Calvary Episcopal Church
Vestry Minutes
December 21, 2004
Participants
Present: Nick Baker, Jim Barnes, Laina Brown,
Sandra Cherry, Art Dietz, Elyse Hensley, Andrea Morris, Sally Reisz, Gail
Richardson, Ruth Robins, Meg Scharre, Jonathan Smith; The Rev. J. Edward
Morris.
Absent: Jerry Lyndrup, Jeff Webb.
Opening Prayer
Fr. Morris called the meeting to order at 5:15p.m. and offered an
opening meditation and prayer.
Minutes
Art Dietz moved the approval of the November 16, 2004 minutes of
the vestry; seconded by Ruth Robins. Motion carried.
Committee Reports
Finance:
Andrea presented the financial statements
through November 30, 2004. Sally Reisz moved that the report be accepted;
Jonathan Smith seconded. Motion carried.
A draft of the 2005 budget was presented
for discussion and emendations as needed.
Stewardship:
Andrea noted that pledges to date total
$243,540 with only 15-20 pledging units outstanding at the time.
Worship:
The vestry’s attention was drawn to the
written staff report for Music with particular attention to the upcoming Lenten
Recital series. Jim Barnes reported that the Worship Advisory Committee had its
first meeting on December 7, an organizational and informational meeting. The
next meeting is scheduled for January 4, 2005 at 5:00pm.
Fr. Morris announced that he plans to have
noon Eucharist on Thursdays during Lent. He also reported that 14 persons had
signed up to date as library greeter volunteers.
Christian Formation:
Elyse
Hensley reported that the children’s string ensemble and choir participated in
the Celebration of New Ministry service and plans other future events as well.
She further reported that the Pageant went well and that the Godly Play room
has seen many new faces recently. Gail Richardson will lead a Godly Play session
at the 11:00 service on Sunday, January 2. The first meeting of the Christian
Formation Committee has scheduled for 9:45 on January 2. The committee will
have subcommittees related to the adult and the youth programs.
Gail and Elyse asked that a thank you to
Carolyn Snow be spread upon the minutes for the luncheon for the Pageant
Sunday.
Building, House and Grounds:
The tuckpointing
continues. Meg Scharre reported that reupholstering of the couch in Parker Hall
would cost about $1000 and that other arrangements would be more productive.
Outreach:
The vestry’s attention was
drawn to the written staff report for Outreach. About 500 books have been
collected and delivered to the House of Ruth which is about all they can handle
at any given time. The Thanksgiving turkey project has just completed and the
Christmas turkey project is well underway. A request was heard that men’s
clothing be sought for the Clothes Closet as more and more men are seeking
clothing at this time of year.
Communication:
The
vestry’s attention was drawn to the written staff report for Communication. Meg
Scharre pointed out the lists of persons volunteering for the various programs
need to be reviewed by the program heads and the lists updated by confirming
the new additions and reaffirming those serving last cycle who wish to continue
in any given program. Meg pointed out that January 2 is the deadline for
program heads to submit reports for the Annual Congregational meeting on
January 16. The compilation of such reports is a major task and everyone needs
to meet the deadlines. Meg also reported that she has contacted the media
regarding various events at Calvary, particularly the turkey project, to no
avail. She said she will continue to release such information to the media reminding
program heads and vestry members that each of these news agencies have
deadlines so anything to be released needs to be in her hands early.
Parish Life:
Sandra Cherry reported
that scheduling for Phase II of the Foyer Groups is underway. She plans a
pot-luck kick-off dinner for January 14 with the groups then breaking down for
scheduling of the individual group events. She reported that the next meeting
of the Book Club is January 24 and that softball talks are underway for the
2005 season. Laina Brown reported that the system for keeping the kitchen
stocked has been established and is functioning.
By-Laws:
Nick
Baker reported that progress is being made on reviewing the By-Laws, current
and previous, as well as searching the minutes for any changes not recorded
otherwise. A report should be ready for the January 18, 2005 meeting. The
Investment Advisory Committee will also need to give input where appropriate.
Sally Reisz reported that the By-Laws are now on computer so that future changes
will be easier.
Junior Warden:
Sally Reisz announced that the vestry retreat is in
the process of being rescheduled due to conflicts. She also reported that terms
of office of the members of the Investment Advisory Committee are being
researched for accuracy. She further reported that the audit for 2003 should be
completed soon, that a letter of authorization for the Audit Committee to
obtain financial information from the bank has been completed and sighed, and
that an inventory of the fine arts at Calvary is being redone (the former one
is missing) as a part of the Audit Committee functions. Sally thanked Jerry
Lyndrup for clearing the leaves and debris from the Third Street property as an
extension of the clean-up project on the primary church property itself.
Senior Warden:
Art
Dietz thanked Laina, John and Griffin Brown and the Hospitality Committee for
the grand reception following the Celebration of New Ministry service and the
vestry applauded its concurrence enthusiastically. He reported that the
nominees for the vestry class of 2008 are David Stewart, Corky Sachs, Jamie
Hendon, Downey Gray, Nancy Anderson, Clyde Warner, Tessa Long and Ginger Ray.
Information regarding these nominees will be sent out January 5. Art reported
that the Executive Committee has requested a legal opinion from the attorney
handling the distribution of the estate of Zilpha Stovall. Nick Baker moved
that Art be authorized to proceed as necessary after receipt of such opinion
should it be received before the next vestry meeting; seconded by Sally Reisz.
The motion carried.
Old Business:
A line item for the funding of future major
maintenance projects will be included in the 2005 budget for discussion at the
next vestry meeting.
New Business:
Ruth
Robins reported that the vestry pictures project has been completed. She said
that each new vestry class could simply be added with the remaining members
moved to the left until they were no longer members of the vestry.
Art
Dietz moved and Sally Reisz seconded that the vestry recess and reconvene in
executive session for the purpose of discussing a personnel matter. The motion
carried.
The
vestry reconvened in regular session with no action taken in executive session.
Nick Baker moved that the treasurer be authorized to prepare and present the
Christmas gift to Fr. Morris as discussed in executive session; Art Dietz
seconded the motion and it carried.
The
rector was authorized to seek deputies to the diocesan convention as required
by Canon and to submit them to the diocese.
Nick Baker will
officiate Compline at the next vestry meeting.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the vestry is January 18,
5:15, Parker Hall, Calvary Church.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at
8:00pm with Compline lead by Ruth Robins.
Respectfully submitted,
James M. Barnes
Secretary
STAFF REPORTS
2004 OUTREACH, MUSIC, and COMMUNICATIONS – December
Outreach:
1. Food
Donations: This report covers the period from November 14 to
December 20. The value of food donations during this period is $7680. Of that
amount, $4,605 was donated by Calvary people. Many interesting gifts were given
during this period, including over 30 cases of fruit from Paul’s Fruit Market
(not to mention cabbage, potatoes, onions, and broccoli), 1300 cans from
Kentucky Harvest, 28 turkeys from UPS (AFTER THANKSGIVING!!!), and substantial
food gifts from St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, including a check for $1,000.
We gave out 154 turkeys and trimmings that fed 286 people, and the monetary
contributions were generous enough that we are now able to funnel some funds
into the general purchase of day to day food items. THANKS BE TO ALL,
especially all of the volunteers that numbered over 30 during the course of
that marathon period of November 22-24. Special kudos, as always, go to Walter
Morris. We couldn’t do it without his truck!
2. Food
Distribution: During November, we gave out 243 food bags that
fed 481 people. This includes the Great Thanksgiving Turkey Time!
3. Clothes Shops
for Women and Kids:
Thanks to clothing contributed exclusively by Calvary people, and thanks to the
intense interest given to this project by our weekday volunteers, the number of
people clothed at Calvary continues to increase. Since November 14, we have
clothed 63 women, 22 children, and 48 men, for a grand total of 133 people.
That’s way up from the 71 last month! Without volunteers Carla McCarty and her
friend Melissa, Ned Reiter, Larry Brown, John Cunningham, Joyce Tichenor, Bill
Adams, and Lois O’Hara, this ministry would not be half as successful. We are so grateful for the abundant
donations of clothing by Calvary people, and we urge you to continue,
especially with attention to warm clothing: coats, hats, gloves, and scarves.
As we experience frigid weather, we are gratified by the donations of gloves
that have been coming in. THANK YOU, and keep up the good work!
4. Breads: The jelly business has shut down as the cold has
approached. Thanks to all who helped with this project, both the makers and the
takers!
5. Book Aid: Books continue to come in, and are well cared for
by David Webb, with advice from Timmons Owens.
6. Crisis Care (Outreach of sorts!) Jean Dietz has been making calls to the church
some Wednesdays and then following up on those who are sick or in crisis. Meals
have been prepared and taken to some parishioners in crisis. Lois O’Hara also
continues to write welcoming notes to those who sign the guest book.
7. The Refugees: According to a Christmas greeting by Premilla
Dassenaike, Lilamani Perera’s niece, Lil is doing extremely well, and is well
cared for in Sri Lanka. Premilla again sent thanks for the role that Calvary
played in rescuing Lil from poverty. The bad news is that Ridvan Sherifi had a
traffic accident that totaled his car, so things are not going too well for that
family at the moment! Please see Lou Henson if you can offer any help to them.
OVER
MUSIC:
1.
The
Celebration of New Ministry on December 10 involved much in the way of music,
and the choirs were happy to respond. Over 50 musicians took part in one way or
the other. Thanks to all!
2.
The Bach
Society’s Advent-Christmas concert was at Calvary on December 5, performed to a
full house.
3.
The
PAGEANT had stellar musical offerings by the children’s choir, the children’s
string ensemble, and the adult choir. Thanks go to directors Elyse Hensley,
Judy Wilson, Melvin Dickinson, and the members of those groups.
4.
Christmas
Eve is next, with much planned and much to do! The string ensemble will play
for the 4:00 service, along with organ. At 9:30, the adult choir and orchestra
will offer part of the Christmas portion of Handel’s MESSIAH, followed by the
Festival Holy Eucharist.
5.
The choir
and orchestra will rehearse on Dec. 23, followed by a Laina Dinner at the
Dickinsonn Bach Haus.
6.
Next up:
LENTEN RECITAL SERIES! Hard to believe!
Communications:
1. THE CALVARY CONNECTION was mailed last week! Next
deadline is January 23.
2. Webmaster Jim Barnes continues to do a fantastic
job of updating and adding to the Calvary website. To date, 8,831 visitors have
logged in to our website since March 31, 2003. That’s almost 700 more since the
last vestry meeting. People ARE visiting!
3. The volunteer brochure listing Calvary’s ministries
has been distributed. As is the usual case, not too many people have turned
theirs in. All returned brochure information has now been entered in the ACS
program and amalgamated with those people who have either not done their yet or
assume we KNOW that they will continue. Now it’s up to the activity chairs to
finalize their lists and return them to MLD for final entries. PLEASE, vestry
liaisons, ATTEND TO THIS! A major complaint has always been that people sign up
and are never contacted. Let’s rectify that this year! (I wrote this last month, and it did little good!!!)
4. Major work has been expended in creating and
reproducing large bulletins for the Institution and for each of the Christmas
Eve services. We thank the volunteers who have spent long hours assembling
these epistles. NOW IF WE ONLY HAD GOOD REPRODUCTIVE EQUIPMENT! THAT’S ON MY
WISH LIST! It’s not pleasant to expend all that work and then have a black
streak appear in each bulletin!
5. As stated last month, the e-mail system AND the
telephone accessibility at Calvary has been expanded, updated, and generally
redone! Each staff member now has a private e-mail address. The church has a
general address as well, and the calv821@aol.com is also still operable. You may
now leave confidential messages for staff members or general messages, as you
wish. The computer system is also undergoing major additions for some staff
members, so we should be state of the art soon!
6. The deadline for annual reports is January 2.
This involves many vestry members, so please be aware!
Margaret Dickinson
Education Report to the Vestry
December 2004
December is a busy time at
Calvary! The Youth participated in two
activities: the movie, The Polar Express, and assisted with the
Christmas party at the Episcopal Church Home.
We thank the youth leaders for their help to make this happen: Brenda and Steve Shelton.
Also during this month, the Calvary
Christmas Pageant was held. There were
over 30 children and youth who participated in the cast or as readers. And there were approximately 20 adults who
were helping. I would like to
particularly thank Elyse Hensley and Judy Wilson for their leadership, as well
as Mary and Brad Fewell for their help with the costumes, and Sally Reisz who
always provides a professional script.
We are underway in planning two
committees to serve on the Christian Formation Adult Forum Committee and
Christian Formation Youth Committee. We
have had enthusiastic affirmation from many volunteers who have agreed to
serve. The first meeting will be held
on Sunday, January 2, at 9:45 a.m. In Parker Hall.
Callie Hausman
Director of Christian Formation