St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church Vestry Meeting Minutes

March  18, 2008

Vestry Members in attendance:  Father Michael Richardson, Laurie Gough, Kandy Halstead, Laurie Landry, Jerry Grabowski, Melissa Ball, and Mike Shoemaker

Clerk:  Laurie Landry

Guests:  Barb McNish and Mary Lou Fenton

Documents disseminated:  Feb 17 2008 minutes, meeting agenda, Brookwood Branches newsletter (M.L. Fenton), Proposal to Use St. Matthew’s Facility for Wellspring Learning Community (M.L. Fenton), Wellspring Community Vision and Strategy Document (M.L. Fenton), St. Matthew’s Ministry Plan 2008 (revised March ’08, Mike Shoemaker), St. Matthew’s Analysis of Revenues and Expenses-Dec 2007-YtD-Through Dev 2007 (Mike Shoemaker), 2007 Stewardship and Financial Information of the Reporting Congregation (Fr. Michael), 2007 Report of Episcopal Congregations and Missions According to the Canons I.6, I.7 and I.17 (Parochial Report, Fr. Michael).

6:30 p.m. Eucharist

1. Meeting called to order at 7:15 p.m.; Fr. Michael opened with prayer.

2. Father Michael’s report:

1. Dixie Echolm had a stroke the previous week; currently in rehabilitation; our prayers go out to Rollyn and Dixie.
2. Holy week services:  Wednesday 9 am and 7 pm, Thursday 7 pm Maundy Thursday service, Friday noon Stations of the Cross and 7 pm Tenebrae, Saturday 7 pm The Great Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday 7:30 am, 9 am and 11 am. 
3. Saturday before Easter filling eggs, planting flowers, Sunday 10 am egg hunt.
4. Fr. Michael will be in his office the week after Easter.
5. Red vestments borrowed from St. Stephens; our many thanks to them for this!
6. Vestry conference will be April 5, 8:30 am at Good Shepherd.
7. Fr. Michael attended the leadership conference in St. Louis in February; it was excellent and he will be bringing some of the information he learned from it to us over the next few months, especially on the topic of future-casting.

3. February 2008 Minutes.  Melissa Ball moved to approve minutes as they stand.  Motion passed.

4. Presentation by Mary Lou Fenton re:  Proposal to use St. Matthew’s Facility for Wellspring Learning Community for six weeks this coming summer.

1. Mary Lou was introduced by Barb McNish, and together they related their experiences trying to find programs and opportunities for their own developmentally delayed children.  There is a very great need for support and services for these individuals and families in Colorado.
2. Wellspring’s overarching plan is to eventually develop and build a residence and employment community for the enhancement of life for adults with disabilities, including a campus with housing and work opportunities.
3. For now, the immediate goal is to start a pilot program this summer to enable Wellspring to begin to organize and work out their learning and business strategies, structure and task analysis.  This will have the immediate effect of helping the participants develop job skills (up to eight high-functioning youth, ages 16-23) and helping their fund-raising goals by demonstrating organization, effort, and achievement in their program.
4. 1-2 rooms needed for six weeks, possibly a kitchen area, 1 day per week.
5. The pilot program planned for this summer will be assembling gift baskets.
6. Insurance options being investigated; do not look like they will be an obstacle.
7. Staffed by one special education teacher, Mary Lou and one other volunteer
8. See proposal for further details.
9. All staff would take the Safeguarding God’s Children workshop.

5. Parochial Report reviewed by Fr. Michael.

1. p. 2  Membership and attendance figures discussed.  Still monitoring for what is probably a high number for the Members Reported Last Year (403).
2. P. 3  Stewardship and Financial Information of the Reporting Congregation reviewed by Mike S.  The figures look good for the upcoming refinancing in November.  The budget and Parochial Report will serve as our presentation to the bank.
3. P. 4  Report Supplement reviewed by Fr. Michael.  This part of the report shows how much of our funds are restricted and parish cooperation with the Diocese’s request for support.
4. P. 5 Addendum, an explanation of the break down of our restricted funds, including pledge money restricted for the mortgage.
5. P. 6  Supplementary data on Restricted Giving; computation of our Diocesan Pledge.
6. P. 7  2008 Combined Pledge Form.
7. P. 8  Personnel Report; 3 corrections to be made to address info.

-  Motion by Laurie Gough to accept the Parochial Report as it stands, pending the minor corrections to Vestry member addresses.  Motion passed.

6. Sr. Warden’s report, Kandy Halstead.

1. Discussion about Vestry Focus Area Chart, aligning Vestry members in small groups with the three aspects of the Diocese and St. Matt’s mission statements:  Beacon, Journey and Servanthood.   Small groups can meet as a committee to focus on details of ministries in each area.  We also see this organization as helpful to members of the congregation.  Next steps are to present the chart to the congregation and to the various ministries in the parish to allow everyone to choose where/how they see their ministry fitting into the mission parameters.  We will also revisit our mission statement.
2. Kandy will contact Vestry members not present at this meeting to ask them about their assessment of the Focus Area Chart.
3. Our website is updated and beautiful…thank you Clay Hubbs!  The chart can be published on the website.

7. Kandy Halstead discussed a new small group that is forming around Cursillo, a faith-deepening community experience that several of our parishioners have done.  The group can include those who have been through Cursillo and those who are interested but have not taken the program, which is a 3-day retreat.  Kandy will organize an informational talk about the group between services some upcoming Sunday.

8. Newcomer’s Wine and Cheese will be May 16 at 7 p.m..  Hosted by the Fellowship Committee.

9. There will be two baptisms soon after Easter, at least one the Sunday right after Easter.

10.   Melissa will open the church for the early service on Easter.

11.  Fr. Michael is sending in the application information for Quest, the teen retreat at Frontier Ranch.  Also, time to send in applications for Trinity Ranch summer camps.  Adults need to get their volunteer work applications in by end of this week (Holy Week).

12. Confirmation will be April 26, 10 am at St. John’s Cathedral.  Fr. Michael will be teaching the confirmation class with one other adult volunteer, possibly Tom Clark.  Whit G. and Laurie G. also both offered to assist if needed.

13. Pastoral care.  Jo Anne Payne is still suffering with chronic back problems which are worsening.  Christine G. is recovering from shingles and still also dealing with chronic pain.  Our prayers go out to both Jo Anne and Christine.

14. Stewardship report, Mike Shoemaker.  Follow-up calls identified pledgers for two of the unidentifiable cards.

15. Review of the Analysis of Revenues and Expenses – Dec 2007,  Mike Shoemaker. 

1. Explained how the 2008 budget was determined based upon 2007 budget and actual revenue.  Also reviewed the 2005 & 2006 revenues and expenses to show the dramatic improvement in our finances over the past few years.  Approximately $35-40k cash on hand can be transferred to a money market account to earn greater interest.

16.  Jr. Warden’s report, Whit Greene.

1. Check received for the roof work, which will start the first week in April and will take approximately 3 weeks.
2. Deck handrail to be installed as soon as the ground thaws.  Deck construction did not allow for rails to be attached to the deck, so posts need to be sunk into the ground.

17. Laurie Gough moved that we appoint Clay Hubbs and Brandon Stewart each to two-year terms on the Vestry as presented to the congregation on Sunday March 16 2008 during the services.  Motion passed.

18.  Jerry Grabowski moved to adjourn.  Motion passed.  Meeting closed 9:25 pm.