The scheduled meeting of the Vestry of the Parish of the Epiphany was held in the Old Parish Hall on October 11th, 2007 at 7:33 PM.

Present were: The Very Rev. Bob Trache, Rector; Ted Kellogg, Warden: Pam Chester, Warden; Scott Jones, Treasurer; Kevin Cronan, Clerk.  Vestry Members: Nancy Solomon, John Cuozzo, Dutch Treat, Fred Spencer, Cindy Seferian, Martha Lewis and Gabrielle Stott.  Youth Delegates: Emma Spencer.  Guests included Rich Goldhor.

Pam Chester presided.

Rev. Bob Trache led the Vestry in an opening prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book.

Report of the Clerk

The minutes from the September Vestry meeting were presented for acceptance.  There were two corrections addressed, the first one was on page one in the first sentence to amend “June 13th, 2007” to “September 12th, 2007.”  The second correction was on page two under Budgeting and Visioning regarding word order and to amend to “Cindy suggested a “Mother’s Morning Out” program which would allow mothers to leave their children”

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

            Voted: that the minutes from September be accepted as amended.

Report of the Treasurer

Scott Jones presented his report to the Vestry.  We are currently through the first three-quarters of the year and the results are mixed.  On the one hand, our largest expense category – salaries and benefits – and our largest income category – pledge income – are pretty much on target.  On the other hand, segments of our expenses and parts of our planned income are falling behind our preferred budget targets with the prospect of improvement in some cases before year’s end.  From a “big picture” perspective, this is neither the time to celebrate nor get really worried about the year end 2007 performance, but it is the time to begin to act where we can.

The anomalies are as follows:

1.       Special Offerings (Easter & Christmas): Budgeted at $15K but YTD we have only reached $500 versus $5K YTD 2006.

2.       Activity Income: Budgeted at $25K YTD versus $21K actual.  However, last year we had generated the same amount of YTD income in this category.  Can we close the loop by year-end?

3.       Weekly Pledges/Pledges in General: While, as noted above, we are within 3% of our target for YTD pledges from all sources, that is because we overshot “pre-paid” pledges (versus budget) by more than we missed in 2006 pledges that we thought would come in 2007.  That delta – some $8K – has helped to hide the problem of declining weekly pledges (versus YTD budget) that drove the letter to the membership that Scott sent out in September.  The “deterioration” in the June-September vacation era was significant and, hopefully, transitory.  Our goal is ensuring that we get back on track with weekly pledges because there is no other source of funds – other than a special solicitation – that can offset what is now a $53K shortfall (versus budget).  Scott’s concern is that this situation with weekly pledges can not continue to be in deficit versus budget for the remaining months of the year.

4.       Building Expense: Budgeted at $58K YTD versus $71K actual ($66K YTD last year).  The real problem here is if we were making the planned contributions to the Preventative Maintenance Fund, we would be an additional $7.5K in the hole.

Bob handed out the weekly counters report for the first week of October, with pledges, open plate and unrestricted gifts we received $25,292.75.  Clearly the letter sent out by Scott did what it needed to do!

Stewardship Report

Pam Chester presented her report to the Vestry.  We will be tackling Stewardship differently this year.  There were two events held for members that pledge $3K or more per year, one at the Mehnes’ and one at the Roll’s.  There will not be a Stewardship service on October 21st as we will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of Louis Pitt’s ordination with special guest The Rt. Reverend Trevor Mwamba, Bishop of Botswana.  Instead on November 4th there will be a Stewardship Gala after the Evensong with guest speaker Justin Locke, author of “Real Men Do Not Rehearse.”  There will be pizza and a video for the children and wine and cheese for the adults. The Stewardship goal is $675,000 for annual pledges; this includes a 10% increase in member pledges over 2007 with a “stretch” goal of $725,000. 

Of the 212 active members identified that have never pledged, 100 of them were sent letters by the Stewardship Committee and some new pledges have come in due to this endeavor.  Due to the twelve funerals this year along with the Delaneys’ move to Arizona, we foresee a loss between $42K and $50K in annual revenue.  Bob will be giving a short speech at the Newcomers luncheon on pledging in the Episcopal Church along with a concise speech at the Cantata.  The materials this year are clearer and ideally the message will be more explicit.  We want people to come away with a great feeling about Epiphany and a better understanding of what we need financially.  The packets will be mailed and followed up with a telephone call.  As leaders we need to maintain a positive outlook and work intelligently with out large pledging units and strengthen the general campaign for Stewardship in advance of Dedication Sunday on November 18th.

Schedule Discussion

Bob discussed the outcome of some talk about the service schedule change.  The bottom line has generally been that an 8:00 AM Rite I, then a 10:00 AM Rite II to be followed by Sunday School and Adult Education is what the congregation wants.  There is a fear of losing children presently enrolled in Sunday School with the current schedule.  The desperation has been voiced by young parents who feel that Sunday School followed by service is too much of a strain.  So how do we get a handle on the length of the service?  Do we offer a third Communion station by the narthex?  Ideally we want to keep Adult Education at 11:00 AM along with the coffee hour for fellowship.  The change will take place on Sunday November 4th.

VPOD Thoughts

Pam Chester and Ted Kellogg presented their report to the Vestry.  The duties of the Vestry Person of the Day (VPOD) depend on the Service Schedule and there will be a change in the process.  John Cuozzo will be the VPOD this coming Sunday and Fred Spencer will help out as co-VPOD.  We are entertaining the thought of having co-VPODs on Sundays going forward as the role has become more challenging for one person with the addition of food and overseeing that new addition to the day.  Bob Delaney is currently on the schedule for October 21st, Dutch Treat volunteered to take his place and Kevin Cronan volunteered to act as co-VPOD.

Report of the Wardens

Ted Kellogg presented the report to the Vestry.  The Property Committee has half a dozen items on their agenda, currently the Committee is putting together a bid to fix the flagstone in the Cloister Garden for next spring, and the bench is already done.  They are looking into the economics of solar panels on the roof, putting together an estimate of this year’s oil bill which will likely be painful and Fred will be switching out all of the light bulbs.  We need to find a day where we can perform a fire drill for Bob and the Vestry.  Clean Up Day will be Saturday November 3rd and the Rectory received a bill from Maggio’s for $3,700 which will need to be allocated.

The monthly Covered Dish Dinners needs a sponsor.  Currently Cindy Seferian has the “Guidebook to Covered Dish Dinners” which details the food part of the dinners but someone is still needed for the advertising, set up and clean up; this could be organized by whichever committee would be sponsoring the event.  Also, there is an interest in having a Time & Talent Fair, not so much to advertise but to offer information on all of the efforts going on at Epiphany.

Report of the Rector

The Very Rev. Bob Trache presented his report to the Vestry.  The Bishop’s visit went very well, Liza and her mother planted flowers around Epiphany in anticipation of Bishop Shaw’s visit.  Jurgen Liias will be here for Adult Education as well as to preach.  The Diocesan Convention will be held in Fitchburg this year during All Saint’s Weekend.  The Louis Pitt Reception will be held after the 10:30 AM service and Louis has asked that we make a donation to the Diocese of Botswana.

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

            Voted: that $1,000 be donated to the Diocese of Botswana from the Outreach Memorial Fund.

Rev. Bob Trache led the Vestry in a short prayer closing the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:27 PM.

Attest:

Kevin M. Cronan, Clerk.