Minutes of the Vestry Meeting - April 21, 2015

Formation

Evening Prayer and Thanksgiving & Prayer Requests
The vestry assembled in the church for evening prayer at 7:00 PM followed by offered prayers of thanksgiving and intercession.

Attendance
Present at the meeting were: the rector, Kristin Orr; the senior warden Diane Walsh- Madden; the junior warden, Anne Edwards; vestry members Bob Burgwald, Nichole Dailor, Rob Carrier, Ted Stone, Jim Whitfield, and Hans Zigmund; the treasurer, Debbi Huggett; and the clerk, Susan Marquis. Vestry members absent were: Bob DeOliveira, Patti Pohrte, and Cynthia Turnquest.

Parish Stewardship

Minutes from the March Meeting
Jim Whitfield made a motion to accept the minutes from the March vestry meeting. Diane Walsh-Madden seconded, and the motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report
Debbi Huggett reported that for the first quarter of 2015, there were no surprises — either good or bad. Any variances in the treasurer’s report primarily are due to calendar timing. We have not yet used any funds budgeted this year for Youth and Family Ministry. Money from a recently matured Certificate of Deposit was moved to the Money Market fund, and this will show up on next month’s report. Hans Zigmund made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, Bob Burgwald, seconded, and the motion passed.

Rector’s Discretionary Account
Anne Edwards moved to accept the first quarter report of the Rector’s Discretionary Account with the revision of the error of the date changed from 12-31-14 to 3-31-15. After a second by Rob Carrier, the motion was approved. 

Information

Rector’s Report
• Pastor Orr, along with Cindy Knoll (of Loaves and Fishes) and Mark Moxley (of the community garden project) have moved the date of the parish picnic one week earlier to May 31st in order not to conflict with the Bishop’s visit on June 7th. The picnic again will be combined with planting the vegetable garden.
• Greg Knoll has volunteered to mow the church lawn for the last five summers, but he no longer will have the time to do this. Pastor Orr asked the vestry to think of ways that we could thank Greg for his significant gift to us, and she asked for recommendations of people who could take on the mowing job.
• The annual vestry retreat will be held on Saturday, May 9th.
• The rector will be gone this summer on her days off and vacation days starting on July 14th and running through August 11th. The Rev. Sam Portaro will serve as supply priest on the two Sundays in July, and the Rev. Stacy Alan will serve on the two Sundays in August.
• Pastor Orr expressed thanks for everyone in the parish who helped out during Holy Week.
• The rector noted that the work day on the church grounds yesterday was wonderful, and she expressed thanks to all who helped, especially Lynn Ruschhaupt, who keeps things going.

Upcoming Parish Events
• Ascension Day Eucharist, Thursday, May 14th
• Bishop Epting’s parish visit, Sunday June 7th. At this time, the bishop would like to meet with people who are not active in the church, preferably off-site at a time other than Sunday morning. The bishop would like to hear what they have to say and perhaps have an opportunity to clear up misperceptions that unchurched people have. This is not a recruiting tool. Pastor Orr asked the vestry to think about when, where, and how we would do this; and we will talk about it next month.

Discussions and Decisions

Columbarium
Pastor Orr distributed a census of those interred in the columbarium and noted how the numbers have been increasing with an average of one per year in the early years, starting in about 1965, and an average of four per year over the last ten years. Diane Walsh-Madden got a referral from Flossmoor Community Church for the company that constructed their columbarium, and Mark Moxley found the names of three more architectural design firms that do this work. Pastor Orr plans to find out which firms are interested in our project.

Ongoing Facilities Work
After having had prior discussions about how to keep facility projects going and how to spread responsibility, the rector and wardens suggested that individual vestry members take on stewardship of projects beginning with assessing and clarifying need, then assessing solutions, organizing bids, and taking information back to the vestry as a whole. Vestry members volunteered for specific projects.
• Rob Carrier - tuckpointing and brickwork
• Jim Whitfield - door to the south lawn that is located across from guild room
• Anne Edwards - stairs from the back of the church to the undercroft, possibly including also the tiles on the sacristy floor
• Ted Stone - handrail on the stairs to the undercroft and (later) rectory fence
• Cynthia Turnquest - absent tonight, but perhaps can do plumbing
• Patti Pohrte - absent tonight but perhaps can do bathroom accessibility
• (no one assigned yet) - transept and storm windows

Closing

After prayer, the meeting ended at 9:05 PM. The next meeting is scheduled for May 18th.

Respectfully submitted,
Susan Marquis Clerk of the Vestry

Approved:  May 18, 2015