40 on April 27th. Worship: Holy Week is here!!! The Office will be closed Monday & Tuesday (April 21 & 22) as Patrick and Deborah are off all of next week. Lisa is taking Tuesday, April 22 off. There are no major events in May for the church. June is busy.
June 1 – Music Sunday June 8 – Pentecost, last day of Christian Formation June 15 – Parish Picnic Sept 7 – Kick-off Sunday Sept 28 – Bishop will visit (Tentative) Oct 5 – Pledging Season begins The Diocese has requested a Ministry Review in May or June, Lisa is tentatively scheduling that for June 17th after the Vestry Meeting. There was an issue with intruders during both regular services and the music service on Sunday. Keeping the church building and all parishioners safe is a high priority and there will be changes coming to limit the ability of it happening again.
Project Reports: Visioning and Planning
The three main focus areas are People, Building, and Logistics. Vestry split up and will tackle a focus area.
People: Anne, Ron, and Andrew Building: Scott, Bettyrene, and Brad Logistics: Bob, Darden, and Ellen Each group will have subpoints within their areas and create a list of actions. Progressing Projects:
Project Name Owner Others Status Details
Name Tags Bill Beach
Patrick Crandol Stalled
This project is stalled due to questions of how it continues after the initial purchase and logistics. Name tags for the entire congregation.
Playground Mulch
Bettyrene Pope
Ellen Griffith David Bishop Complete
Has to be playground grade mulch, due to safety risks. Will try hard to get it done by Easter.
Security System
Bettyrene Pope Patrick Progressing
The deposit has been made. Bettyrene is hoping they start the week of April 21. We need to switch Parish House to the same security company as the church building. Bettyrene would like to update the entire security system, including cameras and keypads.
Project Name Owner Others Status Details
Leveling Choir Loft Jay Hogg Deborah
Awaiting Quote
Per Jay leveling choir loft needs to be done when the organ can be out of commission, as it will not be accessible during construction. The best time might be when they redo the church floors.
Refinishing Church Floors Jay Hogg
Awaiting Quote
This requires not using the Sanctuary for months, looking into scheduling this for 2026.
Fluorescent Lights to LED
Patrick Crandol
Bettyrene Pope
Will Schedule for After Easter
Patrick has the ability to do this during his work day, just needs the go ahead and someone to cover the phones.
Changing Tables Lisa Bettyrene Completed
Working on where to place them within Parish House and Church buildings.
A motion was made by Bob Harper to adjourn the meeting at 8:04. Seconded by Anne Rutherford. The motion was approved unanimously. A closing prayer was provided by Rev. Lisa Erdeljon.