Vestry Minutes:                                                                                                           March 14th, 2007

 

The scheduled meeting of the Vestry of the Parish of the Epiphany was held in Hadley Hall on March 14th, 2007 at 7:32 PM.

 

Present were: Rev. Bob Trache, Rector; Rev. Natasha Stewart,  Assistant Rector; Ted Kellogg, Warden; Pam Chester, Warden; Scott Jones, Treasurer; Kevin Cronan, Clerk.  Vestry Members: Pat Hitchcock, Bob Delaney, Nancy Solomon, John Lees, Martha Lewis, Gabrielle Stott, Dutch Treat and John Cuozzo.  Youth Vestry: Emma Spencer.  Guests: Susan Kincaid, Endowment Committee.

 

Pam Chester presided.

 

Rev. Bob Trache led the Vestry in a brief prayer from the BCP.

 

Rev. Bob Trache introduced the new and returning Vestry members and asked each of them to share in what denomination they were brought up, their best memory of their childhood church and their most meaningful memory of Epiphany.

 

Report of the Clerk

The minutes for the January Vestry meeting were presented with no corrections to be made.

 

Upon motion duly made and seconded, and by the affirmative vote of all members present, it was

Voted: that the minutes from the January 10th meeting be accepted.

 

Report of the Treasurer

Scott Jones presented his report to the Vestry.  Revenues are running far ahead of budget through the first two months of the year with expenses on target for the year.  The revenue strength has been due to three factors: strong weekly pledges, open plate contributions higher than expected and the “one check annual pledge.”  Although the last factor is a one time occurrence, the other two factors are very positive.  The diocese now requires a full audit of each parish, and we are overdue for this complex and expensive undertaking.  We have met with outside accountants to begin introducing them to our church requirements and systems, which differ from those at accounting firms.  Ultimately we need to clarify our financial spreadsheets and get a more precise view of the budget versus revenue.

 

Upon motion duly made and seconded, and by the affirmative vote of all members present, it was

Voted: that the Treasurer’s Report be accepted.

 

Review of 2006 Investment Committee Report

Susan Kincaid presented the report to the Vestry.  The committee meets quarterly and views the investment performance of the endowment.  4% per year is withdrawn to contribute to the yearly operating budget, this small redemption does allow for performance growth of the investments.  There is an endowment committee that is proactively looking for contributions to the endowment as well as encouraging Planned Giving as an option for parish members..  The target size endowment for a church such as ours is $2M, however it was brought up that some churches with large endowments are not as energetic as ones with leaner ones.      

 

Electronic Vote

Pam Chester presented the report to the Vestry.  The following four motions were approved electronically via e-mail:

 

Personnel:

  1. That whereas section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code permits a minister of the gospel to exclude from gross income the fair rental value of church owned parsonage provided rent free as part of the clergy’s compensation and whereas the annual fair rental value is a matter of fact based on the rental market for comparable accommodations, and whereas The Rev. Robert G. Trache has requested the Vestry’s opinion on the fair rental value of the parsonage, the Vestry declares its opinion that the fair rental value of the parsonage, including utilities and insurance, to be $24,000.00 for the period the Rev. Trache is employed in the year 2007.
  2. That whereas section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code permits a minister of the gospel to exclude from gross income a church designated housing allowance paid to him as part of his compensation to the extent used for actual housing expenses and does not exceed the fair market rental value of the home, the Vestry approves the following amount as a housing allowance for The Rev. Roger Nelson - $10,000.00 for the period the Rev. Nelson is employed in the year 2007

 

Property:

  1. That up to $975.00 be allotted from the Property Preventative Maintenance Fund for the repairs of exterior grates.      

 

Appointments:

4.   That Anne Neilson and Betsy Walsh be appointed as Assistant Treasurers, each for a 1-year term

 

Going forward each Vestry member is asked to reply to the Wardens and the Office only and this is not a procedure that we want to use often.  Those who voted for the motions were: Gabrielle Stott, Nancy Solomon, John Cuozzo, Pat Hitchcock, Scott Jones, Mike Coltman, Martha Lewis, Dutch Treat, John Lees, Cindy Seferian, Ted Kellogg, Bob Delaney, Pam Chester, Jen Shire, Harold MacCaughey and Fred Spencer.

 

Youth Ministry Report

Rev. Natasha Steward presented the report to the Vestry.  Everything is going well with our youth and Sunday School but there is hope for more lay support as well as more classroom space.  Natasha has introduced the J2A program, which will replace our traditional confirmation preparation.  There is a “Gap Year” that occurs every other year because this system groups Middle School children together and High School children together instead of single year classes.  Kathleen and Natasha would like to do something special for the “Gap Year” children.  We are experiencing a good problem of having too many children enrolled in Sunday School and not enough space to house and teach them.

 

Report of the Wardens

Ted Kellogg presented the report to the Vestry.  He read the Motion put forth by Betsy Walsh to approve a disbursement of $2,500 with the bulk of the money going to the B-SAFE Summer Program along with supporting three inner city summer camp programs.  This is the biggest anti-violence program in the city, larger than anything organized by Boston’s historically black churches.  The money will “buy” 10 seats at a dinner preceding a fundraiser being organized by Bishop Shaw and the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.

 

Upon motion duly made and seconded, and by the affirmative vote of all members present, it was

Voted: that $2,500 be disbursed from the Outreach Memorial Fund #1419 to the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.

 

Three other motions put forth by the Gifts and Memorials Committee to the Vestry from January 28th were also presented:

 

1.       10% ($1,000) of the Emily Marks Trust bequest of $10,000 to be transferred to Outreach per Vestry policy.

2.       The Charles Hemmingsen Fund has been designated after consultation with Margaret Hemmingsen as follows: To the Music Memorial Fund (1417)-$1,373 and to Preventative Maintenance-$1,374.63.  The actual total is $2,747.63, the odd number results from paying $17.27 for a plaque.

3.       The Patricia Swartz Fund of $525 is to be transferred to the Christian Education Fund for children’s ministry.

 

Upon motion duly made and seconded, and by the affirmative vote of all members present, it was

Voted: that the three motions put forth by the Gifts and Memorials Committee be accepted.

 

Two working groups are to be established the Sound System Task Force and the Bells Task Force.  The first committee will potentially include Rich Goldhor, Steve Poulos, Martha Lewis and a representative of the Winchester Rotary Club.  Nick Candee will oversee the Bells Task Force.  There have been complaints about the poor quality of the assistive-listening headsets used during services.  The Rotary Club, which uses Hadley Hall, does not like the sound system currently available.  They have offered to either buy us a new sound system or make a donation to Epiphany to help us buy a new sound system, so the scope may be expanded if funds can be made available.  The Gifts and Memorials Committee has set aside $25,000 to help with the improvements.

 

In honor of our Sexton, Fred Benson, whose “Spidey sense” helped to avert a floor when our sewage ejector pump failed, we presented him with a commendation and a gift of a Spiderman action figure.

 

Report of the Rector

Bob presented the report to the Vestry.  The annual Vestry retreat is coming up, although it will be an on-site meeting on a Saturday than a true retreat.  The last weekend in April looks to be the best time, there is the chance for a covered dish dinner the evening before at the Rectory if that generates enough interest.  “Vitality and Growth” which was touched upon at Convention could be a topic for discussion but Bob is looking to identify one or two more topics to add to the agenda.

 

May 12th will be date for the Mystic Valley Deanery Confirmation to be held at Epiphany at 10:30 AM.  Vestry is asked to be present and to help with the celebration for the confirmands and other guests if need be.  March 7th will be the last Covered Dish Dinner for the season.  Maundy Thursday Seder will be organized by the Georgis Family at 6 PM; so far twenty-five to thirty places have already been sold.  Easter Week is fast approaching; the service schedule and letters will be sent out shortly.  Our new Warden’s son will be honored as an Eagle Scout. 

 

The Winchester Educational Center wants to rent the church and Hadley Hall.  We have an established policy on the renting of Hadley Hall but not for the church.  We have agreed to let them use the sanctuary, but we have asked that tickets be sold for a donation rather than a fixed price, so that no one will be turned away from the church because they are unable to pay.  The office has been receiving more and more requests for the renting of the church and Hadley Hall.  The question arises, do we want to rent the church and if so, for how much?  Our current rates for renting Hadley Hall are very low and we need to charge more than the current rate of $300, possibly upwards of $500 for the space in addition to the $150 Sexton charge.

 

Susan McAllister will be taking an extended vacation for about ten weeks this summer.  Do we want to make a contribution to her sabbatical?  Bob requested that the choir members of the Vestry ask the choir if they would like to contribute as well.  There will be some sort of “send off” party for Susan on May 13th. 

 

The Diocesan Grant we’re applying for will help with the Parish Growth Committee and its goals; we want to thank John Lees, Jennifer Shire and Nancy Solomon for all of their help in preparing the proposal paperwork for the Diocese.  Church Clean Up will be Saturday March 31st prior to Palm Sunday services.

 

Rev. Bob Trache closed the evening with a prayer.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 9:41 PM.

 

Attest:

 

Kevin M. Cronan, Clerk.