St. Andrew’s Vestry Meeting

April 15, 2008, 7:15 PM

Peabody Room

 

Present:  Jeanne Cassin, Dick Dabrowski, Dwight Harshbarger, Linda Kaferle, Fr. Alan MacKillop, Mary Medeiros, Don Ulsch

Absent:  Sue Hildreth, Mark Louttit, Yvette Nasworthy, Marianne Welton

 

I.                   Opening Devotions and Prayer

II.                Priest-in-Residence Report (Fr. Alan)

A.     Outreach Commission met

1.      Will finalize outreach organizations at next meeting

a.      Request that quarterly payments be made

2.      Planning fundraisers to support Outreach

a.      Rummage Sale on Saturday, May 31

i.                    Details in next X-Press

b.      Concert by John Ferrillo and friends from the BSO at Groton School on September 21

c.       Possible wine and cheese party

B.     Profile Committee

1.      Vestry decided at its retreat to form Profile Committee as a first step in the search process

a.      ACTION ITEM:  Fr. Alan to speak to possible candidates

C.     Reported on very successful Holy Week and Easter services

1.      Many thanks to Michael Smith for all his work and guidance and to the choir for the beautiful music

III.             Mission

A.     Vacation Bible School

1.      Fr. Alan has enlisted the help of Erica Scattergood, Elizabeth Haynes and Carolyn Smith to help him put together a one-week program in the summer

a.      Date to be finalized

b.      Would like to include the other tri-parish churches as well as Ayer churches

2.      Don Ulsch offered to arrange with his publisher to donate copies of his new book that will be coming out in the summer as well as a Global Risk Briefing that could be auctioned off

a.      ACTION ITEM:  Fr. Alan to discuss with Erica Scattergood

b.      Thanks so much to Don

IV.              3/18/08 Meeting Minutes Accepted

A.     Mary pointed out that St. Mary’s does not have a newsletter that they advertise in – only the Sunday bulletin

1.      The church grosses about $3,000/yr. by charging per ad

 

V.                 Wardens’ Report (Dick Dabrowski and Linda Kaferle)

A.     Dick has asked our sign vendor to design a sign for the Korean congregation that coordinates with but is different from our sign

B.     Dick reported that Marcia Hoecker has agreed to give us some of her diocesan-paid time to help us determine how we measure up to the diocesan covenant (Vitality, Viability, Mutuality)

C.     Dick and Linda have divided the commissions between them in order that there can be a “point person” for any needs the commissions may have

1.      Dick – Stewardship, Membership, Communications, Parish Life

2.      Linda – Facilities, Outreach, Pastoral Care, Christian Formation

D.    A discussion regarding the placement of special offerings on the Statement of Giving took place

1.      The consensus was that special offerings should not be considered part of the pledge amount

2.      The statements will be modified to incorporate this convention before being sent to parishioners

a.      ACTION ITEM:  Linda to talk to Lynn about making the change

E.     Dick put in a “plug” for the flower chart which has several empty slots – please sign up to donate flowers

VI.              Treasurer’s Report (distributed in Sue’s absence)

A.     ACTION ITEM:  Fr. Alan to ask Priscilla Andrews how she would like to use the $2000 donated in Jack’s name

VII.           Commission Reports

A.     Communications Report read

B.     Membership Report read

C.     Parish Life Report read

D.    Parish Historian

1.      Annual Parish Historian Society Conference to be held at St. Andrew’s on Saturday, May 3rd

a.      Anyone interested in attending may get a registration form from Dick

b.      Two speakers in the morning (of which, Dick Dabrowski is one) speaking on church architecture

c.       Lunch provided by Erica Scattergood and Parish Life

d.      Afternoon tour of St. John’s chapel at the Groton School

VIII.        Special Committee Reports

A.     Investment Report

1.      A total of $321,408 worth of investments

2.      Conservative strategy – 2 to 1 relationship between stocks to bonds

 

B.     Parish Hall Rental Report

1.      Request that we increase the size of the dumpster

a.      We are at or beyond capacity with additional usage by Young Life and Bethel Church

b.      We will be able to lock the dumpster so there will be no unauthorized usage

c.       Consensus of the vestry was to go with the next larger size

2.      Working on a brochure to “showcase” the Parish Hall as a venue for weddings, birthday parties, etc.

3.      Working on a new fee schedule

4.      Investigating bringing the hall up to code

5.      Investigating relationships with area caterers

6.      Considering naming the hall

a.      ACTION ITEM:  Fr. Alan to check with the Kambs as to their feelings since Barbara’s father built the hall

7.      Request that we investigate the purchase of a commercial dishwasher

a.      Parish Life just received a check from Marianne Welton as a thank you for her sister’s memorial reception that can be added to the $2900 we currently have in the dishwasher fund

8.      Propose the Vestry take part in its own fundraiser in recognition of its awareness of the financial issues facing the church

a.      Save change in a bucket for some period of time (6 months – 1 year) and if successful, introduce it to the parish at large

IX.              Unfinished Business

A.     Safe Church Requirements

1.      ACTION ITEM:  Linda to ask Facilities and Christian Formation to look into satisfying those requirements listed in the policy that are yet to be completed

B.     Blood Drive

1.      The Red Cross would be happy to accept our help with signage and volunteering the day of the blood drive but the venue would need to remain at Town Hall

a.      Consensus of the Vestry that it would like Yvette and Bryan Nasworthy to pursue this community outreach project

X.                 New Business

A.     Don suggested looking into the “spare change” idea that some banks promote by rounding up your purchase on your debit card and putting the extra money into a separate account to be used by the card holder

1.      Dick suggested this be brought before the Stewardship Commission as a possible money making idea

B.     A discussion about Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) took place

1.      Sense of the Vestry that we should look into offering auto debit for pledge offerings

C.     Clean-up Day scheduled for either Saturday, April 26th or Sunday, April 27th

D.    Ascension Day 2nd Tri-Parish Service to be held at St. Andrew’s on May 1st at 7 PM

XI.              Next Meeting – Tuesday, May 20th, 7:15 PM

XII.           Closing Prayer

XIII.        Adjournment – 9 PM

 

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Kaferle