October 28, 2025 The Vestry of St. John’s Church, Elizabeth City Parish, was called to order on October 28, 2025, at 6:37 p.m. by Rev. Lisa Erdeljon. Present were Bettyrene Pope – Junior Warden, Ellen Griffith – Registrar, Bob Harper, Andrew Mackey, Brad Norris, Scott Curtis, Rev Lisa Erdeljon, Linda Curtis – Treasurer and Darden Barrett – Senior Warden. Ron Kindley joined via phone. Anne Rutherford was absent. The meeting opened at 6:37 p.m. with a prayer. Ascertainment of Quorum: A quorum was present. It was announced by Rev. Lisa Erdeljon that the reason Anne Rutherford was unable to join us is that Mary Herbert Rutherford was born this afternoon. Approval of Agenda: A motion was made by Rev. Lisa Erdeljon to amend the agenda to move the Annual Convention Delegates under the Senior Warden’s report. Seconded by Bob Harper. The motion was approved unanimously. Approval of Minutes: A motion was made by Scott Curtis to approve the minutes of the September 16 meeting as amended. Seconded by Darden Barrett. The motion was approved unanimously. Treasurer’s Report, Linda Curtis: The August 25 One License from the Hoffman House should have been paid by the church, shown in the September financials. Actual expenses are $10,000 over actual income. Budgeted income is behind, budgeted pledges are behind by $40,000, however November & December are normally higher than budgeted. Non-Pledge and Plate are over budget. Requested in September and received in October are about $30,000 from the Endowment and $3,100 from the Perpetual Honor Fund. Rolled $202,000 over into a new CD at 3.56% and that is at Towne Bank. A motion was made by Ellen Griffith to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Seconded by Scott Curtis. The motion was approved unanimously. Senior Warden’s Report, Darden Barrett: We need to turn in our Lay Delegates and Alternates into the Diocese for CY2026. The proposed delegates are Susan Edmonson, Ron Kindley, Al Banwell, and Laura Kindley. The proposed alternate is Patrick Crandol, who knows this in his position as a confirmed active parishioner and not part of his duties as the Parish Administrator. A motion was made by Bob Harper to approve the proposed delegates and alternate as presented. Seconded by Ellen Griffith. The motion was approved unanimously.
The Annual Meeting needs to officially have a date set and be reflected in the minutes. January 25 is the last Sunday in January.
A motion was made by Ellen Griffith to schedule the Annual Meeting for January 25, 2026. Seconded by Bob Harper. The motion was approved unanimously. We have the Mutual Ministry Review notes from the Diocese. A motion was made by Scott Curtis to go into a closed session to discuss the results of the Mutual Ministry Review and Parish Staff. Seconded by Bob Harper. The motion was approved unanimously. Closed Session started at 7:01 A motion was made by Ellen Griffith to end the closed session. Seconded by Ron Kindley. The motion was approved unanimously. Closed Session ended at 7:24. Junior Warden’s Report, Bettyrene Pope: A smart thermostat was installed in the kitchen. Roof Engineering fixed the leak above the dishwasher, however there is now one above the coffee pot. Hiller Fire Systems will come in November to service the kitchen’s hood suppression system and portable fire extinguisher. Patrick’s Glass repaired the window in Bob Harper’s Studio at the Hoffman House. We’ve had a $1,761.00 Warwick Mechanical bill that was paid for the HVAC repair and $210 for the smart thermostat.
We have a quote of $2,699.00 from Hiller Fire Systems to do a Hydrostatically Test on the Fire Department connection and fittings and rebuild the 4 inch blackflow device and test it. These items have to be done every 5 years. Rector’s Report, Rev. Lisa Erdeljon:
Personal: Officially an owner of one house located in Hampton since the sale closed on her NC house. She has paid her entire pledge for CY 2025 to St. John’s.
Staffing: Clergy Conference was last week at Camp Chanco. Lisa is considering joining the Episcopal Parish Network, which is formally the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes.
Due to being down a single priest and only one other full time staff member, Lisa asked objections to closing the Church Office on Fridays. Currently Lisa is staffing the office on Friday mornings and if she has a conflict she has to have a volunteer come in to answer the phones or she has to miss other events/appointments/activities.
Lisa will be on vacation Nov 24 – Dec 3. Worship: We have a new Building and Grounds Ministry, they meet on Friday. The Safety and Security Ministry has implemented some changes such as the lights in the cemetery.
Phantom of the Organ was well attended and went wonderfully. We have an Evensong event this coming Sunday.
Upcoming Dates Nov 2 – Evensong, Brad Norris will be the organist for this event. Nov 12 at 11am – Hagar’s Memorial, he was a 50+ year member of the church and choir. Nov 19 at 6pm – Celebration of New Ministry Service for Lisa, the Bishop and the majority of the Diocesan staff will be here for that.
Nov 25 – Thanksgiving Service at Emmanuel has been proposed, will confirm and post in the Bulletin
Dec 21 – Longest Night Service, which will have communion and a choral offering Visioning and Planning:
The pitches were presented during announcements on Oct 19. Scott presented the Organ repair proposal, Ellen presented her group’s proposals, Anne presented the Children’s Chapel and Lisa presented the Lay Ministry.
Lisa has received feedback from many people and overall the feedback was good. She did receive 2 emails which were read aloud to the Vestry. The email from Sandy Smith asked to be included in the minutes of the Vestry meeting. Lisa, Bettyrene, Scott, Deborah Carr, and Nancy Beach – Endowment Chair, met with the Mary Williams Foundation last night in regards to what the pitches might be asking of the Mary Williams Foundation. The proposal to repair the existing organ is $1,2XX,XXX with Parsons, with the current quote expiring on December 8th, which requires 20% be paid at signing. This project would also involve leveling the choir loft and moving the sound equipment for the microphones. Refinishing the church floors have been talked about as happening at the same time, however they’re not necessarily part of the project. The estimate for the total project is $1,500,000 to include the above. The organ repair has a 10 warranty by Parson, the expected life of the organ with yearly servicing is 50 years. A motion was made by Bob Harper to request that Mary Williams Foundation fund $1,300,000.00 towards the Organ repair project. Seconded by Ellen Griffith. The motion was approved 6-1. A motion was made by Ron Kindley to request that Mary Williams Foundation pay the $2,699 for the Hiller Fire Systems quote for the hydrostatic and backflow test. Seconded by Ellen Griffith. The motion was approved unanimously. A motion was made by Ellen Griffith to request from the Mary Williams Foundation $1,761 as a reimbursement to St. John’s for the Warwick Mechanical bills from the HVAC repair and smart thermostat. Seconded by Andrew Mackey. The motion was approved 6-1.
A motion was made by Ron Kindley to adjourn the meeting at 9:15. Seconded by Ellen Griffith. The motion was approved unanimously.