September 19, 2006
Vestry Meeting and Retreat
As Amended and Approved
Call to Order: Fr. Philip called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM. Present were: Fr. Philip, Chuck Hedges, Dwight Wooster, Jake O’Sullivan, Bill Gibb, Sara Gibson, Judy Haines, Hunt Hendrickson, Robyn Hildebrand, Bruce Jones, Dan Lajewski, Tom Litras, Sharon O’Rear, Dunbar Ashbury. Absent were: Rev. Andy, John Frye, Keith Thrash and Gary Crump.
Devotions: Sharon led the devotions.
Review of Agenda and Approval of Minutes:
Judy Haines was appointed acting Registrar. A motion was made to approve of the minutes of the August meeting that were circulated electronically. The motion was seconded and approved.
Financial Report:
The parish has received an unrestricted bequest of $10,000 from the estate of Harriet Fisher. A note from her niece who is the personal representative of the estate says that she thought Harriet wanted the money to be used for Pastoral Care. A motion was made and seconded to refer the matter to the Budget & Finance committee asking them to check with the Pastoral Care team, the personal representative of the estate and to present options to the Vestry for specific uses for the funds. The motion was approved.
Robyn & Hunt are slated to make bank deposits in October. A discussion followed about the necessity for Vestry members to make the bank deposits. Dunbar reported that for internal controls and separation of duties it is necessary to have two people present when dealing with cash. This item will be on the agenda for a future meeting.
The Vestry was given copies of a memo from September 14, 2002 that dealt with several of the findings of the 2001 Audit. Many of the issues are administrative procedures. These and the findings of the 2005 audit team will be referred to the Budget & Finance committee asking them to recommend any changes in policy that may be needed.
On October 8th during the Christian Formation hour Dunbar will report to the parish on the status of our Finances. Chuck, Dwight and Sharon volunteered to help with the presentation.
Dunbar reported that as of the end of August our income was under budget by $6,653 but our expenses were also under budget. Dunbar has projected a picture of the end of year that assumes income for the last 5 months will be the same as it was in 2005 and assumes that most expenses will be exactly on budget at year end with the exception of utilities which will be over budget and office expenses which will be under budget due to the copier refund. Personnel expenses will be over budget by $15,000 due to several changes in the staff. The 2006 budget contained a $26,000 deficit. Using Dunbar’s projections the end of year deficit may be $28,000. The financial report will be filed for audit.
Stewardship:
Fr. Philip led the Vestry in an exercise to examine their 2006 pledge as a percentage of income and then prayerfully consider raising their 2007 pledge by 1% of income. Using estimates of median household income for Frederick County the 325 pledging units at All Saints are at a level just under 3%. The exercise indicated that the leadership is at 4.2% and would be able to raise that to 4.7% for 2007. Vestry members were given pledge cards and were asked to return them by October 7th. Information on how to use the direct deposit option will be included with the pledge card. Sharon reported that the Ministry Fair/Homecoming on Sept. 10 went well. The Event will be held on Sat. October 14th as a kick-off to the Every Member canvas. Training for the Every Member canvas will be Sat. Oct. 7th from 9 AM to 11 AM.
Interim Rector’s Report:
Rick Hirschman, the Parish Administrator, has been on the job for a week and a half. His teaching schedule does not make it possible for him to attend Vestry meetings this semester but he expects to be able to attend after this semester.
We have begun to search for a curate or assistant rector to replace Rev. Andy. Philip contacted deployment officers in 4 dioceses. Only 2 candidates were available. One candidate was not a good match. The other candidate is a curate in the Diocese of Dallas. The curriculum vitae for Fr. Tommy Rogers was presented to the Vestry. He was invited to visit All Saints Sept. 18-19th. He met with Fr. Philip and other staff members as well as Judy and Tom representing the Personnel committee. A motion was made and seconded to call Fr. Rogers as a curate for a compensation package of $46,000 plus moving expenses. The annual cost to the parish for compensation plus benefits would be $59,196. The motion was approved. A background check will need to be completed before any announcement can be made.
Fr. Philip has asked the Rev. Janet Watrous from North Carolina to come as an assisting priest from October 15 until the new curate is in place.
Senior Warden’s Report:
Chuck has received a letter from Bishop Ihloff announcing his retirement to take place in April 2007. Chuck also commended Fr. Philip on all that he has accomplished in his first 3 and a half months at All Saints.
Junior Warden’s Report:
Dwight reported that the work on the fire and smoke detection system has been delayed but will be completed by the end of the year. The new carpet in the Parish Hall has been installed thanks to Saint Mary’s chapter. There have been no bids on the antique chairs. Dwight thanked Cam Overs and other volunteers for the rectory refurbishments. Cam has presented a bid to refinish the pine floors in the Rectory. This will be delayed until 2007 due to funding. Dwight is still working on getting a second bid from Robert Hartman for repairs to the gutters and spouting. Thank you also to Paul Robitalle for refinishing the Court Street doors to the Parish Hall and to Dan Lajewski for obtaining the new furniture for the Rector’s office.
Robyn asked about the mold problems. There are two areas of concern – under the Parish Hall stairs that lead to the undercroft and the undercroft of the Nave building where the air conditioner condensation drains into the brick wall. Dwight will look into this once the gutters have been repaired. We need to consider replacing the air-conditioner for the Nave since this was installed in 1969.
Reports from Committees:
Standing committees – Vestry members need to send Fr. Philip an email stating their desired committee assignment as soon as possible.
Personnel – Judy reported that she and Tom had met with Fr. Philip to evaluate the first three months. With some minor modifications, things are going well.
The revised Lay Employee Handbook was given to Vestry members. The issue of offering cash payment in lieu of medical insurance was discussed as well as the need to cap the amount paid for medical insurance. Approval of the handbook was deferred until the October meeting.
Old Business:
Copies of the wedding customary and the new two-tiered pricing for weddings were given to Vestry members. The reduced price for members includes the son or daughter of a member. Others are at the Rector’s discretion.
New Business:
Sara, Robin and Jake will begin to consider candidates for the Search Committee. They will consider those who nominated themselves as well as others to get a balanced committee. There will be twelve members including one youth. Vestry members and their spouses are not eligible. The committee will begin contacting people to verify that they are still interested. They must commit to weekly meetings from January through May and some travel will be involved. If Vestry members have names to suggest to Sara they should email them to her by Sept 23rd. The committee is also looking for names of possible nominees for Vestry.
A motion was made and seconded that the Vestry give Rev. Andy the vestments purchased by Judy as a farewell gift. The motion was passed. A motion was made and seconded to authorize the collection of a purse from the congregation. The motion was passed. The vestments and purse will be presented to Rev. Andy at the celebration at 9:15 AM on October 1st.
Evaluation:
Under Old Business we skipped the item about quarterly Financial reporting. Dan has some thoughts which he will email to Vestry members.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:06 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Haines
Acting Registrar |
