Monday, November 28, 2011

Monday, November 28, 2011

St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church

Bethesda, MD

Minutes of the Vestry Meeting

Present: Rev. Jeff MacKnight, Beth Cohn, Brian Berger, Cliff White, Eleanor Smith, Jackie Karlin, Mike Lackey, Rich Boss, Sterling North.

Opening Prayer. Eleanor led a devotional centered on the impact of faith on politics. We discussed the work of the Faith and Politics Institute and Eleanor read an excerpt from a sermon by a North Carolina priest, which focused on Christianity’s core message that challenges us to get out of our comfort zone.

Beth agreed to lead our devotional next month.

The minutes for the vestry meetings of September and October were approved by consensus.

Our next vestry meeting is Monday December 19th at 7:30 PM.

Rector’s Report. Jeff updated us on his intention to transition the landscaping work from Larry, our sexton, to a separate landscaping company. The net cost is nominally more, with the cost being offset with a reduction in Larry’s hours and salary, and the small difference to be paid by the Columbarium fund. Jeff noted that we are close to wrapping up a decision on a new HVAC contractor. Jeff reminded us of the fellowship event for new households, which Beth will host on Saturday December 10^th from 5-7.

St. Dunstan’s Vision. We welcomed Sue Carroll and Ray Donnelly, who were instrumental in the “Imagine St. Dunstan’s” discussions this fall. We considered a draft Vision statement drafted by Father Jeff and reviewed by the vestry on a few occasions this fall. We looked at the statement in the context of the Parish Survey of a year ago and the results of the Imagine St. Dunstan’s discussions. Although many themes emerged, we recognized a desire that our church be a “3^rd place” for its parishioners - the place where they most connect after home and work. Any Vision must identify and focus on the passions of our parish rather than trying to be all things to all people. Next steps are: 1) further work on the Vision statement via email and 2) January 7^th – a morning meeting of the Vestry to finalize the Vision.

Wardens’ Reports. Given our focus on the parish’s Vision, there were no formal reports this month.

Annual Giving Campaign. Cliff, Mike, and Rich reported on the campaign, which has focused on follow up calls the last month to parishioners who pledged last year, still attend, but have not yet finalized their pledge. We are grateful for the pledges received. Assuming these unconfirmed pledges come in at $32,000 this would be about $5,000 less than the preliminary operating budget Cliff has drafted for 2012.

Treasurer’s Report. Cliff distributed and reviewed the parish’s financial report, including the operating budget, designated funds, and Capital Campaign. Expenses year to date through October are on budget. Consistent with the pattern in prior years, we are currently behind on revenue per budget – by about $22,000 year to date through October - but typically the church receives a third of its revenues in the 4^th quarter of the year so we hope year end payments close the gap. Our financial condition continues to be fine and no significant issues were noted.

There being no further business for the good of the parish, we adjourned and we closed with a prayer.

Respectfully Submitted by Rich Boss

Monday, October 24, 2011

St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church

Bethesda, MD

Minutes of the Vestry Meeting

Present: Rev. Jeff MacKnight, Angela Ostrom, Beth Cohn, Brian Berger, Cliff White, Don Larrabee, Eleanor Smith, Jackie Karlin, Mike Lackey, Nils Overdahl, Rich Boss, Sterling North, Tim Nanof

Opening Prayer. Don led a devotional centered on the impact of faith and friendship in Congress. Don read a prayer by Peter Marshall, former chaplain of Congress. Our Congress increasingly appears partisan and this could be related to less focus by the members on getting to know each other personally and building relationships based on personal respect and in which “compromise” is not a dirty word. Eleanor agreed to continue the topic by leading a devotional next month on Faith & Values in politics.

Our next vestry meeting is Monday November 28^th at 7:30 PM.

Open Microphone Music Night. Clint Chamberlin. Clint Chamberlin presented an idea for the parish to host an open microphone ("Open Mic") night on periodic Saturday evenings. This would give musicians from St Dunstan’s and the community an opportunity to perform acoustic performances. It would be open to the general public and could serve as a fundraiser for various parish outreach ministries. The vestry endorsed the idea.

Rector’s Report. Jeff noted that the Christian Formation report drafted in the summer had been briefly posted on our website, but removed soon afterwards and broader parish discussions on the topic deferred. Christian Formation is an area we all recognize as critical to our parish – we are grateful for the energy, talents, and resources we have and will continue to pray about how we can all best support this ministry. Jeff also reported on attendance patterns. Although attendance is down a bit we have 18 new households this year and he and Nils are organizing a fellowship event for these new households.

Senior Warden’s Report. Inreach. Beth thanked Tom and Joan Henley for leading the Inreach ministry for the last 12 years. Inreach offers support to the sick and elderly of our parish who cannot attend services regularly. Inreach could also offer support to new Mothers, as we have seen other churches do. The Henleys have asked to rotate off this ministry and Martha Watson is working to identify new leaders and reaffirm the group’s mission.

Junior Warden’s Report. Brian updated the vestry on 1) work being done to replace the main front doors 2) proposals for iron railings along certain stairs 3) Manor Montessori School’s desire to install an awning over the school entrance.

Annual Giving Campaign. Mike, Rich, and Cliff reported on the campaign, which ran the last month and culminated in Consecration Sunday. We are grateful for the pledges received. Acknowledgments have been mailed to all pledgers and reminders have been sent to current members who have not yet pledged. Cliff reported that pledges were down some from the prior year.

Treasurer’s Report. Cliff distributed and reviewed the parish’s financial report, including the operating budget, designated funds, and Capital Campaign. Consistent with the pattern in prior years, we are currently behind year to date on revenues per budget but typically the church receives a third of its revenues in the 4^th quarter of the year. Our financial condition continues to be fine and no significant issues were noted.

There being no further business for the good of the parish, we adjourned and we closed with a prayer.

Respectfully Submitted by Rich Boss

Monday, September 26, 2011

St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church

Bethesda, MD

Minutes of the Vestry Meeting

Present: Rev. Jeff MacKnight, Beth Cohn, Brian Berger, Eleanor Smith, Nils Overdahl, Don Larrabee, Mike Lackey, Angela Ostrom, Jackie Karlin, Cliff White, Rich Boss.

Opening Prayer. Jackie led a devotional centered on A Course in Miracles, a series of three books written by Helen Schucman and William Thetford. We read an excerpt centered on the roles we all have as teachers, who set an example for others by what we do and how we live our lives.

Our next vestry meeting is Monday October 24^th at 7:30 PM.

Don Larrabee agreed to lead the opening prayer and reflection at the next vestry meeting.

The minutes for the vestry meeting of August 30^th were approved by consensus.

Rector’s Report. Jeff provided a brief overview of the organization of the Church and how decisions are made. He discussed the primary role the rector serves in personnel matters and the need from time to time to engage a search committee to assist in filling a staff position. The discussion was instructive with respect to changes to our Music ministry and our mutual goal to provide the best music resources for our parish.

Senior Warden’s Report. Visits to Parishes. We recently initiated a plan to have vestry members visit certain growing area churches to find what we can learn from them. Recently Angela visited Christ Church in Old Town Alexandria. It offers a variety of programs including visits to new mothers, 4:00 Sunday Music focused service, a variety of outreach programs both local and further afield (with particular emphasis on staffing the homeless shelter nearby once a month), and sponsorship of a jobs program and related English as a Second language (ESL) classes for the community. Services are at 9 and 11 with 10 as the program/education hour.

Junior Warden’s Report. Brian updated the vestry on work being done to paint the fellowship hall and foyer and to replace the foyer ceiling. He is seeking bids on the following: 1) replacing the main front doors (seeking bid from Marvin Windows and Doors), 2) renovating upstairs bathrooms and 3) installing awnings for the school entrance. Brian, Cliff, and Rich have agreed to work together to help Jeff address the difficulty in managing the HVAC contractors for repair and maintenance work.

Christian Formation Task Force. As a follow up to the report issued earlier in the summer, we discussed plans to discuss the report with the Parish Sunday October 23^rd after church, which coincides with a pancake breakfast organized by the youth.

A Vision for St Dunstan’s. Father Jeff shared an outline of his vision for the parish over the coming years. The “Imagine St Dunstan’s” meetings at Terrific Tuesday and at the 10:15 service on October 2^nd are further ways we can all explore and articulate our vision and then identify specific ways to live out the vision.

Outreach. Elin Botha had distributed to the vestry a proposal to provide a $2,000 donation to Samaritan Ministry. The proposal was approved by consensus.

There being no further business for the good of the parish, we adjourned and we closed with a prayer.

Respectfully Submitted by Rich Boss

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church

Bethesda, MD

Minutes of the Vestry Meeting

Present: Rev. Jeff MacKnight, Beth Cohn, Brian Berger, Eleanor Smith, Sterling North, Don Larrabee, Mike Lackey, Tim Nanof, Jackie Karlin, Cliff White, Rich Boss.

Opening Prayer. Rich led a devotional centered on the Education for Ministry (Episcopal study program) “PACT” concept that our “Position” (views) is based on the combination of “Action” (personal experiences), “Culture” (the society in which we live) and “Tradition” (the faith in which we have been brought up). These influences combine to inform our opinions and are important to understand as we seek to respect the views of others.

Our next vestry meeting is Monday September 26^th at 7:30 PM.

Jackie Karlin agreed to lead the opening prayer and reflection at the next vestry meeting.

The minutes for the vestry meeting of July 11th were approved by consensus.

Rector’s Report. Jeff asked us all to consider the needs to fill some of the children’s and youth leadership positions for the coming program year and to contact Jeff, Bettianne, or Rev. Rob if interested or we know of others that could serve.

The church will receive an $85,000 gift from the charitable remainder trust of Anne Wood. Its use will be decided at future vestry meetings. The vestry is grateful to the Anvil Society for its encouragement of planned giving and is thankful for parishioners such as Anne Wood who have been called to give through their estates.

Senior Warden’s Report. Visits to Parishes. We recently initiated a plan to have vestry members visit certain area churches to find what we can learn from them. Recently Rich visited Bradley Presbyterian Church. The church shares its space with a synagogue. The Church is a bit bigger – it had about 150 at the service in late August. Rich noted that it was a very friendly church and there were a few differences in worship style including: combined 1 service in the summer, announcements occur right after opening hymn, Peace at the very end of service, communion occurs less frequently, 4 Greeters/Ushers available from beginning to end of the service, a large number (say 12) of personal prayers/thanks voiced during “Concerns/Celebrations” which is akin to Prayers of the People. Others will present in the months following (Beth to send out a list as a reminder).

Junior Warden’s Report. Brian updated the vestry on work being done to paint the fellowship hall and foyer and to replace the foyer ceiling. He is seeking bids to replace the main exterior doors and to renovate the bathrooms.

Interim report of the Christian Formation Task Force. As a follow up to the report issued earlier in the summer, we discussed plans for the Middle School class, which Rev Rob will lead, with help from parents.

Treasurer’s Report. Cliff distributed and reviewed the parish’s financial report, including the operating budget, designated funds, and Capital Campaign. Our financial condition continues to be fine and no significant issues were noted. Cliff proposed that the Jack Cardon bequest be used as follows: $15,000 for entrance hall renovations and $10,000 for Outreach including $4,000 for La Resurrection School in Haiti through December 2011 at $1,000/month. The proposal was approved.

Executive Session. With Jeff’s encouragement, the vestry held an executive session to discuss a personnel matter.

There being no further business for the good of the parish, we adjourned and we closed with a prayer.

Respectfully Submitted by Rich Boss