Vestry Meeting Minutes

November 2020 Vestry Minutes

By November 17, 2020 November 25th, 2020 No Comments

St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church | Vestry Meeting Minutes | November 17, 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
Randy Hering, 2021 Vestry
Lisa Pearson, 2021 Vestry
Ruth Woodward, 2021 Vestry

Staff Present
Fr. Christopher Thomas, Rector
Allen Junek, Seminarian-in-Residence

Officers Present
Paul McCright, Clerk
Rusty Rippamonti, Vice Chancellor

Summary
These minutes contain the following Vestry actions:

  1. Motion to file the paperwork to ask for forgiveness of the Church’s PPP loan.

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
1. CALL TO ORDER AND OPENING PRAYER-Rector
The Vestry meeting was called to order on Zoom at 7:08 p.m. with prayer by Fr. Christopher. Fr. Christopher especially welcomed the three 2021 Vestry members in attendance. The following agenda was covered during the meeting.

2. RESOURCE PERSON FOR MEETING NAMED – Kathy Carson

3. SHARED THOUGHTS
Each person had the opportunity to offer up details concerning their lives. Kathy Carson mentioned that she enjoys being back in the space at the Church again. Randy Hering pointed out that St. Luke’s is back in their worship space. Steven Lee enjoyed the Lamentations service on Saturday. Thanks were given to others who participated and helped with the service. Fr. Christopher explained the need for this service about the losses we have all experienced during the COVID crisis.

Joe DeuPree announced we have the Black Lives Matter sign at the Church. It will be put up on Thursday.

4. FINANCIAL REPORTS – Treasurer
There was no financial report.

5. RECTOR’S REPORT – Fr. Christopher

  • Fr. Christopher asked each member to lift the others in prayer daily.
  • The book study on Caste has been completed. From that study, the idea of the Black Lives Matter sign originated. The congregation may be finding some new directions for identifying the Church’s future calling. As we install this banner and take actions to support this social justice statement, some people may not be on the same page and may need some discussion around such actions. The Search Committee was clear that if the Church did not grow, it would die. They wanted to do something that looks a little different from the past. That can be scary and challenging for parishioners. It is up to the leadership to help others grow with the new program.
  • There will be occasional changes to the format of the services. Liturgy and music are the purview of the Rector and are planned in advance by the worship team and the liturgical team; new elements in the service are well planned and have inputs from team members.
  • The Christmas Eve service will be on Zoom. The Rector offered the members an opportunity to indicate whether they would prefer a service at 8:30 or 10:30. General consensus was that the 8:30 service would be more desirable. This was not a binding decision.

6. OLD BUSINESS – DeuPree & Rippamonti
Lambda Building Use | This group contacted Joe DeuPree a couple of weeks ago to see if they could begin meeting at St. Thomas again. Finding the best room to meet Lambda’s needs without constraining the Church activities is the challenge. Fr. Christopher suggested a limited agreement that would be for a year. He suggested the South Room, but not to give up another room also. General discussion about the North and South Rooms ensued. The primary concern expressed by several members is that any commitment to allow Lambda or other groups to use rooms may restrict how the Church uses its own facility. Several Vestry members expressed broad support for keeping Lambda in our facility. Joe will continue to talk with Lambda about the possibilities.

7. BUDGET UPDATE – Legacy
The Budget Committee has met once. Pledges are more than $11,000 ahead of this time last year. No building use funds are included at this time. We have added some funding for a 20s-30s group at the request of Allen Junek. At this time, the budget shows a deficit of $72,000, which is less than last year at this time. The Committee will present a budget for approval at the December Vestry meeting.

8. WARDEN REPORTS – DeuPree & Legacy

Vestry’s Warden, Michael Legacy:

  • We have added scrubbers and UV lights to ventilation in the North and South Rooms in anticipation of beginning to start using the South Room by Lambda and the North Room by other groups whose activities we support. We have scrubbers on the offices and parish hall also.
  • A bid for tree cleanup near Inwood and clean up trees around the dumpster is sought.
  • AT&T will be installing fiber optic cabling for the internet, raising our bill to $180 per month, which is about what we were paying before the new fire alarm system was installed. Our download and upload capabilities will be much better and should solve many internet problems.

Rector’s Warden, Joe DeuPree:

  • We received a PPP loan for about $22,900. We can ask for forgiveness for that loan. Joe DeuPree opened the floor to discussion of whether we should ask for forgiveness. The Treasurer will handle the application for forgiveness. John Van Buskirk asked if there are upsides or downsides we wouldn’t normally see. The money has to be used for payroll support to avoid layoffs or to pay utility bills. Kathy Carson noted we could use the money for other purposes rather than paying it back to the government. It seems the money is needed.

Motion to file the paperwork to ask for forgiveness of the Church’s PPP loan.
Moved by Kathy Carson.
Seconded by John Van Buskirk
Motion approved 7 Ayes to 1 Nay with 1 abstention.

  • The Treasurer is retiring at the end of the year and the Assistant Treasurer wants to retire as well. Joe DeuPree will discuss possibilities with Treasurer Mike Gsell.

The Resource Person for the December Vestry meeting will be John Van Buskirk.

9. CLOSING PRAYER
Fr. Christopher closed the meeting with a prayer and blessing.

10. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:17 p.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday, December 15, at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.

Respectfully submitted,
Paul McCright, Clerk