Doug Miller, Senior Warden, called the vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Elizabeth City Parish, to order on June 16, 2015 at 6:35pm. Present were members George Cornwell, Doug Miller, David Edmonson, Ann Templeman, The Reverend Samantha Vincent-Alexander, Val Bowen, Mary Pat Croft, Linda Curtis, and Bettyrene Pope. Absent from the meeting were Kevin Eley, Dan Clark and Youth representatives Thomas Miller and Jess Miller. Linda Curtis opened the meeting with a psalm reading. Minutes from the May meeting were reviewed. The minutes were approved. Motion to approve by David Edmonson seconded by Linda Curtis. Mary Williams Trust Report Jim Shoemaker and Whiting Chisman were in attendance to give the vestry the annual report of the Mary Williams Trust. A financial overview and history of the trust were presented. The trust is working on paying down the Old Point note and no substantial projects will be taken on until the note is paid off. The MWT has approved the maintenance plan for Q design and signed off on it. They addressed the sidewalk issue and both Jim and Whiting encouraged the vestry to put heat on the Endowment Board to get their issues resolved. MWT is handling things that should be handled by Endowment. MWT will also handle the electrical work for the piano addition and the sidewalk upgrades. Jim and Whiting discussed their reasons why they wanted to use Pembroke for the sidewalk and strongly encouraged the vestry to vote in their favor. Additionally they discussed the cemetery fund and how there is $1 million in the cemetery trust but $2million is really needed. Whiting discussed the Peninsula Fund. It was reported that the Trust knows by May 15th when the tax return is filed, how much the trust has to spend. Linda Curtis made a motion and Mary Pat Croft seconded it that Pembroke be used to repair the sidewalks in the cemetery. The vote was passed with Bettyrene abstaining. Treasurer’s Report Linda reviewed the treasurer’s report. $17,000 was left to St. John’s by Ann Ward’s estate. Linda reported that that was not the entire amount. In addition to the piano donation, Mr. Sawyer also made a donation for the maintenance of the piano and Linda added a line item for that. Non-pledge income is up but a new pledge was received this week. Linda explained that the plate offering was cash put in the offering plate and non-pledge income was checks received from people who did not pledge. Scott Curtis cleaned out the safe and there was a lot of cash and change in there that totaled a little under $200. The Diocesan pledge was paid. Rector’s Report Samantha announced that she and Conor were in the adoption process. It could be anywhere from 1-2 years and she would be using her 6 weeks of adoption leave. She was going to let it be known to the congregation because they could be notified at any moment and she didn’t want to catch people off guard. Samantha reviewed the other churches that have gone through the Covenant conversation. The main thing she learned was there was no rush, take your time. It was discussed that small group meetings going through a process of discernment while reading the Bible would be best. It was decided that we couldn’t do anything over the summer so after Labor Day we should plan to have 2-3 different sessions. Doug made a motion to proceed to introduce the Covenant to the congregation and invite feedback and Linda seconded it. The motion passed. If anyone is interested in meeting to work out a proposed plan for the Covenant conversation, please let Doug know. Samantha brought up that Michael Spear-Jones had approached St. John’s and Emmanuel in Hampton about hiring Mark Riley who is presently serving at Galilee Episcopal. It was discussed that his time would be shared between the two churches. Samantha went over the salary requirements. It was decided that we are interested but need to find out how interested Emmanuel is. He would look to start in September. Samantha would meet with him and it is her decision to hire him but she would like a small group of the Vestry to meet with him as well. Linda made a motion to designate $11,351 for 6 months with an understanding that it could be extended to begin September. Val seconded the motion and it was passed.
Sr. Warden’s Report Endowment Board Sarah Messersmith was not interested in serving on the board so Doug made a motion to appoint Rick Bagley to the board, Bettyrene seconded it and it was passed. Air Conditioning Doug made a motion to have the Mary Williams trust fund the annual maintenance plan for the air conditioning system. Linda seconded it and it was approved.
Linda closed the meeting with a prayer and we were adjourned at 8:45 pm. Submitted by Ann Templeman, registrar