Approved Vestry Minutes 4-20-2010

Worship George Packer

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. Members present:  Carol Barker, Dennis Bartz, Kendall Childs, Kathie Clark, Charlotte Doctor, Stu Finke, Greg Michael, George Packer, Bruce Roe, Annelie Rugg, Kathy Carlson, and RoseAnn Zarasua.

Minutes Annelie Rugg

March minutes approved as amended

Financial update         RoseAnn Zarasua

On the Statement of Activities, expenses are front-loaded so as time passes the budget aligns itself. Pledges, cash, income and expenses are in good shape.

Dennis asked how much money was raised for Rand’s sabbatical. Answer: just over $3,000. George asked where the rebate from DWP goes in the balance sheet. RoseAnn says it will go into income according to accounting practices (but she wasn’t positive exactly where it would appear). A special “Thank You!” to George for all the hours he gave to install the “green” lights and get the LA DWP rebate. The check came in last week!

Facilities      Dennis Bartz

The invoices from Waste Management keep coming in. We need to get them to Dauna Packer. Dennis has asked Gary Moyer to give us an estimate on upgrades to the women’s restroom and, as a backup (if we have leftover funds), the men’s restroom. We have $10,000 in our budget to spend on this and have three primary needs, but won’t have enough to cover all three so have to choose. Agreed that we need to focus on the restrooms (ties in with the “welcoming church”).Suggestions for the restroom upgrades:

• Women’s restroom: Full-length mirror in the women’s restroom.
• Lower hall: Consider getting a second LA DWP grant to install lighting.
• Kitchen: dishwasher is required and current one needs replacing; may use the rebate program for this as well.
• Front monument: take the bush away and expand lettering on the monument to improve visibility.
• Church lockup is the MC’s responsibility, but we need to provide backup and do the final check each Sunday once everyone is gone (around 12:30-1pm). A sign-up sheet was passed around and all slots were filled. The request was made for a checklist so we don’t forget any important step. Instructions: Start in the Preschool area (south end) and lock the doors from the INSIDE because our key doesn’t work here. (Don’t worry about the deadbolt.). Our key works for the upper hall and upper restrooms, the shed, the family center and the church. Remember to also set the alarm in the four alarm locations (Kitchen, upper hall, sanctuary, and family center.) Note that Food Pantry takes care of their area, and Monica likes to lock the upper hall, so if it’s locked, assume she has alarmed it.

· Mulch was spread on the “back forty” for $800 (a steal!). We’ll need to kill the weeds monthly.

Welcoming church         George Packer

George reviewed how things are going and what the committee has planned. The table is working well; it draws people out, especially if we mention it in the service. The clergy should mention the table and the free gift during announcements. Planning on monument signage to replace the fallen bulletin board. Maps in the parking lots. Signage in general, e.g., “Sunday school this way -”. People parking on the street don’t know where the office is etc. Committee meets again in two weeks, and also gave a presentation to the Daughters of the King. This will be a congregation-wide activity, not just limited to the committee! Remember that the “welcoming” church is one that gets people involved in the church; we’re already “friendly”, but we need to work on this next step!

Vestry retreat issues   Carol Barker

        We came up with a whole list of projects and initiatives to work on, but will still need people to sign up to cover these things. We have volunteers for the following:

• Garden: Elizabeth Hart
• Publicity/press officer: To be filled. Ask Tom Siebert?
• Banners/billboards for Fall Alpha: George Packer
• Bulletin Board/Kiosk: Dennis Bartz (construction), Bruce Roe (materials), Stu Finke
• Prayer cards for Food Pantry: Charlotte Doctor
• Social service training: Annelie Rugg
• Community service programs: Kathy Carlson; schools require this  work with them.
• Pre-school across the street: Kathy Carlson
• Natural Church Development survey (will happen in July): Greg Michael
• 3 Colors of Spirituality: Kendall Childs
• Path into the church: Charlotte Doctor
• Small Groups  Head/Heart/Hands: Charlotte Doctor
• Web page: Penny Yost? Annelie Rugg. Some comments about the website: The Fountains are open to a larger group and need more participation. They really need a committee to maintain the full site (members taking responsibility for certain sections.) Goal: make the web page more user friendly. Agreed the Vestry needs to become familiar with our own website, and that there is a real need to develop protocols/work flows for how information is submitted to be included on the site. Right now, it all has to go through the Fountains and there’s too much for them to handle.

For some (many?) of these issues, we’d like to also tap into expertise outside the vestry, invite participation from the parishioners. E.g., does anyone have press skills? It was suggested we invite people during Announcements at well attended services (Pentecost, Baptisms) to volunteer their expertise to consult with us. Just ask for advice, so people don’t feel they’re committing to too much. Bruce agreed to do the 10am service, and George to do the 8am service. George also agreed to write something for the bulletin. We will need to do this more than one Sunday in a row.

Question was raised about the status of the grant for the Food Pantry. We’re the only church that asked the Diocese for funds, so the chances are good, but we will hear in June  application has to go through due process. With regard to placing prayer cards in the Pantry need something that’s ecumenical. There are plans to redo the entry wall with “Prayer Heals”. So, let’s hold off on prayer cards for now.

A lot of other things were discussed. If anyone has ideas, bring them up in future Vestry meetings!

Reminder about schedule for Vestry meetings (see dates on the Yahoo Group calendar): 3^rd Tuesday of the month through July, no meeting in August, then 2^nd Sunday from September  December.

Audit Committee/ Guideline updates      RoseAnn

Bill Prescott prefers to be on the finance committee, so we still need one more person here. This is easier for people with time in the day (retirees, self-employed). Who? Chuck did a great job last year. George will tackle this soon. It should go pretty quick. Question was raised as to how long to keep church records; RoseAnn wasn’t sure.

Bible study for the Vestry      George/Greg

George found “The Gospel in Life”, which is an 8-week course of 45-60 minutes work each week (video plus book). It’s put together by Tim Keller, a Presbyterian pastor in New York. It’s about “What can we do now?” We watched the first video segment (about 10 minutes) and all agreed it was worth trying. We’ll start next month (May meeting) and plan to spend about 1/3 of our time on this. George will get the books and we can pay him back ($9/book).

Once around the room

Annelie will organize a meeting of those interested in bringing families together to do public service.

Kathie told about how “The City” came into her life today  a man had left the Food Pantry with a bouquet, and returned with it to give to Monica.

Kendall reported that the concert of duets with her sister went really well. She asked for prayer for one of her students whose father had just committed suicide.

Stu gave thanks to God for Anne making it to Las Vegas.

Greg thanked Kathie Clark for joining us and thanked George for finding the gospel series for the Vestry.

Charlotte reported that the small groups that started in the fall are winding down. Laura Armstrong is eager to start another daytime group. Lynn Klein’s group will likely continue. Anyone interested in the 3 Colors of Spirituality, to do in the church as a whole? The Daughters of the King are working with St. Benedict’s Toolbox. This could be offered to the church at large, as well. Charlotte suggests moving towards being a nurturing church as well as friendly and welcoming. Charlotte and George will meet to work on training leaders for groups. The challenge for groups: How to be open, short and interesting? How to be able to adapt? How to build into a structure?

?? will be in charge of Vestry worship next month.

Kendall & Patricia Childs-Birdsall had a concert of duets on April 18^th with music appropriate for the church year. Boude taped the concert. 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.