St. Peter’s Church - September 12, 2005
Fr. George Young opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m. Present: The Rev. Lisa Flores, Toby Atkinson, Jeri Kolke, Lynn Grant, Ginger Mock, Cheryl Smith, Bert Jenkins, Bill Dickson, Gary Bong, Early McCall, Ben Stephens, and guests Brenda Commandeur and Joe Crim. Absent: John Dyal, Vann Simmons.
Toby Atkinson offered “Centering” meditation following which Bill Dickson shared spiritual reflections.
REMINDER: Fall Parish Meeting - Sunday, October 16, 6:00 P.M.
NEXT MEETING: October 17, 2005 @ 6 pm DEVOTIONAL: Cheryl Smith
Vestry “Thank You’s”:
1) Ed White - for his generous gift of time and talent in designing and building our new Parish Welcome Cart.
2) Monica Moore - for her generous offering of service and expertise as “Web Editor” during the past year.
3) Bill Hayes - for his donation of resources for the recently submitted accoustical evaluation of the Church and Parish Hall, together with recommendations for improvements.
Brenda Commandeur - Ethiopia Project
Drawing on experience with the Peace Corp in a remote part of Ethiopia, Brenda shared a wonderful story of a former student who had looked her up in the U.S. and reported how terribly impoverished the area still is. Brenda has enlisted assistance from family and friends and developed a plan of raising private donations in support of infrastructure repair and improvements. The Bishop of Ethiopia has agreed to coordinate the distribution of the funds locally; Brenda requested, and the Vestry agreed that St. Peter’s could become a “collection point” for U.S. donations.
Bert Jenkins pointed out that conceptually, this was little different from other types of outreach the Parish is engaged in; and Gary Bong mentioned that the Outreach Committee still has $12,000 in uncommitted 2005 funds for which applications are now being considered.
There was unanimous support for a motion made by Bill Dickson that the Parish support Brenda’s working with Jim Carpenter to collect and distribute private funds for local infrastructure improvements in the two villages in which Brenda was at one time a Peace Corp teacher.
Rector’s Report:
- Fr George distributed the results of the the questionnaire “How I wish we’d spend our 2-hour Vestry Meetings”. Assuming a 120 minute meeting, a summary of the feedback suggests we spend about 30 minutes on “clergy reporting/ conversation”; about 20 minutes on “ministry area reporting;” about 15 minutes each on “teaching/instruction” and “financial”; slightly less on “worship”; and about 10 minutes each on “personal sharing” and “Bible study”. Other areas of interest include: “new ideas” and “focusing on the future”.
- A “Letter of Support” to the Bishop of Ohio recommending Lisa Flores’ ordination (written and read by Fr. George) was circulated and signed by all members present.
The “employment” Agreement with Lisa as our new Assistant Rector is being finalized and when signed will become part of the Vestry Archives.
- The report submitted by Richard Grim, our strategic planning Retreat facilitator, was distributed prior to our meeting so that all would be reminded of the priority emerging from that two-day session of “Christian education” as a focus for the Parish over the next several years. Fr. George has reviewed the report with the Pente Group and feels that elevating Christian education and formation to a full time position would be consistent with the priority developed in the Retreat. He has in mind beginning a search for a Christian education professional who would join the staff of St. Peter’s in the Spring (ie, March) of next year. The implications for the ‘06 Budget are significant.
The idea of adding a new, full-time staff person and the budgetary implications prompted a comprehensive discussion of a number of topics: when will the ‘06 Budget be presented and approved; what are the implications of such a large increase in personnel expense on the total personnel budget; what about increases for existing staff; could some other staff commitment(s) be eliminated or reduced; how much of an overall increase in our annual pledges would have to be realized in order to fund the new position and how long realistically would it take for us to be able to achieve that?
As Treasurer Jim Carpenter was not at this meeting and there were a number of questions that his input would be quite helpful in addressing, Fr. George suggested that the matter be left with him for further research and that we take it up again at the October meeting.
- Capital Campaign - Fr George has convened a committee of former (and present) senior wardens, the sitting Junior Warden and Treasurer, and developed consensus that the Parish should begin actively exploring a Capital Campaign to fund a number of the building projects and longer term obligations previously discussed. A motion in support of the Rector’s exploring (a short list of) professional advisors who would be suitable for our purposes and of assistance in developing recommendations for further Vestry consideration was duly made and unanimously approved.
- Welcome Cart - The advent of the new welcome cart has been enthusiastically received. The idea is to have the cart be a user-friendly point of information for directions (nusery, classrooms, restrooms etc). However, for it to be successful, it needs to be staffed by folks who are knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and interested - like people who serve as wardens (ie Vestry members). While hesitant to add to the list of duties Vestry people already shoulder, Fr George feels that it would be a good thing (at least in this early phase) of its life, for Vestry people of take half-hour slots (say from 8:20 to 8:50 or from 9:50-10:20, when people are wandering about) and then to recruit others for assistance (like former Vestry members).
While the suggestion was warmly received, there was no clear consensus as to how to implement it; Fr George promised to develop more specific proposal(s) for the next meeting.
- Welcoming Sundays - Fr George is working on having periodic Sundays when “new members” are acknowledged and embraced; and to work toward identifying those who are regular participants in the life of St. Peter’s but who for one reason or another are not “members” — all a part of becoming “a better Church.”
Vestry Initiatives:
1. Planned Giving; the St. Peter’s Foundation: Bill Dickson - the By-laws are receiving final revisions and will be finished later in the Fall. As currently drafted, Trustees of the Foundation will report to the Vestry. After the Foundation paperwork has been completed, Tim Flannagin, an estate planner with experience assisting churches, will conduct a workshop at St. Peter’s on the subject.
3. Young Adults: Ginger Mock - Working toward pairing young adults with youth members; offering those young adults with interest in becoming mentors the opportunity to develop relationships which would “follow” their youth “mentees” into college and post-college endeavors. Working with Founders Group on an Advent Party (Dec 16).
6. Community Outreach: Gary Bong reported that his committee had made an emergency contribution of $500 to Halfway House, which leaves $12,000 left to distribute. In addition to the Council on Aging and the School of Mentoring (Jody Mackle), Big Sisters and Big Brothers are also looking for volunteers.
7. Year-round Stewardship: Ben Stephens - Has spent time ascertaining what his initiative isn’t (it’s not about raising money per se); and what it is (marshaling resources - time, talent, as well as treasure). Has developed a committee to assist in giving definition and direction to the project and is currently working on coming up with a plan and then selling it to the committee. Ultimately, Ben sees his project as mainly about education and communication.
10. Music Program Enhancement: Early McCall gave further details of the “survey” results: of the 140 responses, 43% are folks over 60 years of age and show a gratifying level of interest (and willingness to participate) in the new directions, upgrades and improvements being considered.
Assistant Rector’s Report:
Lisa reports that she is exploring with Fr George and others a number of ideas where she can make a contribution or add to things the Parish is doing. She’s meeting lots of people and getting adjusted.
Senior Warden’s Report:
An appraisal of the Church property @ Broome and 11th Streets is in process and should be available at the October meeting. Gary suggested that a summary be put on the website.
Vestry Nominations are almost complete and information will be sent out shortly.
Junior Warden’s Report:
The umbrellas used in the Courtyard have been moved and are now in the electrical closet to the right of the men’s room.
Other Business:
With minor corrections to the list of those who were present and those who were not, the Minutes of the meeting of August 8 were unanimously approved.
Jeri Kolke: First Coast Community Bank is hosting a reception Sept 30 for the authors of the Amelia Island Book Festival. Any Vestry person who’d like to atttend is welcome but needs to let Jeri know.
Gary Bong: The Book Festival is one of Amelia Island’s most celebrated events. Over 55 authors will attend and the guest count is expected to exceed 500, many from out of state.
Cheryl Smith: there will be a Memorial Service for The Beach Lady at American Beach on Oct 22; and the day following in Jacksonville.
By the grace of the Holy Spirit, Fr. George gave us a final blessing and we concluded at 8:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
John C. Train, Clerk
