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Vestry Minutes December 2024

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Wayne, PA                                                                                                                             Minutes from the Vestry Meeting – December 16, 2024

 

In Attendance: Neal Fulton, Christopher Hart, Kathy Buckley, Scott Scheidt, Dave Lander, Bob Mickel, Tom Kelleher, Edith Helms, Linda Noll

 

Call to Order: 6:35p

 

Radnor Township Police Visit

·       Services Offered

o   Threat Assessment – Security analysis of Church and buildings – Will provide recommendations to improve security and readiness

o   Classes

§  First Aid – to include CPR and AED training (certification good for 2 years)

§  Stop the Bleed training

§  De-escalation and Run/Hide/Fight training

Ø  Vera (Chief Secretary) is the contact to schedule training classes

o   Next steps – Bob to coordinate with Officer Jamie to schedule walk-through assessment of St. Mary’s

 

Worship/Reflection: (Neal Fulton)

·       Gospel Reading – Luke 3:7-18

 

Approval of Minutes: (Elizabeth Morrill)

·       Minutes from the Vestry meeting of November 18, 2024, were approved by unanimous vote.

 

Treasurer’s Report: (Craig Hoogstraten)

·       Revenue Budget – $429,000 in total revenue to date. Over budget in terms of revenue by $4,500. Pledges are down this year by $8,000 as of today.

·       Expense Budget – We are $16,500 over plan. This was driven in part by the transition, as well as utilities and insurance costs.

·       Investments – Cannot say at this time whether we will need another investment withdrawal. This will depend on incoming pledges received through the end of December.

·       2025 Budget – Proposed a resolution for a budget of $495,840 – Approved by unanimous vote.

 

Vestry Commissions Updates

Invite/Welcome/Connect (Linda Noll)

·       Welcome Bags – Will be updated to include jams from the Food Festival as well as a message from Fr. Connor.

Worship & Diocese: (Christopher Hart)

·       We were approved for a grant of $30,000 from the Diocese (for infrastructure expenses – fire exit and roof repairs in the parish hall).

Buildings & Grounds: (Bob Mickel)

·       New Project:

o   Waterline from Lancaster Avenue to St. Mary’s broke.

§  Horn Plumbing will do a patch next week (price TBD).

§  AQUA will repair the line after the new year (they will cover the cost).

·       Continuing Project:

o   Security improvements – One Touch will complete the new door locking system after the new year.

Christian Formation: (Edith Helms)

·       Adults:

o   Advent challenge – The Gospel of Luke (Read one chapter of Luke per day for the 24 days during Advent)

o   Quiet Day – December 6th was sparsely attended (6 people)

o   Anatomy of Peace – January (to be led by Fr. Conor)

o   Book of Common Prayer – February (to be led by Bridget N.)

·       Children:

o   Children will perform ‘The Friendly Beasts’ during the December 22nd service

o   Christmas pageant will be performed at the Family service at 4:00p on December 24th

Media & Communications: (Tom Kelleher)

·       Christmas cards were mailed out to the congregation.

·       New vestry poster is now hanging in the hallway of the parish hall.

·       Live Stream – Tom will be training 3 new live streamers.

·       Tom will be putting together a new video reel for the front of the website.

·       Tom will post clips from our services and stewardship talks to the website, along with a short video message from Fr. Connor with a stewardship focus.

Outreach: (Scott Scheidt)

·       St. Mary’s in Chester – ‘White Gifts’ were delivered on December 7th

·       St. Gabriel’s meal bags are underway – Will be delivered on December 21st

·       Little Free Pantry storage was moved.

o   Liberti is interested in helping stock the Free Pantry.

·       Outreach Committee planning will take place after the new year.

Stewardship: (Elizabeth Morrill)

·       2025 Pledge drive status: 64 pledges to date for a total of $268,000 – with a goal of $300,000.

·       Stewardship call-to-action message will be included in eChimes/bulletin through the New Year.

·       Vestry volunteers will be making calls to 2024 donors who have yet to pledge for 2025.

Pastoral Care (Linda Noll)

·       Christmas cards were sent to those on the pastoral care list (8 people total).

·       Moving forward Linda will send out a card every month – for a holiday or simply a message of care/cheer.

 

Meeting adjourned 8:00p

 

Next Vestry Meeting – Monday, January 20th at 6:30p

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