Vestry Meeting Minutes

May 13, 2009

Vestry Present: Ted Guilford, Beverly Hill, C.A. Wallin, Virginia Helms, Mary Lou Layne, Chuck Harrill,  Bob Underwood, Carolina Villa,  and Carl Beckett, Michael Cobb

Staff Present:  Dick Warner, Priest; Becky Underwood, Vestry Clerk; Bonnie Yeakey, Treasurer

Devotional: Wednesday night Eucharist

Treasurer’s report: Bonnie shared budget reports that had been sent to vestry members through e-mail prior to the meeting. Carl Beckett asked why funds were transferred from the Capital fund to the General fund. Bonnie said the funds were not actually moved, but were moved on paper only. Carl also said he felt that the reports used at the Parish meeting following Sunday’s worship service were confusing and should not have been distributed to the congregants before they were reviewed by the Vestry. He said if the reports were done on an excel spreadsheet they would have been easier to understand. Ted Guilford said he would make sure future financial reports are clearer. Michael Cobb said he also feels the vestry should have an opportunity to review reports before passing them out to the congregation. Reporting on financials to the congregation was approved by the vestry, but the reports were not shared prior to presenting them to the congregation. Chuck Harrill said the report was an effort to communicate to the congregation that we are currently lagging behind on our building fund pledges and felt Ted’s report was a gallant effort to communicate this information. Bonnie and Ted said the reporting system thru ACS is limited and they are working to make the reports more accurate.

Approval of Jan. minutes:  Virginia made a motion to accept as corrected, misspelled words and the term Minister describing Dick Warner instead of Priest. Becky Underwood has been using Minister to describe Dick and he asked that we refer to him as Priest and not Minister stating that we are all ministers, but not all Priests. Becky will make the corrections.

Property development:  Ted Guilford reported that we have spoken with several banks and are waiting on interest rate quotes and approvals. We will be submitting building plans to New Hanover County this month for the bldg. permit. The permit will be good for 6 months.

Jr. Warden’s report - C.A. Wallin: C.A. asked if we could leave our chairs and tables setup this summer at the School instead of setting up and taking down each week. Chuck Harrill said he will ask the principle of the school and advise the Vestry.

C.A. also reminded the Vestry that the music stands, at the school, must be placed back on the rack following our Sunday morning worship service. The tables we use also need to be returned to their original location.

C.A. said the doors on our garage, at the property, are difficult to open and close and are very difficult to lock as well as being dangerous. He received a quote for new doors. They are $2,370 plus $180 for taking them down. The trim around the doors are also rotted and C.A. said he could replace the trim for approx. $400. Bob Underwood asked what our future purpose is for that building. C.A. said it will be used for storage. We have $1,500 in our capital fund for repairs. We will be spending a portion of that money on air conditioning repair. Carl asked if we could replace just one door. Consensus was that we will replace the doors at a later date due to not enough funds at this time.

Beverly Hill asked what our plans are for the mobile home being vacated by the renter. Chuck Harrill said we probably will not be able to sell it due to most Counties will not allow old trailers to be moved onto properties. He said we will try to get rid of it at as little expense to us as possible. We should not expect to make money on it.

Dick’s comments: Dick said we could possibly have 200 people for the Bishop’s visit. He proposed a new layout for chairs. He would like for the communicants and families to sit to the right and left with family nametags indicating reserved seating. He said Ushers will be needed. Chalice and cruets need to be carried over from Chapel for the visit. All vestry members need to be there at 9:00 am to help with setup and greeting.  Ted mentioned we do not have enough prayer books so bring some from home if you have some. Dick purchased 16 prayer books out of his discretionary fund, for the communicants. He mentioned we will also need a holder for the Bishop’s staff. There will be a party at the Myrtle Grove property following the service. Therefore, food for party needs to be planned and chairs will need to be transported and setup at the chapel following the service.

Dick said he and Andy Atkinson discussed the weekend we have planned at Trinity Center and they would like for the focus to be on prayer.

Dick said he thinks the worship booklets we have been using, instead of the prayer books, are very limiting. He asked the vestry to consider going back to using the prayer books. Michael Cobb asked if the booklets are helpful to newcomers. Mary Lou Layne felt that they are helpful to newcomers. Virginia Helms stated that she likes the permanence of the prayer books and feels they send a good message. Ted Guilford said he also feels the booklets limit our service options. Carl Beckett said the newcomers committee are sitting with visitors and helping them with the prayer books. He made a motion to do away with the booklets and use the prayer books. Ted Guilford seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Dick is excited about the confirmations and said it is the biggest group he has ever had.  He asked the vestry to call the Star News and have them run an article about the Bishop’s visit. Bob Underwood agreed to do this and Dick said he would send Bob a write-up for the paper.

Andy’s comments:  Andy was absent.

Sr. Warden’s report - Chuck Harrill:   Chuck said he will e-mail our bylaws to the vestry this week for review.

Carl Beckett made a motion to reimburse Dick for the 16 prayer books he purchased for the communicants. Michael Cobb seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Chuck said the Diocesan Standing Committee will want to see our long term plan before approving our building plans. He said we need to appoint a committee to work on a 1 yr. and 5 yr. plan. We had one done in 2005 that needs to be updated. Harold Layne worked on that plan. Mary Lou Layne said she would ask Harold if he would like to chair this committee.

Chuck reported that our renter will be moving out of the trailer, on our property, this month and we will need to start doing upkeep on the grounds. C.A. Wallin said that we will need to purchase a lawn mower and eventually we will need a tractor for grading the new parking lot. He suggested we purchase a tractor that will be able to do the grading as well as cut the grass. He received a quote for this type tractor and it would be approx. $10,000. A standard lawn mower, without grading capability would cost around $3,000.  Mary Lou Layne made a motion to buy the 3k mower. Bob Underwood seconded the motion. Ted Guilford suggested we may need a larger mower due to the large size of our property. The larger one would be around $7, ooo. C.A. will get prices on a 48“ and 54” mower and report back.

Darrell Johnson agreed to present our building plans to the standing committee. Ted and Chuck will help with this as well.  

Chuck mentioned we may need a defibrillator when we build a new bldg. Becky Underwood gave him the name of a lady who sales them.

Betty Spitzer and Linda Lashley are co-chairing the Parish Life committee now. Claudia Bennett will assist them.

Virginia Helms mentioned she would like for us to get started on the outdoor chapel. She said cement seats will run between $40 - $60. She would like to work toward setting it up this fall. The other Vestry members were in agreement.

Michael Cobb mentioned he would like for us to offer a book study or service similar to the Lenten service he offered during Lent. He will do a survey to find out what people would be interested in, time place and needs. He will generate the survey and send it out to the vestry for review before presenting it to the congregation.

O ld Business: None

New Business:  Bob Underwood mentioned he sees a deficiency in our fund raising efforts. The other Vestry members agreed that we need more fund raisers. Discussion was that our recent yard sale was a big success and that our social events also bring in additional funds and people, like the recent Saturday night Hoedown and pig picking. Also discussed was that the Men’s fellowship also does fund raising. It was agreed that we should be doing some type of fund raising monthly and a couple large fund raisers per year. We probably need a committee and chairman to head up our efforts.  Chuck will contact the Diocese to see if they have a fund raising guru who would help us get organized and/or make suggestions.

C.A. Wallin mentioned that he would like to see us be more proactive with our visitors, possibly asking them to take on a job or task within the Church. He feels if we get them “plugged in” they will be more likely to join the Church. Unless they are from out of town, they are looking for a local Church and a connection with other Christians. The discussion was that we do have a Newcomers committee who are greeting visitors, giving them literature and offering Supper Club info. as well as following up with them. The next step may be to give them a job in the Church.

Closing Prayer:  Lord’s Prayer

Adjourn:  Chuck Harrill, Sr. Warden