St. Peter’s Church - May 9, 2005

Fr. George Young opened the meeting at 6:05 p.m. Present: The Rev. Elizabeth Tappe, Toby Atkinson, Cheryl Smith, Jeri Kolke, Bill Dickson, Bert Jenkins, Gary Bong, John Dyal, Early McCall, Vann Simmons, Ben Stephens, and guest Joe Crim. Absent: April Davis, Ginger Mock.

Toby Atkinson offered “Centering” meditation following which Bert Jenkins shared spiritual reflections.

NEXT MEETING: June 13, 2005 @ 6 pm DEVOTIONAL: John Dyal

REMINDER: Vestry meeting scheduled for July 11th is canceled.

Minutes of the April 11 meeting were unanimously approved.

Vestry “Thank You’s”:

1) Joe Crim’s cemetery clean-up team - who on May 7, tackled that part of the property where an abandoned dwelling previously stood and was extensively overgrown

2) Bill and Lynn Grant - for their regular offering, to lead the effort to dismantle the welcome tent after the 11:15 service

3) Hosts at last Sunday’s Shrimp Festival

Rector’s Report:

Copies of the 2004 “Parochial Report” (the report from the Parish to the Diocese on members, attendance and financial matters) were distributed, reviewed, and unanimously approved.

Highlights include:
Total Communicants: 674 including 96 below the age of 16;
Others, active but not registered: 186
Average Sunday attendance: 280
Operating Revenue: $589,453
Operating Expenses: $518,486
Total Revenue: $655,106
Total Expenses: $649,570

The Church property at the corner of Broome and 11th Streets was the subject of a May 2 letter to the Rector and Wardens of the Parish from attorney J. Tomassetti representing the Housing Assistance Corp of Nassau Co. The letter outlines an expression of interest in opening discussions regarding the possible purchase of the property by HAC for the purpose of constructing affordable housing for economically disadvantaged families in the community.

Fr. George has formed a committee of present and former Senior Wardens to review and evaluate matters pertaining to this Property; and suggested that Vestry consideration be held in abeyance until that committee has formulated its initial thoughts and recommendations.

Diocesan Convention - is to be held Saturday, May 21. St. Peter’s will be represented by Illona Preliou, Brenda Commandeur, and Joel Embry. This is a one-day session designated by Bishop Howard as the legislative follow-on to the Convocation he called back in January. Fr. George has attended several meetings on Resolutions which will be offered at Convention including the Millennium Resolution (jointly sponsored by St. George’s and St. Peter’s), proposing that the Diocese commit to the UN Millennium Development Goals which include giving 0.7% of income to support less-developed parts of the world.

Other Resolutions to be offered by various groups will deal with “Network” affiliations, title to Church property, Giving and Outreach. Further information can be found on the Diocesan website.

Fr. George reminded all once again of the Parish’s 2008 Sesquicentennial (150 year anniversary), and that we need to begin thinking of how we wish to organize for that. The rescheduled Stategic Planning session (June - 24/25) may be the Forum in which to take this matter up in earnest. Thoughts and suggestions are invited. Note that our new Assistant Rector, Lisa Flores, will attend that session.

Copies from the Vestry Handbook (manuals compiled by the Episcopal Church Foundation) of a section entitled “The Nuts and Bolts of Vestry Life: from Survival to Grace” were distributed to each Vestry member with the request that it be read and the brief questionaire “How I wish we’d spend our 2 hour Vestry Meetings” be completed, before the next (June) meeting.

Lastly, in the absence of Treasurer Jim Carpenter, the April Financial Report was distributed and briefly reviewed. The trends cited last month continue: improved revenues ($195,550 for the 4 months through April versus $175,000 last year); contained expenses; and a positive net income ($20,000 for the 4 months).

Vestry Initiatives:

• Planned Giving; the St. Peter’s Foundation: Bill Dickson - Articles of Incorporation are being filed with the Fla Attorney General (initial trustees being proposed are Fr. George Young, Jim Carpenter, Tom Glenn, Pam Brown, and John Train). The proposed slate of initial trustees was unanimously approved. Final changes are being made to the By-Laws, which will be filed at a later date. All documents and initial trustees will be ratified at the Parish’s Annual Meeting early next year.
• Reaching out to the Community Unchurched: Cheryl Smith - effort is still being organized. Discussion underway with Don Neal about day-care needs in the community and whether the Parish might wish to become involved. Joe Crim remarked that earlier Parish involvement presented some problems; Gary Bong echoed similar, regulatory issues.
• Community Outreach: Gary Bong - Members of the Outreach Committee will soon meet to approve disbursement of the initial $12,500 of the funds approved for this purpose.
• Music Program Enhancement: Early McCall - a committee (including Martha Blalock, Janet Hayes, and Gary Bong) is being formed and will meet in the near future to craft a questionnaire to elicit a wider range of potential offerings.Given the excellent response both from the Parish and from the larger Community to the Celtic services we have held to date, there is clearly significant potential from a musical and liturgical point of view. Celtic services are now held every 4th Sunday @ 6pm.

Associate Rector’s Report: During her last couple of months in the Parish, Ibba is and will continue giving priority to visiting the sick and those unable to attend Church regularly. She outlined the activities she will be pursuing during her Sabbatical and expressed appreciation to the Parish for the opportunities this makes available to her. Her post-Sabbatical plans are still uncertain, but she is in dialogue with several dioceses and welcomes interest and prayers from any and all.

Senior Warden’s Report:

Toby reported on new procedures being adopted in the Parish Office to ensure that Vestry Person of the Day assignments are properly updated and included in both weekly service bulletins and in the ESP. It is critical that any changes made are reported to Pat Burns and that folks regularly check the list in the Office.

Toby also reported on the workshop she and I attended on Servant Leadership, hosted by Holy Trinity Church/The Servant Leadership School in Greensboro, N.C. We learned about this offering at the Going Forward Together Conference in Atlanta last fall. More information about this exciting ministry will be forthcoming.

Junior Warden’s Report:

Bert reported that with the advent of warmer weather, comments about the air conditioning are becoming more frequent. Each of our buildings has its own challenges and much effort is expended trying to accomodate both the range of comfort levels and the changing climatic conditions. Suffice it to say that when the church was built over 110 years ago, air conditioning (and the associated duct work) was not an issue. While every effort is made to modulate the temperatures for both those attending the early service and those at the later, given the rise in temperatures that occurs between early a.m. and 11:15,doing so to everyone’s satisfaction is a challenge for any system. Patience and understanding (hallmarks of the people in this Parish) are especially required in this regard.

In Closing, Joe Crim mentioned some work he is doing on the Cemetery upkeep and the Parish lighting, both topics he will speak about at our June meeting. And, Fr. George reminded us that he and Kammy, and a group of about 6 others from the Parish, will be attending the Reinventing Church workshop at St. Bartholomew’s in New York June 4-7; and that Lisa Flores will take up her new ministry at St. Peter’s on July 31, the Sunday following Ibba’s last.

At Fr George’s request, Ibba gave a parting blessing and we adjourned at 8 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

John C. Train, Clerk