St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church | Vestry Meeting Minutes | May 19, 2020
Vestry Members Present
Joe DeuPree, Rector’s Warden
Michael Legacy, Vestry’s Warden
Andrew Besterman
Kathy Carson
Todd Frary
Steven Lee
Pamala Gilliland
Jack McCroskey
John Van Buskirk
Staff Present
Fr. Christopher Thomas, Rector
Allen Junek, Seminarian
Officers Present
Mike Gsell, Treasurer
Paul McCright, Clerk
Rusty Rippamonti, Vice Chancellor
Summary
These minutes contain the following Vestry actions:
- Motions to approve the minutes of the April Vestry meeting and to approve the May financial report.
- Motions to cease an application for a government community garden grant and to defer revising the Bylaws with regards to continuity of the garden in 2021.
Note: We are unable to meet in person due to the Covid-19 common sense physical distancing restrictions placed by authorities of the government and church.
Narrative
The vestry meeting was called to order on Zoom at 7:05 p.m. with prayer by Fr. Christopher Thomas. The following agenda was covered during the meeting.
1. OPENING PRAYER-Rector
2. CALL TO ORDER
3. SHARED THOUGHTS
Each person had the opportunity to offer up details concerning their lives. A general discussion concerning the reopening of the state was held.
4. PREVIOUS MINUTES-Clerk
The minutes of the Vestry Meeting held on April 21, 2020 were presented.
Motion to approve the minutes of the April Vestry Meeting.
Moved by: Joe DeuPree
Seconded by: Kathy Carson
Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
5. FINANCIAL REPORTS-Treasurer
Mike Gsell presented the monthly financial reports. Pledge income is above budget for both the month and the year to date with an uptick in online donations. Online fees last month were about $250, about 2.5% of the donations. Members discussed mentioning this fee to congregants on Sunday; however, since the option to increase your donation to cover that cost is very obvious, the idea was tabled. Building use donations are continuing to run under budget, as expected. St. Thomas has been approved for a Paycheck Protection Loan to cover two months’ of payroll expenses.
A question came up regarding an invoice on April 12 for over $1200 for the monthly water bill. The next bill will be over $1900. This may be due to a leak in the system. Michael Legacy will look into this.
The Endowment Fund caused a big loss last month due to the stock market decline. Some of the loss has already been made up through the growth in the market.
Motion to approve financial report.
Moved by: Joe DeuPree
Seconded by: Michael Legacy
Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
6. RECTOR’S REPORT-Fr. Christopher
Fr. Christopher introduced seminarian Allen Junek, who will be attending Vestry meetings in the future.
Fr. Christopher spoke about the relationship between the rector and congregation. Highlights of his discussion follow:
It’s been less than 4 months we’ve been together. This included only 6 Sundays prior to the social distancing time. We have had 10 Sundays of church online, including Holy Week and Easter. To remind us where we are in the developing relationship, we missed a planned Vestry retreat intended to foster team-building and trust-building and learn about one another. That allows us to know how to rely on each other when we get into deep water. We are in deep water but we have not had a chance to develop our own Vestry covenant and decide how we will pray for each other. We can model to the entire congregation how to relate to one another. It has not been “business as usual” since we have been together. We are not “treading water” until we can get back. We are not going back to our previous normal. We are going to be something new together. The COVID pandemic is just helping us find our way into whatever the new “us” is going to be. During my first year with you all, I plan to be intentionally, actively listening. This year is not so much a time of jumping out and doing. I want to be listening to you and for the voice of God and the direction He is calling us to. One doesn’t listen from a place of entrenchment in the past. I have to listen from a place of openness, not entrenched in my positions. I encourage all of us as we go into this listening process this year that we listen for our own entrenchment. We are about creating new things. Some of the old will go with us. We may choose to take pieces of old with us. At the end of this year, I will encourage us to do some active listening in an intentional strategic planning process. Then, we can bring together some goals regarding the mission and vision God is calling us to. It’s harder to listen in electronic communications because it is easy to miss our existing relationships and the richness of communications such as facial expressions. Trust-building will have to move at a slower pace than normal. Let’s err on the side of love and compassion. Think about how we are coming across to others as this is important. Treat each other with kindness, tenderness, and love and really listen to each other. During this weird time, stresses may come up in weird, unusual ways. I encourage us to think about the business of the year as we think about the long-term commitments we have and want to make in the future. The Search Committee talked with me about all the different wonderful ministries St. Thomas has, suggesting that there needs to be more focus into a mission and vision. We can identify those ministries we will feel strong about. Trusting each other is very important.
In the near-term, the Regathering Committee is advising the rector on reoccupying the church and has done much good work in the 3 weeks it has been meeting. We are following the leading of the Diocese which spells out the situation we need before we reoccupy our facilities. The safety of the congregation is of utmost importance. We’ll continue both a virtual and physical reach of the church. Zoom worship has been wildly successful. We’ve had 75-80 people every Sunday. We’ve been meeting needs and filling needs. I’m very encouraged by that response. Our Doubter Happy Hours have been very successful with about 35 people present each Tuesday. I think we are doing a good job of keeping people engaged. The Calling Committee is reaching out and is appreciated. Development and Educating is moving right along. We’ll have a 6-week course on Zoom June 3 – July 8, leading to confirmation or reaffirmation.
7. ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE REPORT-McCright
The Endowment Committee will have its first meeting later this week. The value of the Endowment Fund on April 30, 2020 was $282,980 which is down a bit more than $19,000 since Dec. 31, 2019, reflecting the general decline in stock market values and our annual fee payment of $1,541.84. In the future the Committee will report to the Vestry at the beginning of each quarter regarding the status of the fund.
8. COMMUNITY GARDEN UPDATE-Rippamonti
There are some issues needing immediate attention and some other issues will need to be dealt with on a longer term if we continue to have a community garden.
A gardener applied for a USDA grant for the garden; however, it is not free money without strings attached. Rusty Rippamonti recommends we do not apply. These funds can only be used for gardening supplies, not including water. The Church itself does not buy these supplies. Plot-keepers buy their own supplies. The Church would have to handle the bills and reimburse expenses. This would be a big administrative task. The Church would be responsible for any audits by the government. The grant period is Sept. 1, 2020 through Aug. 31, 2021. Accepting this grant would require us to commit to operating the garden that long.
A member of the Garden Committee has 4 plots and didn’t pay the full amount of their application fee in order to cover the cost of having some plumbing work done on the sprinklers. Only the Church should hire anyone to do any work on Church property as the Church is liable for injuries in such cases. We need to advise the gardeners that they cannot hire anyone to do any work in the garden. The plumbing issue was presented to the previous Jr. Warden prior to hiring the plumber.
Our agreement with gardeners needs revision if the Church wants to continue having the garden. Steven Lee noted the agreement was revised last year. The grant idea was brought back from a governmental program and was supported by the Vestry. Any application on behalf of the garden needs to be signed by a Vestry representative.
The Vestry needs to take control of the situation in the garden.
Rusty recommends the Vestry review the Bylaws before the end of the year to provide legal protection to the parish if we want to move forward with the Community Garden next year.
A question regarding the water metering was posed. The water system consists of two meters – one is for the building and one is for all external water, landscaping and gardening. As it currently exists, separate billing for the garden is not possible.
Steven will discuss the control of the garden with the gardeners, reminding them of the authority of the Church.
Motion to cease the application for this grant at this time.
Moved by: Jack McCroskey
Seconded by: Steven Lee
Motion carried by voice vote with 1 abstention.
Motion to defer until the fall revising the Bylaws with regards to continuity of the garden in 2021.
Moved by: Michael Legacy
Seconded by: Steven Lee
Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
9. WARDEN REPORTS-DeuPree & Legacy
Vestry’s Warden, Michael Legacy:
- With changes to the security system, we can drop two phone lines saving about $100 per month.
- We are looking at the South Room to determine if it can have a separate HVAC system, which would allow Lambda to return to using that room. We will also install HEPA filters in the entire system.
- Our organ was damaged by a power surge last year. We are looking at making the repairs to the organ and coordinating with the insurance company.
- The previously-approved tree trimming will happen soon.
Rector’s Warden, Joe DeuPree:
- A Safe Church Course is required by the Diocese for leaders. Please contact Pam if you have not taken the course so she can give you the link for registration.
- We have received a bid from Church Audio Video for installing video capabilities in the Parish Hall. The estimated cost is $4474, which is more expensive than for the sanctuary because of wiring differences. The vendor stated unknowns could inflate the cost and recommended the authorization be up to $5,000. This amount will come from the Knight-Flake Fund.
- A short discussion of the limits of the Wifi system in the building occurred.
Moved to approve the bid from Church Audio Video with a cap of $5,000 for the installation of an audio-video system in the Parish Hall, money to be taken from the Knight-Flake Fund.
Moved by: Joe DeuPree
Seconded by: Andrew Besterman
Motion carried by 8-1 vote.
- We have ordered banners to place on both Inwood and Mockingbird inviting people to visit us on Zoom.
10. CLOSING PRAYER
Fr. Christopher led the group in Compline.
11. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:43 p.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 16, at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul McCright, Clerk
