August 19, 2025 The Vestry of St. John’s Church, Elizabeth City Parish, was called to order on August 19, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. by Rev. Lisa Erdeljon. Present were Bettyrene Pope – Junior Warden, Ellen Griffith – Registrar, Bob Harper, Anne Rutherford, Andrew Mackey, Ron Kindley, Brad Norris, Scott Curtis, Rev Lisa Erdeljon & Rev. Ryan Missel. Darden Barrett – Senior Warden and Linda Curtis – Treasurer were absent. The meeting opened at 6:30 p.m. with a prayer. Ascertainment of Quorum: A quorum was present. Approval of Agenda: A motion was made by Lisa Erdeljon to amend the agenda to table the 2024 Audit review until next month. Seconded by Ron Kindley. The motion was approved unanimously.
A motion was made by Lisa Erdeljon to amend the agenda to remove the Senior Warden Report. Seconded by Anne Rutherford. The motion was approved unanimously.
A motion was made by Lisa Erdeljon to amend the agenda to add a Curate Report after the Junior Warden Report. Seconded by Scott Curtis. The motion was approved unanimously. Approval of Minutes: A motion was made by Scott Curtis to approve the minutes from the June 17 meeting as amended. Seconded by Ron Kindley. The motion was approved unanimously. A motion was made by Ron Kindley to approve the minutes from the August 13 Special Session meeting as written. Seconded by Anne Rutherford. The motion was approved unanimously. Treasurer’s Report, Linda Curtis: Linda is absent, so Lisa gave the review of the treasurer’s report that Linda sent. June: Plate was over budget again! Diocesan Pledge was paid for Q2 paid, Nickerson Fund paid Outreach for Summer Lunch program. July: $75,000 received from Endowment, $20,000 received from Hoffman House. Plate and non-pledge were over budget. Catchup on Curate Insurance, paid 2 months in July. Tables purchased by Inreach were reclassified to the Memorial fund, so credit shows to Inreach, debit to Memorial Fund. Had to purchase acolyte robes, Music Camp expenses were higher than budgeted. St. Anne’s purchased coats for winter drive during back to school sales. Durden money sent to Discesan Investments. Electric bills are still high, July was more than last year, but we’ve had 2 services and used the building more. As part of the audit review, 2 signatures are now being required on reimbursement requests.
A motion was made by Bob Harper to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Seconded by Ellen Griffith. The motion was approved unanimously. Junior Warden’s Report, Bettyrene Pope: Replaced the exhaust fan in the dishwasher room. The dishwasher is still not working, working on finding a repairman for that. A leak in the west vestibule was the Fire Suppression line, it was repaired. Sunday School wing roof was leaking, had the flat roof cleaned, inspected, and repaired by Roof Engineering. Signed a contract to have them perform semi-annual inspections in fall and spring going forward. New door stops were installed on the North door landing. Copy room and Finance doors were repaired. Stanley Steamer will be cleaning the Sunday School wing carper soon. Warwick repaired the thermostat in Parish Hall and replaced a blower motor. A motion was made by Ellen Griffith to request Mary Williams Trust to pay the $7,049.50 for repair bills from Warwick Heating and Plumbing for the AC repairs bills. Seconded by Ron Kindley. The motion was approved unanimously. Curate’s Report, Rev. Ryan Missel: Ryan’s been teaching Confirmation classes on Wednesday night, meeting parishioners (many coffee shop visits), and preparing for Sunday services. Ryan’s last Sunday with St. John’s will be Sunday, Sept 14. Staff will be told this week, a notice will go out Friday in the ePistle, and an announcement will be made during both services on Sunday. Rector’s Report, Rev. Lisa Erdeljon:
Personal: Lisa is on vacation Aug 25th – Sept 1, gets to preach at parent’s church for her mom’s birthday. Lisa will be taking Thanksgiving week off, she will arrange a substitute priest for the Sunday she misses. No news on the North Carolina house.
Worship: Ryan’s official last day will be Sept 15, as that’s the end of the pay period. We will cover his insurance through the end of September.
Upcoming Dates Aug 23 – Ministry Fair Sept 7th – Kickoff Sunday Sept 28th – Bishop visit, reception in Parish House between services Sat Oct 4th – Blessing of the animals that evening, St. John’s Golf Outing in the morning.
Sunday School will serve potty trained through 5th Grade. The committee picked the Spark curriculum and it is committed to being taught for the 3 year cycle. Due to lack of teachers there will not be a middle/high school class.
Staff laid out a calendar for the entire 25/26 program year. Monthly music events, themes for each month, are some of what was laid out.
Lisa’s new letter of agreement has been signed by Sr. Warden, Lisa, and Canon; and is awaiting the signature of the Bishop, who is out until Sept 1.
Stewardship will begin in October and there is a Stewardship committee made up of Betsy Clark, Brooks Holder, Meade Amory, and Eric Rutherford.
Lisa finished her continuing education class on managing church staff and would highly recommend it.
Visioning and Planning
Put previous ideas into High/Low grid and ran through the ideas at a high level. Vestry will pitch ideas to the congregation on the 2nd Sunday of Stewardship during both services. In Sept, we need to come up with our pitch for our ideas, including stakeholder, money, and other resources needed to complete the idea.
A closing prayer was provided by Rev. Lisa Erdeljon. A motion was made by Ron Kindley to adjourn the meeting at 8:03. Seconded by Anne Rutherford. The motion was approved unanimously.