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