St. Andrew’s Vestry Meeting

March 17, 2009, 7:30 PM

Peabody Room

 

Present:  Al Colburn, Dick Dabrowski, Linda Kaferle, Fr. Alan MacKillop, Mary Medeiros, George Miller, Louise Rogers, Faith Salter, Erica Scattergood, Don Ulsch, Bill Veno, Marianne Welton

Absent:  Sue Hildreth

 

I.                   Opening Devotions and Prayer

 

II.                Priest-in-Charge Report

A.     Lenten Program has had an attendance of 15 people with good discussions

B.     Vestry Retreat

1.      Tentatively scheduled for May 29th and 30th at St. Benedict’s Abbey in Harvard

2.      Fr. Alan plans to be the facilitator

a.      ACTION ITEM:  Fr. Alan to update us on the program and any Vestry preparation needed

C.     Holy Week Schedule of Services

1.      7:30 Maundy Thursday

2.      12 PM and 7:30 PM Good Friday

3.      7 PM Easter Vigil on Saturday

4.      Easter Sunday – 8 & 10 AM

5.      ACTION ITEM:  Mary Medeiros to put schedule in the local papers

D.    Discussed the number of shut-ins

1.      ACTION ITEM:  Fr. Alan to get the list of shut-in information to Sue Ulsch for inclusion in the May X-Press

 

III.             2/17/09 Meeting Minutes Accepted as Presented

 

IV.              Wardens’ Report

A.     Linda distributed Letters of Transfer forms to those Vestry members who are currently official members of their previous church

1.      ACTION ITEM:  Linda, George, Erica and Marianne to fill out the form and return it to Linda for signing by Fr. Alan

B.     Parish Hall Usage Policy

1.      Dick asked for feedback from the Vestry regarding the proposal that St. Andrew’s communicants in good standing be given the use of the Parish Hall for a day function at no charge (excluding the $50 sexton fee)

a.      There was consensus for the above proposal

2.      ACTION ITEM:  Linda and Dick to bring back a proposal for those people who are not communicants in good standing

C.     Discussion of  parishioners signing up for electronic fund transfer for pledge payments

1.      ACTION ITEM:  Marianne to write an article explaining how to go about EFT in the next X-Press

D.    Quarterly Commission Reporting expanded to include three options:

1.      Commission chair to e-mail a report to the Vestry prior to its meeting

2.      Commission chair to attend the meeting and give an oral report

3.      Commission liaison to give an oral report at the meeting

4.      ACTION ITEM:  Linda to send a schedule to commission chairs and liaisons

  

V.                 Treasurer’s Report

A.     Approximately $5,000 in the red up through February

B.     Discussion of memorial gifts and how they are handled

1.      ACTION ITEM:  Linda to include as an agenda item for next month’s meeting

2.      ACTION ITEM:  Marianne to become familiar with the current policy

C.     Motion unanimously passed to accept the report as presented

 

VI.              Search Committee (Faith Salter and Bill Veno)

A.     Gave a chronology of the Search Process to date:

1.      Met with consultant, Carol Kingston, in November, 2008

2.      Held Appreciative Inquiry sessions in December, 2008

a.      Held 60 interviews

3.      Held retreat weekend with Vestry, Carol Kingston and Cynthia Hubbard in January, 2009

4.      Used the info from #2 and #3 to produce a tri-fold brochure in February, 2009

5.      Filed all necessary forms with the Church Deployment Office of the diocese in March, 2009

6.      Listing went on ECUSA website on March 6, 2009

7.      Accepting names until May 15th

B.     Charge given to Search Committee by the Vestry

1.      Motion unanimously passed to charge the Search Committee to arrange for meetings (where possible) between the Vestry and the final candidates; create a mechanism for feedback from the Vestry; and to recommend one candidate to the Vestry for the position of Rector

 

 

 

 

 

VII.           Commission Reports

A.     Outreach

1.      Proposed 2009 budget for Outreach:

a.  Young Life                                                 $500

b.  Habitat for Humanity                               1,000

c.  Loaves and Fishes                                   3,000

d.  Episcopal Relief and Development            500

e.  Our Prison Neighbors                                 250

f.  Refugee Immigration Ministry                   150

g.  Esperanza School                                     1,000

h.  Battered Women’s Resource Inc.            500

i.  St. Stephen’s South End Project            1,000

j.  Mass Council of Churches                        100

                                2.  Outreach Commission requests a quarterly payment of $2000

                                     towards its budget

a.      Motion unanimously passed to authorize the expenditure of $2,000 towards the first quarter Outreach commitments and ask the Outreach Chairpersons to work with the Treasurer on where the money to finance the $2,000 will come from (checking, investments, fundraisers)

3. ACTION ITEM:  Fr. Alan to write each organization about 

    the commitment from St. Andrew’s that they can expect

B.     Facilities

1.      Report submitted by Alan Rogers

a.      Looking into solutions for the ice dams over the snuggery and Peabody Room

b.      Alan continues to fix the radiator leaks in the Rectory

c.       The gutters in the Parish Hall are in bad shape, possibly causing leaks in the ceiling

d.      A list of Spring clean-up items is developing

 

VIII.        Old Business

A.     Church Insurance

1.      Linda and Al Colburn are currently comparing the existing policy with Emery and Webb and the Church Insurance Policy

a.      ACTION ITEM:  Al to ask Emery and Webb for a 30 day extension on the policy renewal date (currently 4/1/09)

2.      Started a discussion about establishing a set of controls that reduce the potential for liability issues (e.g. checks requiring two signatures)

a.      ACTION ITEM:  Linda to add it to the next agenda

 

 

 

IX.              New Business

A.     Parish Life will be holding $1.00 movie nights

1.      First one scheduled for April 18th

2.      Money to go towards the dishwasher fund

B.     Volunteer Opportunity

1.      Sue Ulsch would like to explore the idea of organizing a group of volunteers from St. Andrew’s who would set-up arrangements with local grocery stores to get produce that is no longer saleable and distribute it to the needy either from the church or possibly Loaves and Fishes

a.      There was consensus from the Vestry for Sue to explore this worthwhile idea

 

X.                 Closing Prayer

 

XI.              Next Meeting – April 21, 2009, 7:30 PM, Peabody Room

 

XII.           Adjournment – 9:55 PM

 

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Kaferle