Vestry Minutes:                                                                                                           May 9th, 2007

 

The scheduled meeting of the Vestry of the Parish of the Epiphany was held in Hadley Hall on May 9th, 2007 at 7:35 PM.

 

Present were: Rev. Bob Trache; Ted Kellogg, Warden; Pam Chester, Warden; Kevin Cronan, Clerk.  Vestry Members: Jennifer Shire, Martha Lewis, Nancy Solomon, Fred Spencer, Pat Hitchcock, John Lees (via telephone), Cindy Seferian, Gabrielle Stott, Harold MacCaughey and John Cuozzo.  Guests: Liza Trache, Susan Almquist and Susan Youmans.

 

Ted Kellogg presided.

 

Rev. Bob Trache led the Vestry in prayers from the New Zealand Prayer Book.

 

Report of the Clerk

The minutes from the April 11th 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 April 11th meeting be accepted.

 

Report of the Treasurer

Ted Kellogg presented the report to the Vestry.  There were no financials presented; they will be included in next month’s presentation of first half financials.

 

Fair Trade Coffee

Both Susan Almquist and Susan Youmans, from the Faith and the Environment Committee, presented their proposal to the Vestry that we switch to purchasing Fair Trade coffee.  An announcement would be placed in the Three Crowns to educate the congregation of the benefits of Fair Trade coffees, and signage can be improved to give information and hopefully increase donations.  The Women of Epiphany may be asked to contribute in addition to the Parish Life Committee that provides the funding for the coffee.

 

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

Voted: that we begin purchasing Fair Trade Coffee.

 

Next year when the new schedule begins, we will also need funding to provide food for parishioners during the half hour between Adult Education and the 10:30 Eucharist. We can get left over breads from Panera Bread as we are a non-profit, contingent upon a letter from the Church, at the close of business on Saturday night which is 9:30 PM.  The Vestry Person of the Day could “own” this responsibility starting in the Fall at the beginning of the new Church year. Susan Almquist will follow up with Panera Bread to see what is needed.

 

Congregational Development

 Liza Trache presented the report to the Vestry.  Liza asked that we all stand up and applaud for all that we have accomplished.  She is thrilled by the new Vestry Person of the Day role and thanked Jennifer Shire for organizing the schedule through 2008.  Liza is still creating her position and life at Epiphany guides her path as our “Spiritual Concierge,” with her main focus on visitors and newcomers.  Liza plans to tackle the inactive member list in the Fall and thanked Joy Cass and Bill Fincke for all of their help with updating the list, which she will assess and refer to appropriate staff.  A grant proposal was submitted to the Diocese on April 11th in the amount of $10,000.

 

Some of the changes Liza would like to make would be name tags for all new members as well as ensuring that all current members have name tags along with making sure everyone wears them at church functions.  A “re-do” of the narthex and the booth at Town Day really needs to be staffed by laity as opposed to clergy.  To show our commitment to visitors and newcomers, the 36-Hour calls should change to 24-Hour calls along with a “Please Break Bread with Us” program on the same day that newcomers visit Epiphany.  Lastly, the Covered Dish dinners should move from 6 PM to 6:30 PM as it seems that 6 PM is still too early for some members to get to Epiphany.

 

 

Report of the Wardens

Pam Chester presented the report to the Vestry.  She thanked Rev. Bob Trache for facilitating the retreat, as well as the Vestry members who attended.  So far the members of the Media Committee are Eileen Marks, Dutch Treat, Liza Trache and John Cuozzo but a coordinator is still needed.  The Rotary Club has agreed to underwrite some or all of the expenses of the sound system for Hadley Hall, and Cindy Seferian mentioned than ENKA also uses Hadley Hall and could possibly aid monetarily with the upgrades.  Pam and Liza will be meeting with Ina from Temple Shir Tikva about the structuring of our respective committees.  No mission trip to South Africa for Ekuvukeni is planned for this year but hopefully for next year.  The following dates are available for Safe Church Training: May 12th, September 15th and September 29th.  Betsy Walsh submitted a motion from Outreach to aid in funding Bob and Liza’s trip to New Orleans.

 

Outreach Motion: To approve the disbursement of $1,500 from the Outreach Memorial Fund, Acct #1419, to cover Bob and Liza’s travel expenses for their mission trip to New Orleans beginning June 25th, 2007.

 

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

Voted: that the motion to approve a disbursement for Bob & Liza’s mission trip be accepted.

 

Report of the Rector

Bob presented the report to the Vestry.  Now that we have reaffirmed our Mission Statement, the question is where to place it within the Sunday bulletin.  There will be more room on the inside once we go down to two services, however, we will need to pay attention to aesthetics.  The announcement of the service change will go into this week’s Three Crowns. This year’s Confirmation service will now be held at Trinity Copley, as Bishop Shaw is still not fully recovered from meningitis.  The Women of Epiphany dinner will be next Tuesday night, with a talk about setting up schools for girls in Afghanistan.

 

Bob handed out the list of all that will be going to the Holy Land and asked for daily prayer led by warden Ted Kellogg and other members of the congregation while members are on this pilgrimage.  Sunday night there was a dinner for the graduating seniors (8 attended, and none are YPF members) at the Rectory.  It was a nice night of peer fellowship and the parents were very thankful and communicated their thanks via e-mail and the telephone.  DOCC will begin in October and will take place on Tuesday nights.  Alison Taber has announced that she will be retiring from her volunteer role as superintendent of the Sunday School.  On May 20th we will be recognizing Alison and all of the work that she has done at Epiphany with a gift and a reception downstairs with the children.  Kathleen will be making Alison her gift.  Suzanne’s going away party will be this Sunday between the 9:00 AM and 11:15 AM services.

 

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

            Voted: that a check from the church in the amount of $500 be given to Suzanne.

 

The Task Forces for Media, Bells and Sound System will be the responsibility of the Wardens.  Their status will be reported to the Vestry at the June and September meetings.  The committee chairs meeting will be held on Monday night and all Vestry members are invited.  A note will be placed in the Three Crowns about the money generated from the Rummage Sale and where it will be allocated.  Vestry badges have been ordered.  The Vestry and Wardens will have their own with their names and titles.  Questions about Pentecost have already been addressed and Natasha will be the celebrant.  So far there are three baptisms with the possibility of five.  Jennifer Shire will be the Vestry Person of the Day on Pentecost Sunday.

 

Rev. Bob Trache closed the evening with a prayer.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 9:04 PM.

 

Attest:

 

Kevin M. Cronan, Clerk.