Vestry News
Good Shepherd couldn't exist and do God's work without the tireless efforts of many people. It's easy to recognize some of these folks: They may be wearing a robe and participating in the service, or teaching a Sunday School class, or serving coffee and treats in the Parish Hall. Others — like our Vestry members — do most of their work in the background. These aren't necessarily the flashy jobs, like serving as an acolyte, or the fun jobs, like giving you cookies after a service. But they're essential jobs that keep the lights on, the roof fixed, the staff paid and the outreach efforts moving forward.
Our Vestry meets regularly to take a look at where we are, where we're going and what we have to do to continue to grow as a community of faith. To keep everyone up to date on what the Vestry is doing for all of us, here are the minutes of the latest Vestry meeting:
Vestry Minutes: April 2, 2008 ( 7 p.m.)
Present: Charles Fels, Page Broadwater, Judy Burnette, Nell Campbell, Paul Campbell, Eric Carr, Keith Cottrell, Bo Davis, Bob Newman, Sam Sharpe, and Harry Wade. Treasurer Nancy Griffith also was present and recorded the minutes of the meeting. Additionally, June Goforth, Becky Blankenbeckler, and Karl Weddle attended the meeting.
Absent: Melinda Davis and Nancy Harless.
The minutes of the February 24 meeting were approved as distributed.
VESTRY FORMATION
A Thomas Merton prayer was read by those in attendance, with everyone contributing to a discussion as to the significance of the prayer to their lives.
INFORMATION
Memorials Committee: On behalf of the Memorials Committee, Karl presented recommendations for expending monies in the memorial fund, which has a current balance of $6,638.61. The Committee’s proposed that allocations be made as delineated on Attachment A to these minutes. Upon motion by Harry, seconded by Judy, it was unanimously agreed to approve the allocations as recommended.
To clarify the responsibilities of the Vestry and the Memorials Committee, Charles drafted a Summary of the policy. Judy moved that the Vestry adopt this Summary and that the Summary be communicated periodically to the congregation of Good Shepherd. Bob seconded the motion, and the motion passed.
Guatemalan Mission Trip: Becky reported that 19 Good Shepherd adults and children were planning to go on the mission trip, July 19–25. (Inskip Baptist also is sponsoring individuals for the mission trip, resulting in a total of about 40 people.) The beneficiary of the mission trip will be an orphanage in Guatemala which serves as home to about 500 children ranging in age of a few weeks to late teens and early 20’s. The orphanage has a staff of only about 20 individuals, working with the 500 children. Becky estimates that the cost for the trip to be about $1,250 per person. Each individual has been asked to pay $500 of the expenses. The minimum amount to be funded outside of the contributions by the individuals will be about $14,000. While the various “FUNdraising” events have been most successful (with about $10,000 in income collected to date), there is still considerable money needed to ensure that the mission trip is funded.
Becky added that it is hoped that an “at-home mission effort” could be supported as well, with this program expected to be scheduled during the fall school break. This will permit more individuals to be involved in the outreach activity. She requested that the Vestry consider budgeting, at a minimum, $4,000 for mission work during 2008.
Harry moved that the Vestry provide the funds needed for the Guatemalan mission trip to assure that $16,000 is available and, in addition, set aside $1,000 for at-home mission work in the fall. Bob seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.
50th Anniversary: Judy and Page reported that they have met to begin planning activities to recognize Good Shepherd’s 50th Anniversary. They have many wonderful ideas and will report further on the development of their ideas in the upcoming days.
Holy Week and Easter: Charles said that attendance for Holy Week activities was about the same as last year. He noted that the music on Easter was excellent at both services and that he received favorable comments also about the music from the 8:30 a.m. service attendees.
Lock and Keys: Harry indicated that the locks would be changed by the end of the month and that anyone who wanted/needed a key to the master lock should contact Leisa to ensure that an adequate number of keys were made.
Software and Computers: Judy and Nancy reported that efforts were progressing to accomplish full utilization of the CDM-Plus software, with the entering of church membership information completed and the accounting information continuing to be compiled and loaded. Although this process is taking much longer than we desire, we are optimistic that the ultimate results will be worth the time invested at this stage.
The Vestry expressed a desire for an updated directory. Charles responded that he would request that temporary directories be printed from the CDM-Plus membership database.
Summer Schedule and Summer Plans: Charles shared his plans for the summer, which include officiating the wedding of Glenda Keith’s daughter, to take place in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, during the weekend of June 14. He also plans to take vacation at the end of July.
THE VISION OF THE FUTURE
Shared Ministry: Harry reported that the Study Committee will be meeting in the upcoming week, having waited until after Holy Week and Easter to focus on Shared Ministry. He indicated that the Vestry could expect a report at the next meeting.
DECISIONS
Vestry Resolution of Thanks: Jerry and Sandy Wood – Nell moved that the Vestry adopt the Resolution to acknowledge the Jerry Wood Annuity. Sam seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Nancy distributed a report of bank balances and expenses as of February 29 and, once again, reported that more comprehensive and accurate reports are expected to be available in the future with the new software.
WARDEN’S REPORT
Keith reported that Harry, Judy, and he met to draft a new contract for our priest and that the proposed contract has been given to Charles for his review and consideration. Keith also reminded the Vestry that $4,300 was still owed to Charles to cover his expenses in relocating to Knoxville.
OTHER
Harry requested the Vestry’s thoughts about his proposal for designation of a “Vestry Person of the Day” who would be responsible for ensuring the security of the Church after Sunday services and for verifying that all necessary hospitality and other functions are carried out. It was agreed that the “designated collection counters” should serve as the “Vestry Person of the Day” as well.
The next meeting of the Vestry is scheduled to be held at the church at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16.
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Nancy J. Griffith, Serving As Acting Clerk for Meeting
