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The Vestry met on Monday, April 27. After an opening prayer, the Vestry reviewed the March Minutes, which were accepted as presented.
The Treasurer Report came from the Finance Committee with a recommendation to accept, which the Vestry did. Among the good news in that report is pledge payments are at 96%, so thank you to all who generously support the parish. The Finance Committee also recommended the Vestry rescind the addition of a $1500 budget line item for kitchen supplies, with the explanation that kitchen supplies were taken into consideration in the $3,000 under Hospitality. The Vestry voted according to the Finance Committee recommendation. At the end of the finance portion of the meeting, the Vestry resolved to hold a church luncheon in the near future to say Thank You to Dr. Karl Wehner for his faithful service as Treasurer. Watch for more details about that, along with an invitation to attend.
The Property Committee had several items, including a review of the maintenance request workflow, which is that requests get submitted to Andrew Gutierrez, the Parish Administrator, who routes them to the Sextons if they can be handled in house. Larger requests are sent to Jr. Warden Josh Moore to be taken up by the Property Committee. There was discussion about how to program thermostats to better control HVAC usage. Also discussed was the possibility of installing a separate HVAC unit for the kitchen. Fr. Matt will contact our HVAC service contractor to discuss those items and will report back to the Vestry. As you might imagine, the elevator was an item of discussion, since it seems to be back in a pattern of going out of service when we need it. Repairs were freshly made on Monday afternoon, so the elevator is back in service and will be watched closely. Another discussion item was the need for some refurbishment of woodwork in the church, a project that will be referred to the Property Committee for assessment and recommendations about how to proceed.
In the area of parish ministries, Fr. Matt reported on some items related to worship, including plans for Christmas Eve; an outdoor service on May 10, Rogation Sunday; the upcoming Bishop’s Visitation; the summer Choir sabbatical; and the challenge of finding supply clergy on Sundays when he is out of town. Sr. Warden Don Dunbar, wearing his Outreach Commission hat, reported on the current status of our administration of the flood relief grant from Episcopal Relief and Development. Lynn Sonnenberg, who is the Vestry Liaison to the Emmanuel School of Fine Arts, gave an update on plans and preparations for the ESoFA block party on May 3 from 3-9 p.m. Fr. Matt showed the Vestry some new communication features, including a new interactive calendar on the website, as well as Church News updates by our roving reporter, The Church Mouse. Both of those items can be seen on the website or the church app, and can also be subscribed to, so there’s no reason to ever not know what’s happening at Emmanuel.
The meeting went beyond the intended 90 minutes, but there was much to discuss, so be sure to say Thank You to those who serve faithfully on the Vestry.
