The Vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Elizabeth City Parish, Hampton, Virginia met on January 8, 2008. The Reverend Donna-Mae Siderius opened the meeting at 7:05 p.m. Present were John Chiasson-Junior Warden, Betsy Clark, Charlie Edmonson, Kevin Eley, Connie Heath-Treasurer, Whit McKinney, Sanford Pankin, Bettyrene Pope-Senior Warden, Sandy Smith-Registrar, and the Reverend Skip Hutton. Scott Curtis and Bob Wind were absent.
Reverend Siderius recognized and thanked Charlie Edmonson, Connie Heath, Bettyrene Pope and Bob Wind, for their faithful service the past three years.
Whit McKinney provided devotions based on the theme “This I Believe” with a reading on love and prayer by Leo Tolstoy from the Book of Uncommon Prayer.
Minutes
The December minutes were approved as presented.
Treasurer’s Report
Connie Heath reviewed the December Income and Expense Statement, Special Accounts Report, and the Balances of Designated Offerings Report.
The checking account balance is approximately $36,000. December income was $72,382.48 and expenses were $38,372.84. With 100% of the year complete, total pledge and plate income is 101.45%. Pledge income fell short at 90.39%, with about 10% of pledges not fulfilled. There may be some income from pledges outstanding as anything received after December 31 is not counted in the total.
Expenditures for Altar Guild, oil, (as expected), postage, Stewardship, and a few other expenditures exceeded what was budgeted, but total expenditures were less than budgeted at 93.61% and General Expenses, which do not include Program expenditures, were 87.30%. There was a question as to why the Stewardship expenses were almost twice what was budgeted. Betsy Clark, Stewardship chair, will discuss with Bill Boyer, Financial Administrator, and report back to the Vestry at the February meeting. Betsy reported the vendor who provided the Stewardship pens returned our check when he learned the purchase was to benefit a church.
Stewardship Report
Donna-Mae reported Hugh Magers has been hired as a Stewardship consultant for Convocation V of the Diocese. His salary will be shared by the parishes in the Convocation, an approximate cost of $250 per parish. Donna-Mae stated there is a need to keep Stewardship going all year.
Betsy Clark, Stewardship chair, reported receipt of 130 pledges totaling $358,581.00, and 10-12 pledges outstanding from parishioners who normally pledge. Bill Boyer, Financial Administrator, expects total pledge income will be between $370,000 and $380,000, which is still short of the Finance Committee’s budgeted pledge income of $408,050.00. Betsy reported a $10,000 gift was received from a parishioner with a stipulation it be reported as income for 2007, which it was per the December Income/Expense Report. Many parishioners maintained or increased their pledge. Newcomers either pledged or increased their pledges.
The Finance Committee met on January 2 to review the proposed budget. Terrey McKinney, chair, provided a letter to the Vestry echoing Betsy’s report regarding outstanding pledges, noting letters had been sent to the parishioners. Based on Bill Boyer’s prediction of increased pledges, the current budget deficit should be reduced.
The Finance Committee plans to confer again on January 14 to determine the need for a Budget revision should the income deficit not be reduced significantly by the expected outstanding pledges.
Betsy will continue as Stewardship chair and passionately believes in the need for a parish vision; what do parishioners want for St. John’s and where should we focus our stewardship. She wants to try a different approach to Stewardship this year. Stewardship is one of the Vestry’s primary responsibilities and we must be engaged in this effort. Skip Hutton offered the establishment of an Every Member Canvas (EMC) for future discussion. Kevin Eley suggested “Where Do We Want to Be” as the theme for our Vestry retreat, following up on last year’s theme of “Who Are We”.
Associate Rector’s Report
Skip Hutton reported the Adult Forum began studying Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, with about 23 parishioners attending the first Sunday it was offered. He will continue his lecture series on the history of St. John’s on January 15, discussing the real faith of our founding fathers. Skip will cover for Donna-Mae the end of January and first part of February while she and John are on vacation. Skip reported he is enjoying his work!
Senior Warden’s Report
Bettyrene Pope reported that she and Betsy Clark provided Christmas appreciation gifts to St. John’s staff, for which the staff was truly grateful. A Thank You card from staff was shared with the Vestry.
Junior Warden’s Report
John Chiasson reported he reorganized the kitchen, with the help of Hansi Haufler. He and Bettyrene Pope also handled some issues with the alarm systems. Donna-Mae thanked John for his hard work in the kitchen.
John provided the following information on his work as chair of A Night’s Welcome. A volunteer group of 148 St. John’s parishioners provided 782 hours of their time to welcome and serve 385 guests, serving 750 meals. Sixteen youth from the EYC cooked and served a spaghetti dinner. There will be a wrap up meeting on January 29 to discuss lessons learned and to prepare for next year. All are invited, not just those who served. There is a need for more coordination of duties, with job descriptions and designated team leaders for specific functions.
As a follow-up to last month’s meeting, John provided a Project List of parish house repairs and replacements. The Endowment Board has set aside $10,000 for Vestry use and a motion to formally request this money was passed by the Vestry in December 2007. The cost for the projects on the list total approximately $35,000. The Endowment Board is willing to provide an additional $10,000. Bettyrene Pope moved the Vestry amend the motion made in December 2007 requesting $10,000 from the Endowment Fund for repairs and replacements to increase the request to $20,000. The motion was seconded by Whit McKinney and unanimously passed by the Vestry.
Donna-Mae reported the Endowment Board is willing to cover the cost of insurance coverage for the organ from the Endowment Fund. Charlie Edmonson moved the Vestry amend the motion made in December 2007 requesting $16,000 from the Endowment Fund for insurance coverage to increase the request to $20,000 to cover insurance on the organ. The motion was seconded by Sandy Smith and unanimously approved by the Vestry.
Action: The Vestry requested $20,000 from the Endowment Fund for repairs and replacements in the parish house and $20,000 for insurance coverage.
Rector’s Report
Donna-Mae Siderius reported the following.
- The Advent Activity Workshop was a success. The bottle decoration was truly intergenerational and a big hit. Whit McKinney reported his mother received one of the decorated, lighted bottles and she was thrilled. It was suggested that the next Advent workshop include a lesson or teaching in addition to crafts.
- The Festival of Lessons and Carols on December 16 was well received, with about 200 attending, and we may do this yearly.
- The Christmas Eve pageant by St. John’s youth was very good and the church was full. There were about 20 individuals at the Christmas Day service, a definite increase from past years.
- Vestry Orientation is January 16. There are six nominations to-date. Nominations must be received no later than Sunday, January 13.
- The six month planning calendar was distributed. Vestry was asked to coordinate additions with Jenny Brown, Parish Administrator.
- The Oyster Roast, hosted by the Men’s Group, is Saturday, January 19. Vestry was asked to call their Care Team.
- The Annual Meeting is Sunday, January 27. There will be one service at 9:00 a.m. The meeting, including Vestry elections, will follow the service. Baxter Simmons will cater. Vestry was asked to assist with set-up. Vestry was asked to call their Care Team.
- Newcomer orientation will be held on Sunday, January 13 between the services.
- Unless a need arises, there will no longer be a nursery for the 8:00 a.m. service.
- The Convocation V Pre-Council meeting is Thursday, January 10 in Williamsburg. Annual Council is February 1-3 in Williamsburg. Megan Tiller, EYC, will attend as part of the diocesan youth presence.
- A Journey to Adulthood (J2A) parent meeting will be held on Sunday, January 13 after the 10:30 a.m. service to finalize plans for the Valentines Dance, a fundraiser for the J2A pilgrimage in 2009.
Other Business
The Vestry brainstormed the following priorities for the new Vestry.
- Plan and process for renovations to the Church Building
- Stewardship, including a 3-5 year vision
- Plan for our 2010 celebration – what are we going to do
- Marketing and advertising plan- revision/development of brochure; highlight our website address; Kevin Eley suggested a bumper sticker with the message St. John’s – Fighting Sin Since 1610 and our website address
- Support for Christian Education – Harper Lewis’ vision
- Support for Music – John Siderius’ vision
Thank You
The Vestry thanks the following.
- Hansi Haufler for helping John Chiasson reorganize the kitchen
- John Chiasson for his continuing hard work Charlie Edmonson, Connie Heath, Bettyrene Pope, and Bob Wind for their Vestry service
Tacky Lights
There was no passing of the tacky lights.
Closing
The next Vestry meeting will be February 12. Skip Hutton closed the meeting with prayer at 9:15 p.m.
Sandy Smith Registrar
Approved with corrections