Minutes from Vestry Meeting - February 18, 2013

Formation

Evening Prayer and Thanksgiving & Prayer Requests
The vestry assembled in the church for evening prayer at 7:00 PM. The group then gathered in the undercroft meeting room and offered prayers of thanksgiving and intercession.

Attendance
Present at the meeting were: the rector, Kristin Orr; the junior warden, Bill Bestow; vestry members Candice Barrera, Bob Berner, Anne Edwards, Gale Michael, Mark Moxley and Patti Pohrte; the treasurer, Debbi Huggett; and the clerk, Susan Marquis. Absent were the senior warden, Audrey Ongman and vestry members Steve Hofer, Greg Lawrence, and Jim Whitfield.

Parish Stewardship

Approval of Minutes from the November Meeting
The vestry received two sets of minutes this month. Candice Barrera made a motion to approve the minutes from the December 2012 meeting, with a second from Mark Moxley. The motion was approved. Anne Edwards moved to approve the minutes from the January 2013 budget meeting. Gale Michael seconded, and the motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report
Debbi Huggett was welcomed as the new parish treasurer, having taken over from Clay Denton, who served long and well in the position. Since the vestry did not meet in regular session in January, the December report had not yet been approved. Anne Edwards made a motion to approve the December report, and Gale Michael seconded. The motion was approved.
Debbi reported that she will show monthly revenue expectations by dividing the budget by the number of Sundays in the year rather than dividing by the number of months in the year. The diocesan pledge, likewise, will be divided evenly. Utilities will be spread the way they were paid last year. Salaries will be divided by pay period. If Debbi does not know the schedule of how something is paid, she will divide it by quarter.
A recent office furniture purchase was offset in the budget by the savings realized as a result of not having to pay benefits to the office manager.
Gale Michael made the motion to accept the January treasurer’s report, followed by a second from Mark Moxley. The motion passed.
With the new vestry, an update is needed on the list of signers for all church bank accounts. Pastor Orr will remain on the list, as will Audrey Ongman, who moved from Junior to Senior Warden. Junior Warden Bill Bestow, will be added to the list, and retired Warden Frank So will be removed. Candice Barrera moved that the list of signers be updated as described. After a second by Anne Edwards, the motion was approved.

Rector’s Discretionary Account Fund Report
Prior to the meeting, Pastor Orr made available to the vestry the Rector’s Discretionary Fund account report for the fourth quarter of 2012. This benevolence account is budgeted at $500 per year. In addition the rector typically donates her funeral honoraria to the fund. At present there is $565 in the account. Mark Moxley made a motion to receive the report. After a second by Patti Pohrte, the motion was carried.

2012 Parochial Report
The national Episcopal Church requires all parishes to file a parochial report annually. The rector prepares the membership page, and the treasurer (in this case Clay Denton) prepares the financial page. Pastor Orr reported that membership numbers have remained fairly steady for the last five or six years with newcomers offsetting losses of parishioners through death or moving. Gale Michael moved to accept the report, and Anne Edwards seconded. The motion was upheld.

Information

Rector’s Report 
For the benefit of new members and as a review for continuing members, the vestry read through some materials from the Alban Institute dealing with maintaining healthy parish communications. Pastor Orr suggested that vestry leadership largely consists of vestry members as parishioners who set a good example.

Wardens’ Reports and/or Reports from Parish Organizations
Upcoming Parish Events There was no report.

Upcoming Parish Events
A Lenten study series will take place at 7:00 PM on Wednesdays during Lent. The topic this year will be “Heaven.” Classes start on February 20th. No registration is required.
The annual St. John’s Fish Fry is scheduled for March 8th from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Last year’s popular musician Smiley Tillmon will perform again. Proceeds will be donated to PADS.

Discussion and Decisions

Update on Ongoing Projects

--Columbarium The project status was explained for the benefit of new vestry members. It was reported that Mark Moxley and Frank So had been working on the project. Recently former parishioner and architect, Barry Berg, offered his services pro bono. Bob Berner asked if village approval is needed (yes), and if there is a timetable (none yet). Patti Pohrte asked if money was set aside for the project (yes, approximately $33,000) and if there are guidelines about where ashes can be placed (they can go almost anywhere). Pastor Orr hopes that the columbarium plans will be put in place over the next year.

--Access
Again, the work to date was described for the new vestry members. Patti Pohrte and Mark Moxley volunteered to serve on a sub-committee to move this project along. They may be joined by a couple of others who no longer are on the vestry but who were involved in past work on this access project.

Schedule Vestry Retreat

The vestry scheduled a retreat meeting at the church on the morning of Saturday, May 11th.

Closing

After prayer, the meeting closed at 9:15 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Susan Marquis
Clerk of the Vestry

Approved by the vestry:  March 18, 2013