June 20, 2017 Meeting The Vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Elizabeth City Parish, was called to order on June 20, 2017 at 6:35 pm. Present were members David Edmonson, Bettyrene Pope, The Reverend Samantha Vincent- Alexander, The Reverend Mark Riley, Pat Dennehey, Bob Harper, Mary Pat-Croft, Whiting Chisman Jr., Duncan Garnett, Rose Hobart, and Treasurer Linda Curtis. Absent were Bill Brown and The Youth Rep Will Olson. Pat Dennehey opened with Scripture from John 13:34 and discussion of understanding faith and belief. Check In and Absences Bettyrene mentioned about she and Jack leaving going on vacation and that Jack’s birthday was coming up on July 4th. Whiting mentioned that Duncan had requested a meeting with Planned Giving group and requested July 17th for the meeting. Treasurer’s Report Linda went over the financials for May and noted the following: Income from pledge and non-pledge offerings is still ahead for the year. Loose plate income was again over budget for the month. Starting in July the church pension will be paid monthly instead of quarterly. The church received $8,865 from the Endowment board for building repairs that took place in 2015 and 2016. Funds were expensed for the following: Ash Wednesday/Good Friday collection was sent to Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society for The Diocese of Jerusalem. Memorial Fund spent money for Easter flowers. The Men’s Group spent money for supplies for Camp Chanco. Downtown lunch started so supplies are being bought. St. Andrews was reimbursed for supplies bought for Teacher Appreciation Week. ?? We are up to date with pledge to Diocese. A presentation was made by Whiting on behalf of the Mary Williams Trust on how they would like the church to request the money for use by St. Johns. The trust has a little over $6 million in it. They would like most things to be competitively priced by 2 people, but 3 would be better. It was also explained what constitutes an emergency with regards to the use of monies from the Mary Williams Trust for repairs and who to contact to help determine whether something is an emergency or not. We are to contact Jim Shoemaker, Whiting Chisman Jr. or Doug Miller in the case of an emergency. The May 15, 2017 Vestry minutes were reviewed. David Edmonson made a motion that the minutes be approved, seconded by Duncan Garnettt. Minutes were approved. Rector’s Report Approval of Delegates to the Feb 9th and 10th 2018 Annual Diocesan Council in meeting in Williamsburg, VA was discussed. The four members from our church are Susan Edmonson, Duncan Garnettt, Bob Harper, and Stephen Rous as well as the Reverends Samantha Vincent-Alexander and Mark Riley. In addition to these members, 2 alternates were also selected in case one or more delegates could not attend the meeting. If one or both alternates are not needed in 2018 they go on to be delegates for the 2019 Council Meeting. The 2 alternates are Rosemary Hobart and Pat Dennehey. A motion was made by Bettyrene Pope to accept this slate of delegates, seconded by Whiting Chisman Jr. The motion was approved.
The topic of St. Johns signage was discussed. Billie Einselen of the Heritage Committee commissioned our last signage and brought back the person to give us a quote on refurbishing all the signs which was around $1000.00. This would clean up the signs as well as correct any misinformation they have. Another quote is being perused to look at replacing all the signs with money from the Endowment. Vestry members were asked for their opinion on wording of the signs and possible changes to the wording that might not include the word historic. Even the addition of more directional signage was discussed along with the possibility of a sign which could have space to put up relevant information or possibly be electronic. Reverend Samantha Vincent-Alexander will look at a possible wording change that would help present St. John’s as a living, breathing, active church. The vestry was asked to consider construction of a playground. Site location would be important. This could be a draw for potential new members. We need to look for and finalize volunteers for the upcoming on July 22 90’s Night Hampton Block Party. Need 12 volunteers to help with beer and wine. Cute T-shirt idea. “St. Johns Loves the 90’s, 1690’s, 1790’s 1890’s and especially the 1990’s”. The hours are from 5:30 to 10:30 with shifts possible. Need to put the word out for volunteers. Reminder of upcoming Vestry Retreat Aug. 25th and 26th. Mary Pat-Croft will looking into organizing the food. Samantha will be on vacation for 2 weeks in New York from June 26 to the 9th. Assistant Rector’s Report Gearing up for the July 9th ‘Stop Hunger Now” event. Some funds have been set aside from Outreach to match congregation donations. Open to all who wish to help. Need about 40 people but 50 would be better. Sign up is on line on the church’s website or at the Parish House. Taking some of the youth on a retreat to Massanutten from Friday to Monday. Request for prayers for safe travels. Junior Warden Report Normal maintenance attended to. Senior Warden Report Report from Q Design on Parish House repairs and painting. The next thing is for Bettyrene Pope and Whiting Chisman Jr. to meet with Q Design to prioritize the work to be done. A number of $200,000.00 has been set aside from the Mary Williams Trust to help pay for this project. The cost for repairs and painting is likely more than this amount meaning there will be a need to prioritize what work gets done. Whiting mentioned that if bids came in at $250,000 to $275,000 he is not opposed if Vestry borrowed the difference and pay it back in the second year. Would need approval from Doug Miller and Jimmy Shoemaker. If that happened, the church would carry the interest for that period of time. Endowment could possibly pay the interest expense. No Vestry meeting in August. Newcomers Reception was well received. Around 16 people were invited and 8 came. The Reverend Mark Riley gave a tour of the Church.
Reviewed the norms for the Diocese which govern our body as Vestry. Some of these are To Listen Attentively to Others, Speak for Ourselves Only, Refrain from Judging, Model for Transparency, Challenge People in Love, Open to New Ideas, and Look for the Good in Others. More will be discussed at the retreat. No comments on the Vestry Committee liaisons. New Business Samantha discussed the church’s insurance plan and explained that we are somewhat underinsured. It is unclear in our policy whether when referring to the church if that means the Parish House or the Church or both. We need to get clarification. Our stained glass windows are not individually insured. The historic silver is insured under the Fine Arts policy and not a separate policy. All the church’s Fine Arts is insured for up to a $1,000,000,000.00. The silver alone is worth more than that. The silver is stored off property in a safety deposit box which is not insured so it may be worth the expense to buy a good safe to store not only the silver but other important papers as well. We should consider enlisting the help of the Heritage Society in helping determine things of importance. There is also a need to get a reappraisal of the Church and Parish House as well. Samantha closed with Prayer and Compline. Meeting adjourned at 8:05 pm Submitted by Patrick Dennehey, Registrar