St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church
Vestry Meeting Minutes
June 21, 2022
Rector
Father Christopher Thomas
Vestry Members Present
Stephen Toon, Senior Warden
Joe DeuPree, Junior Warden
Kathy Carson
Michael Legacy
Ruth Woodward
Randy Hering
Joe DeuPree
Jerry Knight
Alyssa Abadinsky
Rusty Rippamonti, Chancellor
Officers Present
Caroline Hofmann, Clerk
Wynne Voorhees, Treasurer
Absent
Lisa Pearson
Laura Griffin, Controller
Summary
These minutes contain the following:
- Call to order/Shared thoughts
- Designation of July Resource Person – Kathy Carson
- Motion to approve that Allen receive the two months of money, through Seminary of the Southwest, to be used for tuition.
- Motion to accept the contract with HP with the understanding that we may need to pay $8300 if we choose to employ the temp employee connected with us.
- Motion to proceed with sending the “Formal Demand for Reimbursement” letter to Bank of America written by Rusty
Narrative
1. Call to Order | Rector
The vestry meeting was called to order at 7:03pm by Fr. Christopher who opened the meeting with a prayer. The following agenda was covered during the meeting:
2. Reflection/Formation | Rector
Fr. Christopher opened with a reflection on those who have impacted our lives and how we show others our gratitude for them. Kathy, Stephen, and Randy each shared their thoughts of experiences that have touched them lately. Request for prayer over Kathy’s upcoming surgery.
Group discussion ensues about blessings given during service – marriage, general anniversaries etc.
3. Resource Person | Pearson
Next month’s resource person is Kathy Carson. The previous resource person, Lisa Pearson, is absent from the meeting and thus has no report.
4. Prior Meeting Minutes Approval | Senior Warden
Vestry awaiting finalization of prior meeting minutes.
5. Finance Committee | Senior Warden
A letter is being sent out to the parish by Laura Griffin, urging for an increase in pledges. Fr. Christopher inquires why giving, which normally increases after Easter, has decreased in that time. Stephen and Michael clarify that a bump in pledging is normally depicted on the report at the end of the quarter.
Michael has paperwork from Seminary of the Southwest regarding the details of Allen’s purse. We budgeted to pay Allen while he worked at St. Thomas. Initially Allen was budgeted through August, but since he left in June there is an amount of roughly $2700 for us to decide what to do with. While there are supplemental funding opportunities for school, Allen has a number of other living expenses to consider and could use the assistance of the $2700 for tuition specifically.
Motion to approve that Allen receive the two months of money, through Seminary of the Southwest, to be used for tuition.
Moved by Michael Legacy
Motion moved by majority vote, one nay.
The following discussion ensues regarding the budget amount for the AA position:
a. There will be a higher budget for the position next year if someone were hired full-time by the end of this year.
b. If we were to use the temp agency, we can terminate them with notice and are not obligated to employ them for the full year. If the temp works well and we choose to hire them, we can pay a headhunter fee.
c. The headhunter fee depends on how long we employ the temp. The longer we employ the temp, the lower the headhunter fee is, if we hire them.
d. Rusty suggests from a legal standpoint, that we be prepared to spend the headhunter fee, should the temp employee be hired.
Motion to accept the contract with HP with the understanding that we may need to pay $8300 if we choose to employ the temp employee connected with us.
Moved by Joe DeuPree
Seconded by Jerry Knight
Motion approved by unanimous vote
Rusty reviews the letter to Bank of America regarding reimbursement of a fraudulent check that has still not been resolved. Rusty is unsure of a specific statute of limitations, but ensures the Vestry that we need to be swift in taking care of this.
Motion to proceed with sending the “Formal Demand for Reimbursement” letter to Bank of America written by Rusty
Moved by Jerry Knight
Seconded by Joe DeuPree
Motion approved by unanimous vote
6. Buildings & Grounds Committee DeuPree
Joe DeuPree sent out a document to the Vestry regarding updates.
a. Grass is laid outside the nave
b. Stump outside to be ground
c. Continuing leak in the kitchen seems to have stopped
d. Members of the committee met about the landscape design and it is coming along in stages. Vestry members note what an improvement the recent changes have been
e. On the agenda for the committee to discuss is repainting the building
f. New TV to be installed, WiFi to be improved and updated, replace lights over coffee bar
7. Mission & Ministry Committee Carson, Hering
Kathy will be passing the torch to Randy as head of Mission Outreach.
The St. Thomas booth at Pride went great and had a wonderful array of volunteers. Joe suggests we follow up with people who expressed interest in our church/booth at Pride. Fr. Christopher offers an open invitation to create a letter for visitors and those interested to follow up.
Flaming dish luncheon was well received with over 70 people in attendance. The luncheon blended nicely with the guild fair. Kathy has emailed guild heads with details on interested parishioners.
Clothing-box needs to be taken care of – suggested that we begin sharing donation opportunities as opposed to being a middle-man.
Upcoming/Current Projects:
a. Dallas Champions said they would like someone to help out for the Dallas Champions Academy this summer beginning in the coming weeks, and send a long list of things that we can do to assist them
b. Pillowcase project event happening August 26th. Crochet guild meets in the same room so coordination will need to take place on that
c. Ewing House update will go in the service bulletin
d. Upcoming dessert and cake auction will raise some money for MOC to use
8. Guild Liaison Reports
– Four new people on list
– With Allen gone Eucharistic ministers is down one
– No Report (absent)
– Fr. Christopher is thrilled about the new plants at the Altar, and the choice to not worry about plants if none are funded.
– No Report
– No Report
– Flaming dish luncheon went well. Randy wants to thank everyone who helped to clean up.
– Charcuterie and other refreshments to be available on the 26th for Allen’s luncheon.
– Randy Lacy wrote a thank you letter to Sandy and has 26 people who said they will serve so people will read every two or three months.
Rector’s Report | Rector
Fr. Christopher thanks everyone for their efforts toward St. Thomas and allowing him the opportunity to take some time off while keeping things afloat.
Christopher inquires about what we would like to see happen at Allen’s luncheon (blessing, messages, gifts etc.) and praises Allen’s contributions to St. Thomas and the larger Episcopal Church.
Annalise will be leaving us shortly as she is being ordained on Saturday.
10. Resource Person for July – Kathy Carson
11. Compline Rector
12. Dismissal/Closing Prayer Rector
The meeting is closed with a reading from the Book of Common prayer and the meeting was adjourned at 8:51 p.m.
Caroline Hofmann
Caroline Hofmann, Clerk
