The vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Elizabeth City Parish, was called to order on December 15, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. Present were: Senior Warden Charlie Edmonson, Junior Warden Bettyrene Pope, Greg Brauer, Dan Clark, Denine Miller, Doug Perry, Stephen Rous, Ruth Simmons, Registrar Emily Klotz, Treasurer Linda Curtis, The Reverend Samantha Vincent-Alexander, and The Reverend Mark Riley. Note: This vestry meeting was conducted via Zoom, in keeping with the diocese’s mandate for physical distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting opened at 6:30p.m.
Treasurer’s Report, Linda Curtis Linda reported that our actual income YTD ($480,175) exceeds actual expenses YTD ($462,046), and she thought we will get to the end of the year with a budget surplus. She has begun working on the 2021 budget. Total pledged as of the meeting was $287,820. (Total pledged total for 2020 was $353,163.) She continues to look at ways to decrease spending for 2021. There is currently $48,000 in the reserve fund; she plans to include no more than half of that in the 2021 budget, if needed. Linda has filed for Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness.
The diocesan pledge has been paid in full for 2020. Suggested pledge is 10% of our plate and pledge income. Motion by Charlie Edmonson, seconded by Denine Miller: St. John’s will contact the diocese with an estimated pledge of $20,000, with the caveat that we increase it to $25,000 if we achieve the pledge level that we anticipate. Approved unanimously.
The minutes of November 17, 2020 were corrected and approved.
Rector’s Report, The Reverend Samantha Vincent-Alexander
Update on Christmas Eve Services: The latest plan is to have two outdoor services (3:00 and 4:00) with a maximum of 50 people at each service. The 50 will be divided into two large groups, separated by 30 feet. Families/individuals will still be separated from each other by 6 feet. The services will last less than 30 minutes each. A livestream service will be held at 8:00pm. There will be no Christmas day service. The Sunday following Christmas, parishioners across the diocese will be encouraged to watch a livestream service from Bishop Haynes.
Parking Lot Church: Samantha and Mark are considering conducting winter services outside, next to the parking lot, so that parishioners can stay in their cars and listen through their car radios. This would necessitate the purchase of an FM transmitter ($100-$120).
Clergy Calls: Samantha and Mark called everyone in the directory, to check in. They were able to update information, and enjoyed talking with people they haven’t seen for quite some time.
Sabbatical: Samantha will no longer take a partial sabbatical during the month of January.
Assistant Rector’s Report, The Reverend Mark Riley
Lil’ Free Pantry: Mark has purchased a food drop box that can be stored outside and collect food donations in a secured container. He hopes to get some volunteers to refill the pantry from the donated goods.
Night’s Welcome: Mark hopes to coordinate a month of breakfast assembly volunteers.
Senior Warden’s Report, Charlie Edmonson Charlie reported that the Confederate Memorial Committee, chaired by Linda Curtis, has had two meetings. Will Moffett spoke at one meeting. The next meeting will include several African American pastors. The committee plans to report back to the vestry within six months.
Junior Warden’s Report, Bettyrene Pope
Bettyrene reported that a new motion detector was installed in the parish house. The heaters in the attic were cleaned. Warwick Plumbing & Heating looked at the HVAC system and reported three years left on the warranty.
Night’s Welcome: Bettyrene prepared a dinner to feed 20 last week, but only about 8 people were present. The low numbers may be due to the relatively warm weather, plus several people have been provided places to live. She plans to sign up for another dinner in January.
Committee Reports
Thrive: Dan reported that many of the people he meets through Thrive are single mothers, and they are concerned about providing Christmas gifts to their children. Charitable Trust provided 67 gift cards to 30 different families so they could buy their children presents. These were primarily for families in Hampton, but Dan hopes to involve other churches and expand to other areas next year.
New Business
Annual Meeting: The annual meeting will be January 24, via zoom. There will be a vestry election; the nomination form was included in the last bulletin.
The meeting concluded with prayer and adjourned at 7:49 p.m.