St. JULIANÕs EPISCOPAL CHURCH

VESTRY MEETING

JULY 17, 2007

 

The regular monthly meeting of the Vestry was held on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 7:30 PM.

 

Members Present:          2008                           2009                              2010

                                    Debra Harrington        Deidre Clines              Adrian Austin

                                    Pat McCue                  Leeman Dennis           Kerry Bartone

                                    Sue Murray                 Ken Gavranovic          Nancy Tallant

                        Also present were: Stewart Tabb, John Carden Š Treasurer & Linda Carden - Clerk

 

Stewart opened the meeting with a prayer.

 

Bible Meditation:  Stewart read verses from Mark 6 about dividing the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish among the multitude.  The meditation led to a long discussion about what St. JulianÕs can do to help the poor and the hungry. (See OUTREACH Š Helping the Needy section below for outcome.)

 

The Minutes of the June 26, 2007 Vestry meeting were approved, by Motion, with minor changes to the Action Table.

 

FINANCE

 

Vestry Finance Training

 

The Vestry Finance Workshop scheduled for July 15 was cancelled due to the unexpected resignation of the Diocese Financial Director.  John will work with Eleni Papadakis from the Diocese on content and scheduling of this training.

 

Monthly & YTD Financial Statements

 

John gave out the June financial statements (attached). Occasional accounts that show zero for the month were due to timing of bill payments.

 

Renewal of Mortgage (See attached documents)

 

John received a bill from Wachovia Bank today for almost $600,000, to pay off the remainder of our mortgage.  St. JulianÕs had not been notified previously that our 3-year mortgage was about to come due. Wachovia offered us a renewal mortgage for $593,094.69 at an increased fixed interest rate of 7.75%, a 2.25% increase over our current rate.  Increase in payments amounts to $863.93/mo. for a total of $5,183.58 for the 6 remaining months of this year. In addition, we will have to pay a $150 mortgage fee.  We must accept this offer within 15 days, and close within 30 days.

 

The Vestry voted unanimously to authorize any two of the three people who already have signing ability (John Carden, Julie Murray, and Janette Pierce) to sign the mortgage renewal with Wachovia Bank.

 

 

 

 

Request for $

 

Because of the increase in mortgage payments, there was discussion on whether we should use funds for new carpeting in the Gathering Space, classrooms, and adult education room; and for blinds for the parish hall.  Several generous vestry members offered to donate the necessary funds for these projects,

 

Carpet - Ken offered to pay for the $3,600. carpeting expense.

Blinds Š The ECW authorized donating $500, Deidre donated $200, and Leeman offered the remaining $100, for a total of $800, which should cover the cost of the blinds. Sharon Morton and Pat Flickinger are working on this project.  Debra also offered to help.

 

Financial Audit

 

John was told by Eleni Papadakis from the Diocese that because our yearly income is less than $400,000, we are not required to do a 3-year outside audit.  We can do one in house, but Stewart had suggested previously to table this until after the Vestry finance training. Stewart did ask that an Audit Committee be formed to conduct this audit during 2007.

 

Diocesan Pledge

 

We pledged $11,000 to the Diocese for 2007, which is approximately 5.4% of our 3-year average of revenue.  The Diocese has requested an increase to 10% of our 3-year average of $187,000, given in the Parochial Report, for a total pledge of $18,700.  After a discussion of just how much St. JulianÕs can afford, in light of our mortgage increase, the Vestry approved raising our pledge for 2008 to $11,500. We need to notify the Diocese by August 15.

 

Use of Building

 

Stewart tried to contact Homeschool Haven about their possible use of our facility.  They have not responded, so we assume they found another facility.

 

OTHER EVENTS

 

Annual Council Delegates

 

This will be a special Council because the Diocese is having its 100th anniversary.  It will be held at the Cathedral of St. Philip, starting November 11.  As Rector, Stewart will attend. Kerry Bartone and Adrian Austin were unanimously approved by the Vestry as delegates. 

 

Celebration of Ministry (Ministry Fair)

 

Tabled until next meeting.

 

OUTREACH

 

Newcomers

 

A luncheon for newcomers with the Vestry is stilled planned for August 19 after the 10:30 a.m. service.  Leeman and Pat Keck are organizing it, and Debra and Kerry have volunteered to help with the cooking, etc. 

 

Helping the Needy

 

Out of the meditation discussion came suggestions as to what St. JulianÕs could do to help people in need.  It was decided that our first effort should be to offer volunteers to help in a soup kitchen for a day.  Stewart and Pat know of two such kitchens in Atlanta.  Pat will contact either the Union Mission or one that his boss has helped at and ask for several possible dates when we could do this.  Pat will also organize this project.  Another suggestion was to donate clothes to homeless shelters, etc.  That will be looked into after we initiate the soup kitchen effort.

 

PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE

 

Three Vestry members have still not completed the on-line training. 

 

 

The next Vestry meeting will be held on August 21 at 7:30 p.m.

 

ACTION ITEMS/ASSIGNMENTS/DUE DATES:

 

 

DUE DATE

ACTION ITEM

ASSIGNED TO

1

Before 7/31

Sign Wachovia renewal mortgage

John, Julie M, Janette P.

2

Before 8/16

Close on Wachovia renewal mortgage

John, Julie M., Janette P.

3

8/19/07

Hold NewcomersÕ luncheon

Leeman

4

8/21/07

20 SomethingÕs Dinner Š Postcard asking for dates

Stewart

5

8/21/07

Contact soup kitchen(s) for dates to volunteer our help

Pat

6

Indefinite

Redesign Christian Education Program

Stewart

7

8/21/07

Provide update on completion of Sexual Abuse on-line training

Adrian

8

Indefinite

Develop & publish policies & procedures on sexual abuse

Vestry

9

8/21/07

Replace carpeting in Gathering Space, classrooms, adult ed. Room

Stewart, Ken

10

8/21/07

Obtain blinds for Parish Hall

Debra, Pat F. Sharon M.

11

8/21/07

Form Audit Committee for 2007 financial audit

John

12

8/21/07

Work with Eleni P. to establish date & content for Vestry Financial Training

John

13

After Vestry FinanceTraining

Perform 2007 financial audit

Audit Committee

 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m. with a Prayer led by Stewart.

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Linda T. Carden, Clerk 

August 21, 2007                                                                                             D:2007 VESTRY-7-17-07 Vestry Minutes.doc

                       

HOME