Holy Spirit Vestry Minutes Monday, January 11, 2016


Holy Spirit Vestry Minutes Monday, January 11, 2016...

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Holy Spirit Vestry Minutes Monday, January 11, 2016

PRESENT: Margaret Borg, Mark Dvarishkis, Scott Jourdonnais, Carla Mettling, Paul Polzin, Karen Shelly, Ann Suter, Lance Collister, Rev. Terri Ann Grotzinger, Jeannie Warner, Julie Benson, Candice Lindsay, Kathy Swannack Excused: Bob Wattenberg 1) Lance – Prayer 2) Terri – Spiritual Reflection: What stood out in 2015? a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i) j)

Parking Lot Myanmar Energy (good energy from the congregation) Pastoral Care Taking a different approach with Stewardship. Using the idea of deficit spending. Compline Vestry accomplishments Getting coffee hour under control Butterfly Grants Camp Marshall

3) Mark – Administration/Business Matters – Consent Agenda a) Last meeting a motion was made to adopt a policy (if a policy did not already exist) to liquidate stock upon receipt. The motion was seconded and approved. This event was not captured in the minutes. b) Motion to approve the Consent Agenda Items; Seconded; Motion Passed 4) Terri – Parishioners’ concerns & correspondence a) Newcomers: i) Paul and Marjorie Robinson ii) Charles Culver iii) William Matross Newcomers tend to not come into the parish hall for coffee hour. Perhaps the vestry can make a point to ask a newcomer to join them for coffee hour. b) Tom Adams died about a week ago of a heart attack. Service will be held at home. Terri has been asked to attend. c) No correspondence at this time. 5) Candice – Finances a) The financial statements were reviewed and items of significance were highlighted. Motion to approve the Treasurer’s report for later audit; Seconded; Motion Passed b) 2016 Budget 1

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Terri asked for clarification on the $4,500.00 for Advertising. This figure is what is requested for advertising which includes radio advertising. ii) The 2016 budget shows a $66,554 operating deficit, which becomes 11,554 when you subtract the Moser money. iii) Motion to approve the 2016 Budget; Seconded; Motion Passed iv) The 2016 budget will go into the Sunday bulletin for January 24, 2016 to give parishioners time to read it before the Annual Meeting on January 31, 2016. v) It is not common to change the budget after the Annual Meeting, but if it is necessary it can be done. Usually the Annual Meeting is an opportunity to explain the already approved budget. b) Stewardship – The final numbers for our stewardship campaign were reviewed. $354,430.65 is the pledge total for 2016, with the average pledge rising from $1,700.02 to $1,875.30. There are six “No Pledge” which means six pledges from 2015 were not renewed in 2016. Terri has begun the task of writing the 190 thank you notes. Thank you calls will not be required. Margaret – Memorial Foundation a) Memorial Board would like a joint meeting with the vestry. The proposed date & time is 2/9/16 at noon. This does not work for Terri. Terri will speak with Bill Towle to determine a better date and time Old Business – a) The new boiler has been installed and is up and running. It seems to be noisier than the old one. Parishioners can hear it during the Service. Our ceiling fans should be turned on in the winter to push hot air down. b) Mark presented the slate of new vestry members: Paul Pozin, Phil Mediate, and Tracy Gage. We are still looking for a 4th. Mark will be making some calls to secure a 4th. Motion to approve the three new vestry members; Seconded; Motion Passed. New Business – a) Margaret Borg was presented as a candidate for Senior Warden. Motion to approve Margaret Borg as Senior Warden; Seconded; Motion Passed b) The locking mechanism on the front door of the Church (entrance to the Sanctuary from the outside) is broken and needs to be replaced. One bid has come in from Montana Lock and Security. Two more bids will be sought. Once we have three bids, we will decide how to proceed. c) Scott Jourdonnais and Paul Pozin will begin making contact with our male parishioners for help with Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, 2/9/16 from 5-7 pm d) Outgoing vestry members Kathy Swannack, Paul Pozin and Bob Wattenberg were thanked for their service. Paul will be returning as a vestry member and Kathy said she will continue to help with organizing coffee hour. e) Jeannie Warner missed having the candles at the Christmas Eve service. Lance pointed out that we saved $350.00 not having candles which we could put toward Easter candles. Terri will take both points of view under advisement. Other – The next vestry meeting will be January 31, 2016, immediately after the Annual Meeting. February 8th at 12:00 pm will be our tentative meeting date for February to be confirmed on 1/31/16. 2

12) Assistant Rector: We would need to find that salary, etc. in our budget to have an Assistant Rector and we do not have that money right now. Our Deacons are taking on many duties that would normally fall to an Assistant Rector. 13) Issues surrounding Church and State: Terri will offer a 3-part series in order to get a discussion going after which, the vestry will need to come up with a policy that is appropriate for HSP. Terri is also teaching a class on the History of the Church for the Deacon School, so she will be able to draw on that for our discussion. Dates and times for the discussions will be announced. Respectfully Submitted,

Ann Suter Clerk of the Vestry

January Rector’s Report to Vestry Just days before my return from supporting my parents with my father’s heart surgery, I received a call from St. Patrick’s Hospital ICU that Cooper Burchenal was asking me to visit. I returned late Friday, visited and prayed with him, his wife and family, and by that evening I was called back to the hospital…he had just passed. We held his memorial service on Thursday, the second such service in just a couple of weeks, the first for Jean Bowman, and both were standing room only with many seated in the Parish Hall, listening over the speakers there. I want to especially thank: the Rev. John Lund who took services the Sunday I was in Colorado; the Rev. Tom Lee who officiated at Jean’s memorial; our Staff, in particular Judy Parock, Elizabeth Serviss, Nancy Cooper, and Gretchen Strohmaier who supported these services on top of an already very busy season; Anne Cohen and Gary Swartz for their leadership with reception efforts and ushering respectively; and to all those who volunteered on short notice to provide hospitality and support while in the midst of decorating the church and preparing for Christmas services. The families were very grateful – thank you! In addition to meeting with the families for the two memorial services, there were a number of pastoral visits in our hospitals and in homes since the last Vestry meeting. It was unusually busy for Advent and I’m hoping January will be less so. I officiated our Service of Nine Lessons and Carols (the Bishop was unable to attend due to weather and road conditions). Nancy Cooper and the Choir had worked many hours after prior Sunday services and the service was lovely. I managed to enjoy our two Christmas Eve services before succumbing to one of our Missoula bugs going around, and have enjoyed some time off since. I look forward to the New Year ahead! Faithfully submitted, The Rev. Terri Ann Grotzinger Rector . 3

Vestry Ministry Reports A) Communications – Lance Collister/Scott Jourdonnais (Judy Parock, Chair) Much of our work this month focused on getting out our message about our Lessons and Carols and Christmas services. We updated the look of the rotator on the website to make sure it had a Christmas feel to it and that it also contained all the information regarding our services in an easy-to-find format. The links on the home page led to more detailed information on our interior pages and calendar. A number of ads were run on KUFM radio during the week preceding our Lessons and Carols service. We also submitted a news release to the Missoulian regarding both our Lessons and Carols service and our Christmas Eve services which ran the Saturday before both events. The Lessons and Carols service was very well received this year, with around 150 people attending. Our early Christmas Eve service was also very successful with over 250 people participating. The later Christmas Eve service had a modest crowd of around 160 this year. We have had the banners up in the church yard for the month of December advertising Compline and the Rejoice banner for Christmas, and Gretchen also used the sandwich board sign which provided additional information regarding church events to foot traffic. We created posters and rotators for the Advent Retreat, Advent Crafts and Soup, Lessons and Carols, “The Journey to Bethlehem,” and the Christmas Eve services. Gretchen featured the posters on the sandwich board signs which were placed out by the sidewalk daily prior to the events. Our Facebook page was updated throughout the month with pictures from church events including the Advent crafts and soup, Christmas decorating, and the youth group Christmas gathering. We really appreciate those folks who take photos when we are not at an event. Special thanks to Whitney Rimel for taking the wonderful photos of the Christmas decorating and to Lindsay Iudicello for the pictures from the youth group gathering. In order to promote our Compline service Lance Collister took a video of the December Compline service and posted it to YouTube with a link to the video on our worship page. People can now get a feel for the Compline service to see if it is a service that they would like to attend. Thank you, Lance! Lance Collister also had MOO cards made specifically to highlight the Compline service. I have given those to Lindsay Iudicello to use to hand out at the Compline services. Elizabeth Serviss has been doing more research regarding changing our website to a “responsive” website, and this is something that we will begin doing after the first of the year. A responsive website is more readable and more usable from any electronic device and looks more up-to-date. We will be updating the content pages on the website in preparation for this change. – Judy Parock B) Finance – Bob Wattenberg (Mark Dvarishkis, Chair) No report. C) Holiday Market – Jeannie Warner (Tracey Gage and Diane Rasmuson, Co-Chairs) No report. D) Newcomers – Margaret Borg (Frank and Beverley Sherman, Jim and Jeanne Clark, Co-Chairs) The Newcomers group has not met but continues to contact those that are identified as guests, visitors and newcomers, provide Welcome bags, and any other help as asked. ̶ Frank Sherman, Co-Chair

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E)

Parish Life – Kathy Swannack/Margaret Borg (Chair is vacant) We have only three more Sundays left to fill for this current school year for Coffee Hour. Yeah! – Kathy Swannack

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Personnel – Mark Dvarishkis (Mark Dvarishkis, Chair) No report.

G) Properties – Karen Shelly/Grounds; Bob Wattenberg/Buildings (Chair is vacant) The main activity this last month was the contracting for, scheduling , and installation of a new boiler for the Church and Parish Hall heating system. The new boiler was installed in time for the Christmas services, and, incidentally, in time for the cold weather we are just now experiencing. – Bob Wattenberg - Liaison.

H) Rummage Sale – Ann Suter (Carol Wolfe, Chair) No report. I)

Social Concerns – Carla Mettling (Glenn Hladek, Chair) No report. – Glenn Hladek, Social Concerns Chair

J)

Spiritual Formation – Julie Benson (Gretchen Strohmaier, Chair) Church School and Spiritual Formation: A Path Appears book study finished up in December. It was a great group of folks focused on issues of domestic poverty and ways to make positive impact on poverty through thoughtful financial contributions. Advent Scripture & Lectio Divina, the Sunday morning adult class, finished in December. This small group enjoyed a focus on Scripture, combined with contemplative practices during the season of Advent. One woman, not from our parish, came on Sunday mornings to experience this class. Advent Retreat. A dozen participants, several not from our parish, participated in this day-long retreat. It was once again enthusiastically received within the hectic pace of the holiday season. Compline continues each month. We are seeking more leadership to help promote this outreach opportunity and to schedule the set-up each month. Myanmar. Volunteers from the trip to Myanmar presented some stories within worship, during the month of December. They plan to share in more depth at a mid-January potluck (January 13th 6:00 pm). Family Christmas Eve service. The crowd was huge at the 4:00 pm service on Christmas Eve. All children were invited to participate in the Journey to Bethlehem and the numbers were overwhelming. The program structure didn’t work well with the number of participants. Folks, who are not a part of our parish, appreciated the opportunity for their children to participate though. On a subsequent year it may be best to invite all the children to come up for a story, rather than trying to include them in group movement. – Gretchen Strohmaier, Director of Spiritual Formation Youth Ministry:

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In December, youth ministry held our regular QUEST classes as well as a youth group Christmas party complete with sledding and a white elephant gift exchange. At the Christmas party we had thirteen HSP youth, including a returning college freshman and a student who attends boarding school out-of-state. I was particularly pleased to see these two students connecting with their home parish on their vacation. Additionally, I sent hand-written Christmas cards to each of our HSP youth. December also brought one noteworthy change in youth ministry. Jody Thomasson, who has led Confirmation for the past year and a half, has stepped aside from that role. Through the spring, Bill Earhart will continue to teach Confirmation with the help of Linda Phipps. Gretchen and I will support their work as needed. Many thanks to Jody for all the work she's put into our Confirmation Class. And many thanks to Bill and Linda for their on-going work. Thank you Lindsay Iudicello

for

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continued

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youth!

K) Stewardship – Paul Polzin/Scott Jourdonnais (Molly Bowler, Chair) The Stewardship committee initiated an aggressive campaign to permanently fund the additional parish activities that were authorized by the Vestry. These activities have been funded from temporary source. The stewardship campaign featured information about the many parish activities, their cost and personal testimonies. The campaign is intended to be a multi-year project. The first year of the stewardship campaign has shown positive results. As shown below, the average pledge increased from about $1,700 in 2015 to approximately $1,875 for 2016, an increase of 10.2 percent. The total pledge amount is up about 3.7 percent higher than last year. It is encouraging to note that the number of pledges that remain the same has halved. This indicates that parishioners are now more actively engaging in their pledging and not simply repeating their previous pledge. PLEDGE UPDATE AS OF 12/31/2015 2015 Total number of pledges returned Total number of dollars pledges Average Pledge Total number of pledges remaining the same Total number of pledges increasing Total number of pledges decreasing Total number of newcomer pledges For 2016:

201 $341,705.00 $1,700.02 101 69 22 9

56 pledges remain the same for a total of 108 pledges up for a total of 14 pledges down for a total of 6 No Pledge Lost through death or transfer out (9) 11 newcomer pledges for a total of

$ 75,126.00 243,384.40 23,616.25

STEWARDSHIP TOTAL, 12/31/2015

$354,430.65

2016 189 $354,430.65 $1,875.3 56 108 14 11

+37,510.40 -8,903.75 -5,240.00 -7,700.00

12,304.00

– Paul Polzin

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