Minutes of the Vestry Meeting - May 16, 2016

Formation 

Evening Prayer and Thanksgiving & Prayer Requests

The vestry met in the church at 7:00 PM for Evening Prayer and then reconvened in the undercroft meeting room where everyone offered prayers of intercession and thanksgiving.

Attendance

Present: the rector Kristin Orr; the senior warden Anne Edwards; vestry members Bob Burgwald, Rob Carrier, Alice Creason, Nichole Dailor, Randy Oyster, Ted Stone, and Zoltan Sziky; the treasurer Debbi Huggett; and the clerk Susan Marquis Absent: the junior warden Steve Hofer and vestry members Cynthia Turnquest and Hans Zigmund

Parish Stewardship

Minutes

Anne Edwards moved to accept the minutes from the April vestry meeting, and Rob Carrier seconded. Following a vote, the motion was approved.

Treasurer’s Report

Debbi Huggett reported that we are about 3% behind in income. While we have spent a little more than budgeted, some of that is due to timing. For example, with 1/3 of the year gone, we have paid 1/2 of our insurance premiums. Bob Burgwald moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report, and Rob Carrier seconded. The motion was approved.

Information

Rector’s Report

—Pastor Orr expressed thanks to the many people who decorated, sang, and brought food to celebrate Pentecost. She also thanked Lynn Ruschhaupt and others who helped do yard work on Blue Jeans Sunday at the beginning of the month.
—The rector will take her vacation from July 12th through August 2nd. The Rev. Stacy Alan will serve as supply priest for two Sundays during this time, while The Rev. Sam Portaro will serve for one Sunday.
—Pastor Orr is in the process of writing letters to the District 161 PTO and the Flossmoor Police Department to gently remind them that holding a race (as was done recently) that circles a church on a Sunday morning is a problem.
—We always are looking for ways to improve communication. Some suggestions to this end were to post news on the church blog and for the senior warden to write some comments for the e-vangelist.
—Pastor Orr thanked Cyndi Knoll and her helpers for hosting the diocesan ECW meeting. Many attendees relied on the lift to move between levels of the church.
—The lift is not closing properly and needs repair. It is out of warranty. Pastor Orr will look for someone to repair it and will call the company for recommendations.

Wardens’ Reports and Reports from Other Parish Organizations

The junior warden, Steve Hofer, was not at the meeting, but he submitted a written report on his work on the history of St. John’s. He has read and summarized the vestry minutes from 1947 to 1990. When this part of the project is finished he will begin interviews of parishioners. Steve also reported that he has talked with Lynn Ruschhaupt about landscaping. The south end of the education wing will have all new shrubs and native plants.

Upcoming Parish Events

Saturday, May 21st, 11:00 AM - confirmation at St. James Cathedral
Sunday, May 22nd after church - parish picnic and food garden planting

Discussion and Decisions

Columbarium Project

—Pastor Orr met with the village inspector and learned that we will need just the basic construction permits for the project.
—The vestry columbarium subcommittee (Pastor Orr, Rob Carrier, Anne Edwards, Cynthia Turnquest, and former vestry member Mark Moxley) will meet next week.
—Pastor Orr has started seeking construction bids.
—The wardens and rector decided to leave columbarium space costs as they are at least until construction is complete. Nichole Dailor volunteered to check on local columbarium space charges. Pastor Orr will speak with other clergy at the upcoming deanery meeting about columbarium costs to families at other churches.
—Current urn size limitations are 10” x 10” x 10”. The vestry may want to consider changing the size limitations later.

Broadening and Nurturing Parish Relationships

As a follow-up to the recent vestry retreat, Pastor Orr commented that fellowship is a strength of this parish, and she reminded vestry members to consider a do-able task to help in parish communication. Some of the tasks that vestry members reported having done were sharing personal stories, attending coffee hour, occasionally attending the 8:00 AM service (for someone who normally attends the 10:00 AM service), getting out of the pews during the Peace to greet others, working next to someone at an event, and starting to take photos of parishioners to post on the bulletin board.
At the retreat, the vestry decided to initiate a godparent program in which each vestry member focuses on one ministry and provides support to it through encouragement and prayer. Pastor Orr would like two sentences submitted occasionally for the e-vangelist describing what is happening in the groups. Organizations and their godparents are as follows:
Acolytes - Nichole Dailor
Altar Guild - Bob Burgwald
Choir - Hans Zigmund
Daughters of the King - Rob Carrier
Landscaping - Steve Hofer
Men’s Group - Randy Oyster
PADS - Ted Stone
Rector - Anne Edwards
Sunday School - Cynthia Turnquest
Youth Group - Alice Creason
Vegetable Garden - Zoltan Sziky 

Closing

Looking forward, Pastor Orr said that stewardship discussions will start earlier this year than in the past.

The next vestry meeting is scheduled for June 20th. Following prayer, the meeting ended at 8:50 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Susan Marquis, Clerk of the Vestry

Approved by the Vestry:  June 20, 2016