April 9, 2019 The vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Elizabeth City Parish, was called to order on April 9, 2019 at 6:33 p.m. Present were: Senior Warden Bob Harper, Junior Warden Bettyrene Pope, Stephen Rous, Ruth Simmons, Charlie Edmonson, Denine Miller, Greg Brauer, Emily Klotz, The Reverend Samantha Vincent-Alexander, The Reverend Mark Riley, and Treasurer Linda Curtis. Those absent, excused: Pat Dennehey and Youth Representative Darius Rowe. Samantha Vincent-Alexander opened the meeting with Philippians 2:1-11. The vestry welcomed Bettyrene Pope, who will fill the remainder of Whiting Chisman Jr.’s term. The March meeting minutes were reviewed. Motion by Bob Harper, seconded by Denine Miller to accept the minutes. Motion approved. Treasurer’s Report, Linda Curtis Actual income for March was slightly higher than budgeted income, and actual expenses for March were nearly $10,000 less than budgeted expenses. However, with April being the beginning of the next quarter, we will expect to see two big payments next month. The Due To/From Account has been sorted out since last report. There was a bookkeeper error in the line for Outreach, which shows funds that were already dispersed to several outreach funds. This will be corrected by next vestry meeting. Linda asked that the vestry approve additional parishioners to be authorized signatories on the Old Point Bank account. Checks written from the St. John’s account require two signatures. Motion by Stephen Rous, seconded by Denine Miller: Bob Harper and Warren Coleman are authorized to be signers on the Old Point Bank account. Motion approved. Stephen Rous initiated a discussion regarding the 2019 pledge campaign. Having learned of a technique during the CEEP conference in Boston, Stephen suggested that St. Johns publish in the weekly bulletin the names of those who have submitted their pledges. Those who did not want to be recognized in the bulletin could opt-out on the pledge form. Stephen reported that other parishes have found this technique greatly increases the number of pledges submitted during their annual campaign. A suggested time frame would be the week after Celebration Sunday to the beginning of December. The vestry will consider this idea, and Samantha offered to check with other local congregations regarding their methods. Rector’s Report, Samantha Vincent-Alexander
Retreat: Samantha reminded the vestry of the retreat at Chanco, August 23-34. Sexton: A new sexton, Michael Todd, III, will officially start next week. Bettyrene will look into purchasing St. Johns polo shirts for him. Fun Hunt: St. Johns will be a stop on the downtown Fun Hunt. We will hand out bottles of water with St. Johns labels from 11-3. Volunteers are Samantha, Denine, Greg and Emily. Commission Assignments: Each vestry member has been assigned as a liaison to a committee. Samantha will coordinate initial meetings with the vestry member, committee contact and either herself or Mark.
Committee Vestry Liaison Contact
Sr. Warden Bob Harper Rector
Jr. Warden Bettyrene Pope Clergy
Newcomers/Evangelism Greg Brauer Will Andrews
Liturgy Pat Dennehey Betsy Clark
Christian Formation Emily Klotz Shannon Olson
Outreach Ruth Simmons Doug Perry
Music Academy Charlie Edmonson Deborah Carr
Heritage Charlie Edmonson Susan Edmonson
Stewardship/Planned Giving Stephen Rous Clergy
Youth Darius Rowe Shannon Olson
InReach & St. Anne’s Guild Denine Miller Paula Hogg
Same-Sex Blessing/Wedding: Samantha provided some history on the acceptance and practice of same-sex marriage in the Episcopal Church and at St. Johns. Three years ago, when the Bishop asked that clergy receive overwhelming support from their vestry in order to perform same-sex marriages, St. Johns supported it with a majority of the vestry voting in favor- – but it was not an overwhelming majority. Samantha further explained that now priests are authorized by General Convention to perform same-sex marriages and they do not need the permission of the bishop. However, she would prefer vestry support. If same-sex marriage is supported, Samantha would write a letter to the parish and talk with the few members who may be opposed to the change. Samantha also explained that for same-sex marriages — as it is for all marriages at St. Johns– the couples would need to be church members or family of members and participate in pre-marriage counseling. Motion by Bob Harper, seconded by Denine Miller: The vestry supports St. Johns clergy in celebrating same-sex weddings and blessings of marriages in the church according to St. Johns’ current policy. Motion approved unanimously. Assistant Rector’s Report, Mark Riley Mark reported on three outreach opportunities. 1. RISE Against Hunger will again take place at St. Johns. 2. Similar to RISE is a program called Beans & Rice, which is a monthly food packaging and distribution program at a more local level. 3. Dog-Eared Books distributes books to inmates in the city jail. They currently only deliver once a month to the jail and the annex, but they would like to expand to once per week. This could be a good service opportunity for our parishioners. Senior Warden’s Report, Bob Harper Bob contacted Signs Express of Portsmouth to obtain quotes for the cleaning and repainting of church signs. Vestry discussed whether it would be prudent to pursue cleaning and painting of signs which may display outdated information. It was decided to look at the signs prior to the next vestry meeting. Bob turned the project over to Bettyrene. Junior Warden’s Report, Bettyrene Pope Bettyrene reported that a few trees will be removed in the cemetery. Expenses will be paid by the cemetery. The meeting adjourned at 8:17 p.m.