Calvary Episcopal Church
Vestry Minutes
January 21, 2003
Participants
Present: Will Cary, Sandra Cherry, Art Dietz, Ginger
Grizzle, Elyse Hensley, Jerry Lyndrup, Sally Reisz, Gail Richardson, Ruth
Robins, Harvey Turner, Clyde Warner, Jeff Webb, Joan Wempe, Michele Wogaman,
The Rev. Richard Humke Absent:
Don Snow
Prayer
The Rev. Richard Humke opened the meeting with prayer.
General Discussion
The five new vestry members
(Sandra Cherry, Elyse Hensley, Jerry Lyndrup, Sally Reisz, and Michele Wogaman)
were warmly welcomed by Fr. Humke and the other vestry members. A review of the Calvary Annual Meeting, held
on January 19, 2003, was conducted and suggestions made for improvements in the
future. There was a clear consensus
that short “bios” of the nominees for the vestry positions should be provided
to the congregation in advance of voting, as had typically been done prior to
this year. It was also suggested that
Calvary may want to explore utilizing a different method of vestry selection
(drawing five names from a hat containing the names of all ten nominees), as is
done in several other parishes in this area.
The search committee and its composition and procedures were brought up,
but deferred to New Business. The status of the Rector Transition Fund was
reviewed and it was noted that the goal of $110,000 has almost been reached at
this point.
Minutes of December 2002 Meeting
The minutes of the December
Vestry Meeting were approved as written.
Election of Officers
The following individuals were
elected to the offices indicated:
Senior Warden – Will Cary
Junior Warden – Art Dietz
Secretary – Ruth Robins
Treasurer – Harvey Turner
Committee Preferences
All vestry members were asked
to indicate on the flipchart what their committee preferences are; choices are
Personnel, Planning and Volunteers (PP&V); Building and Grounds (B &
G); Finance.
Committee Reports
1.
Budget/Finance (Harvey Turner) – The Treasurer provided a thorough
overview of the written Treasurer’s Report (hereby incorporated by reference), reviewed
Budget Proof List line items and answered questions regarding various financial
matters. Of note is the fact that Calvary no longer can depend on interest
income from the Endowment Fund to help in meeting regular, ongoing expenses, as had once been the practice (in
times of a bull market). For the last three years, therefore, the parish has
been operating with a deficit budget.
In an effort to fund a non-deficit budget, the Every Member Canvass
(EMC) pledge goal for 2002 was set at $286,000 but about $50,000 of that goal
has not been met at this point.
Nevertheless, the Rector Transition Fund has just about met its goal,
which may ease the financial picture somewhat, as those funds will be available
to meet budgetary obligations established under prior commitments as well as
upcoming expenses associated with calling a new rector.
2.
Stewardship (Ruth Robins) – The vestry was referred to the Stewardship
Report which was prepared for and included in the Calvary 2002 Annual Report to
the Congregation (hereby incorporated by reference). It was noted also that there are a number of individuals who
served on the Stewardship Committee or on one of its sub-committees who are
interested in and willing to serve again for the year 2003.
3.
Outreach, Music and Communications (printed report from church staff is hereby incorporated by
reference).
4. Education – (printed report from church staff is hereby
incorporated by reference).
5. Personnel,
Planning and Volunteers – no report, need chair for committee.
6. Building
and Grounds – no report, need chair.
Old Business
The rector reported that the
following individuals have been chosen as deputies to the diocesan convention
for 2003: Nick Baker, Susan Baker, Art Dietz (Will Cary and Don Snow will serve
as alternates). Britt Shelton will
serve as Calvary’s youth representative.
New Business
Vestry Retreat
It was agreed that the Vestry
Retreat should be organized so that it combines both personal sharing/group
development and goal setting/visioning components. After much discussion among the group regarding the pros and cons
of an actual out-of-town overnight retreat vs. an in-town day long format, it
was agreed that accommodations for both types of gathering would be explored to
determine what is actually available for the preferred weekend of February 7
& 8 (alternate date: February 14 & 15). Michele Wogaman agreed to contact the conference center at
Loretto and Will Cary the Presbyterian Seminary; Ginger Grizzle said she would
look into Lapping Park in southern Indiana.
All vestry members were asked to contact these persons as soon as
possible with any other suggestions for a site for the retreat. Information regarding the ultimate results
of these explorations will be promptly shared via e-mail.
Search Committee
Composition
The vestry members discussed
the advisability of “reconfiguring” the search committee which is charged with
seeking candidates for the position of rector of Calvary. Having collectively agreed that it is in the
best interest of Calvary to reconfigure the group, a motion was made, seconded
and carried to select a new search committee composed of five members from the vestry and six
(non-vestry) members from the congregation at large. Ruth Robins, Vestry
Secretary, will send an e-mail ASAP to all vestry members informing them of
these arrangements; those vestry members who wish to put forward their names
for consideration should let Ruth know and she will include their names on the
ballot. A vote of the entire vestry
will be held after the 11 AM service this coming Sunday (January 26, 2003) to
select the five vestry members of the search committee. Once selected, those five individuals will
then proceed immediately to solicit nominees for the six non-vestry positions
on the search committee. It was noted by various vestry members that it will be
important to have one or more individuals in the group as a whole who have been
on a search committee prior to 2002 and that there must be clear expectations
regarding the necessity of attendance at search committee meetings. When all eleven members of the new search
committee are in place, they will select a chairperson from amongst their
number and establish the parameters for the committee’s operations.
Prayer and Adjournment
The Rev. Humke offered a
closing prayer and the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully
submitted,
Eleanor
Ruth Robins
Eleanor
Ruth Robins, Secretary
Calvary
Vestry