The Vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Elizabeth City Parish, Hampton, Virginia met on May 5, 2009. The Reverend Donna-Mae Siderius opened the meeting at 7:05 pm. Present were Bob Harper, Senior Warden, Bettyrene Pope, Junior Warden, Kay Olson, Registrar, Jay Hogg, Ann Rice, Ruth Simmons, Betsy Clark, Kevin Van Sloten, Nick McMahon, Youth Representative, Peggy Hayes, Charles Edmonson, Susanna Stephens, and Kevin Eley. Also present were The Reverend James Hutton and Treasurer Connie Heath.
Prior to the opening of the meeting the Vestry surprised Donna-Mae with flowers and a gift certificate to honor the anniversary marking 23 years in the ministry of the Episcopal Church. Refreshment furnished by Kevin Van Sloten and Bettyrene Pope were available.
Kevin Van Sloten presented the devotion using Bible verses from John 15: 1-8.
Reverend Donna-Mae Siderius suggested moving the Annual Meeting to the first Sunday in November, doing so will let the commemorative committee be able to begin selling items before Christmas, the Memory Books will also go on sale and the plans for the 2010 Celebration can be presented to the parish. Donna-Mae will check the calendar for available dates in November.
Alternate delegates to Diocesan Council names will be submitted to Vestry and voted on during the June meeting. The elected names must be given to the Diocese by the end of June.
The members of Vestry were in agreement that what worked best during the first Visioning Meeting was Reverend Crowell’ s commitment to the process and he made the participants stick to the rules set forth for finding the present core values of St. John’s and the process of evaluating the aspiring values of the future.
The minutes of the April meeting were approved with one member abstaining.
The Treasurers report was approved as presented. A request for donations for the DTNL Program will be made in the service leaflet and in the Epistle.
Renovation Committee Report:
One company has inspected the Stain Glass windows in the church building and given advice to the committee about what may need to done for the safety of the windows. A quotation has been requested to clean, paint and glaze the windows in the church building.
Junior Warden’s Report: Bettyrene Pope Regular maintenance issues have been attended to. Light bulb changing is always on the list.
The air conditioner nearest the stage in the Parish House decided to give up the weekend of the visioning meeting. E.T. Lawson came on Monday and recharged the AC unit but has to be recalled that afternoon to repair the fan, an entirely different problem. It is in working order now that the weather has turned cooler.
Hoffman House – Painting has been completed. The laminate wood flooring is to be installed on Thursday. Ceramic tile flooring is being installed in the bathrooms, utility room and hall. The large bathroom will have the shower and commode installed Friday, and then will need only a vanity, sink and mirror. A new commode will be installed in the smaller bathroom. We’re almost finished and the new tenant is set to start moving in, hopefully by the 15th of May. A new outside lock has been installed with new doorknobs for the upstairs tenants. Repairs were made to fix a leak in the men’s bathroom.
Senior Warden’s Report: Bob Harper Church Committee Ministries will be the next step for Vestry to take after the visioning process is complete.
Associate Rector’s Report: Reverend James Hutton Skip has been screening new ordinands for the Diocese of Southern Virginia and is doing pastoral visiting of shut-in parishioners.
Rector’s Report: Reverend Donna-Mae Siderius Donna-Mae reminded us of parishioners who are in need of our prayers. She also read an e-mail she received praising our youth on the wonderful job they did in presenting the service on Youth Sunday. She said commitment is a large investment to the young people in the parish.
Nick McMahon presented the Tacky Light to Charlie Edmonson
Submitted by Kay Olson, Registrar