Vestry Meeting

July 22, 2009 Vestry Meeting

Present: Dunbar Ashbury, Jim Cox, Waymon Wright, Ian McGreevey, Eileen Weber, Donna Seniff, Jacci Rizzo, Nancy Hennessey, Jen Mariano, Eleanor Peckham, Fr. Tom, Denise Parker, Judy Haines, Joanna Rizzo, Fr. Tommy.

Guests: Lee Weber, Hunt Hendrickson.

Excused: Rachel Querry, Dan Lajewski, Darren Andrews.

The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m.

Fr. Tom offered a reflection on two Gospel lessons from John. The Gospel for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene and the gospel for the upcoming Sunday on the Feeding of the Five Thousand. The message was that we have all that we need.

Since the single item on the agenda was a discussion of the 2009 budget, Denise began by distributing copies of the Revised 2009 Budget proposed by the Budget & Finance Committee. The first page is a summary showing income of $859,873.00 and total expenses of $890,011.00. The difference is $30,138. This, combined with a negative carryover from 2008 of $6,937.00 results in a total deficit of $37,075.

Denise explained that the committee estimated that total income would be reduced from $889,500 to $859,873. Income from pledges was increased by $1700 and from flowers by $1000 and from Initial Giving by $60 based on actual amounts for the year to date. Income from plate offering and church school remained unchanged. Income from Holiday giving was decreased by $2000; income from investments was decreased by $15,887; income from trusts was decreased by $2000; miscellaneous operating income was decreased by $2,500. The biggest problem with the budget is not with overspending but due to decreases in our investment income, projected space rental revenue and other causes beyond our control.

Denise then reviewed each expense category. Each ministry area suffered cuts from the budgets they had submitted at the beginning of the year. Our Diocesan pledge is included in the Outreach budget. It remains at $103,375 and accounts for 11.62% of our expenses. Other Outreach projects account for only $15,140 or 1.7% It was noted that a special gift of $10,000 designated for outreach in the community and approximately $1,600 from the special envelopes on Outreach Sunday are not included in this budget. Fellowship expenses were reduced by $75. Some of the expenses for Fellowship are offset by monies received for Coffee Hour and Gourmet Night. Fellowship represents 0.26% of our expenses. Hospitality was increased by $200. Hospitality represents 0.03% of our expenses.

Worship was reduced by $4,250. Music for the Historic church was cut by $600; music for the Great Hall was cut by $400; flowers were cut by $1,400; materials, books and supplies were reduced by $900. Expenses for acolytes was increased by $50. The Budget and Finance committee recommended removing the $1000 for Visiting Clergy. Fr. Tom spoke to this item. He felt it was important to have a different voice preach occasionally. The clergy rota for the fall will have several changes. Fr. Tom, Fr. Tommy, Fr. Everett and Columba will each preach and preside at the Saturday evening service once a month. The priest who preaches Saturday evening will then preach in the Great Hall on Sunday. There will be only one priest at the 8 AM service. These changes will free-up Fr. Tom to do some teaching in Christian Formation classes on some Sundays. Fr. Tom said that if $1000 for Visiting Clergy was re-instated in the budget, line item 5.850.00 (Professional Education - Rector) could be reduced by $1000. Worship accounts for 2.07% of our expenses.

Pastoral Care was increased by $100. It accounts for 0.03% of our expenses. Stewardship was increased by $2600. Part of the increase is for Stewardship education and part to cover the Vestry retreat held this spring. Nancy said she would look into this more because most vestry members paid their own way for the retreat. The fall retreat will be held at the church. Stewardship accounts for 0.47% of our expenses. Christian Formation was reduced by $2,450. Christian Formation accounts for 0.56% of the expenses.

Our Operational budget was reduced by $4,736. The total operational budget is 12.51% of our expenses. The largest portion of this is the interest on our PNC loan (6.27%). When the rectory is sold in late August or early September and part of the loan is repaid, the loan will be re-amortized and our interest cost will be reduced approximately $5000. When the rectory is sold, the Middendorf loan will be paid in full. The figure $6,258 shown in the budget is for interest payments January through September (0.70%). We are continuing to put $10,000 (1.12%) into the Capitol Improvement fund.

In the Personnel budget, clergy & staff salaries were increased by only $406. This means that increases of $17,351 recommended by Fr. Tom and the Personnel committee to bring several staff members to median salary levels are not recommended by the Budget & Finance Committee. An increase of $7000 to cover the Rector's moving expenses was included in the budget. (In January the assumption was that Tom and Eyleen would keep their home in Memphis and only some of their furniture would need to be moved. That was not possible. The home in Memphis was sold and all of their possessions were moved to Frederick in early July.)

During the discussion several members expressed disappointment and frustration that in spite of the gift from the Wisner estate and the pending sale of the rectory that we are still faced with a deficit budget and the dreams of hiring a third priest or Christian Formation director have to be deferred. We are not alone in this situation. A lengthy discussion of the personnel budget ensued because the Vestry said in January that the increases to bring salaries to a median level was a priority and our excellent staff deserve fair compensation. Vestry was reminded that all staff did receive a 4.1% increase in January.

The final sheet of the handout compares income and expenses by ministry area since 2004. For most years the Personnel budget has been 55-60% of the total. Outreach other than the Diocesan pledge has decreased from 3.2% to 1.7%. By using the proceeds from the sale of the rectory to pay down debt we should save approximately $40,000 in debt service in 2010. Also, we should have approximately $24,000 additional income from our investments in 2010. Our Diocesan pledge is computed by a formula that is 18% of a moving average of our total income for the prior three years less 4% of the most recent year's expenses and also less $2,860. Lee Weber, alternate delegate to General Convention reported that most of the Diocesan budget is used for outreach. Only 9% is used for salaries. The five people who have left the diocesan staff this year have not been replaced. On the national level, the budget passed by general convention had $27 million cut and 30 positions will be eliminated. Denise told us that her recent survey of the volunteers at All Saints' showed that our members had contributed 30,000 volunteer hours in the first six months of 2009. Jacci reminded us of the lesson of the loaves and fishes - the miracle was that everyone got involved and everyone was fed.

Motions: Donna moved and Eleanor seconded a motion to adopt the budget as presented by the Budget & Finance commission with the exception to move $1000 from line 5.850.00 (Professional Education - Rector) to line 5.250.00 (Visiting Clergy). The motion carried with one nay vote. It was moved and seconded that the vestry approve a motion that if a gift from ERUCC is received this summer that the Vestry will reconvene to discuss the use of the gift. The motion carried. Waymon moved and Ian seconded a motion to thank the Budget & Finance committee for all of their hard work. The motion carried. Denise moved and Eleanor seconded a motion to recognize with grateful appreciation the 30,000 hours of volunteer work given by our parishioners. The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Judy Haines, Registrar, pro-tem