Holy Spirit Vestry Minutes

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Holy Spirit Vestry Minutes Monday, March 9, 2015 PRESENT: Margaret Borg, Mark Dvarishkis, Scott Jourdonnais, Carla Mettling, Paul Polzin, Karen Shelly, Kathy Swannack, Jeannie Warner, Ann Suter, Candice Lindsay, Lance Collister, Julie Benson, Rev. Terri Ann Grotzinger Excused: Bob Wattenberg 1. Prayer – Margaret opened the meeting with a prayer. A sheet was passed around for signatures acknowledging the individual completion of “Safe-Guarding God’s Children” online course and policy reading. 2. Spiritual Reflection – Terri read from Isaiah 58 and from Oscar Romero. Terri posed the question “How will we practice Christ Jesus’s way of love, justice, and truth this day?”. We broke into groups of 2 and 3 to discuss. a. Carla: Justice: when we spend our money it’s an endorsement of that company or corporation. Smart phone app: Information on corporate practices to learn where profits and resources are spent. b. Scott & Julie: “Breathing in the suffering of others. Breathe out compassion toward them.” c. Jeannie: Keep our awareness up regarding discernment and having an ear to the ground. She recalled hearing a comment from a member of the congregation followed with, “Please, don’t tell anyone.” 3. Election of Clerk of the Vestry – Motion to elect Ann Suter as clerk; Seconded; Motion Passed 4. Administration/Business Matters – Consent Agenda Motion to approve the Consent Agenda Items; Seconded; Motion Passed 5. Parishioners’ concerns/correspondence; Newcomers a. No correspondence b. Steve Decker from Portland is new. c. A gal from Alaska made her 2nd visit and is interested in Bible study. d. No welcome bags were distributed this past Sunday (3/8). Ushers may not have known. 6. Finance/Investment Report a. Candy reviewed the Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual b. Motion to approve the Treasurer’s report for later audit; Seconded; Motion Passed. 7. Memorial Foundation – a. Jean Bowman was elected as Vice President. The president is Bill Towle, Candice is Treasurer b. An RFP (Request for Proposals) is being discussed to look at potential Investment Advisors

c. The John Ellis Endowment was brought up, but as it is a matter for the Vestry and not a Memorial Foundation program, there was no further discussion. d. There is ongoing correspondence and discussion regarding the Memorial Foundation and Vestry as pertains to canons. We continue to clarify matters to be able to educate the parish in the future regarding endowment and parish giving. The vestry is strongly encouraged to better educate ourselves on these issues. That way we can come to wellinformed decisions and resolutions. 8. Old Business – a. The Vestry Retreat is on Saturday, March 11th from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Food will be provided. Mark will give a PowerPoint presentation b. The Ministry assignments:

Communications Finance Holiday Market Newcomers Parish Life Personnel Properties Rummage Sale Social Concerns Spiritual Formation Stewardship

Vestry Liaison Lance/Scott Bob Jeannie Margaret Kathy/Margaret Mark Karen = Grounds, Bob = Building Ann Carla Julie Paul/Scott

Chair Judy Parock Mark Dvarishkis Sarah Towle Shermans/Clarks vacant Mark Dvarishkis vacant Carol Wolfe Glen Hladek Gretchen Strohmaier Molly Bowler

c. Lance mentioned 3 other potential ministries: i. Church Expansion/Growth Ministry ii. 100-Year Anniversary Ministry iii. Global Warming Ministry d. The Vestry was reminded to send our reports to Judy. If there is no report please let Judy know that as well. e. Safe-Guarding God’s Children: there was some confusion regarding which online classes to take. The classes we are required to take are:    

Meet Sam It Happened to Me Keeping Your Church Safe Policies

The 2008 policy that is online under the “Policies” link is not the most current. Judy sent out the most current version in an email on March 5th. There are 2 attachments to this

email and the current Diocese of Montana policy, dated May 15, 2014 is the second attachment. 9. New Business – a. Motion to make the following changes to the 2015 Easter weekend receptions:

 Simplify the Ice Cream Social to ice cream, cookies, sherry and non-alcoholic punch.  Move the Choir Breakfast to another date that is not so busy.  Satisfy the nutritional needs of all with a heartier coffee hour after the first service. Seconded; Motion Passed

b. The vestry will have further discussion with the rector regarding possible changes for Good Friday Soup Lunch/Maundy Thursday meal offering in 2016. c. Rev. Canon Bradley Wirth is scheduled to visit March 23rd from 3:30 – 5:30. The Stewardship group will lead the discussion. If any would like to attend let Terri know. He may return in May to help put on a Stewardship/Vestry joint program with the parish. d. John Ellis Foundation update from Jeannie: i. 501 c3 is almost complete ii. Sue is working with the Board on a mission statement iii. Have an ID number, a lawyer, etc. to move forward with 501c3 10. Other – a. Endowment Workshop in Polson on Friday 5:00pm to 8:00pm b. Helena event on March 21st (Lance, Terri, Phil, Ann are signed up so far) c. Vestry dinner: we will pick a later date d. Delegates to the Convention: Terri is working on a Deanery meeting with Clericus, April 18, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm e. Parish clean-up is April 25th. Respectfully Submitted,

Ann Suter Clerk of the Vestry

March Rector’s Report to Vestry

When I think of the past month, pastoral care comes to mind first. Mid-February to mid-March has involved a large number of emergency pastoral calls (6), individual requests for pastoral counsel (8), support to those who are dying (3), visits to those having surgery (3), a Committal service(1) and even a wedding at the St. Patrick’s Hospital Chapel. Times like these arise and when they do, other priorities take a back seat. The month of March has several members preparing for various surgeries so this pattern of pastoral care emphasis will continue. The second major emphasis has been coordinating with Staff and preparing for Lent, Holy Week and Easter. I decided to ask some of our creative members to consider how we could make a few changes in our worship space to help us enter into the Lenten season. My thanks to Becki and Kirk Johnson, Barbara Morrison, and Rev. Myrna Chaney for capturing an idea that has worked very well! In addition to planning, I attended the Shrove Tuesday supper (excellent job by all you men of the parish!), officiated at the two Ash Wednesday services, and the Wednesday night programs (great theme this year!). I also assisted with set-up and take-down of things needed for Compline on the first Sunday. The Wardens and I have met several times to get ready for the monthly meeting as well as the Vestry Retreat. In addition to meeting with individual members of Staff to plan music for liturgies, supervise and support our Youth Director, and to coordinate with Gretchen on Spiritual Formation planning, I also attended the Memorial Board meeting held this quarter. I have spent a good deal of time working with our Stewardship Committee and the Rev. Bradley Wirth to learn some new ways to approach our ministry throughout the year. That is going well and I hope to see a joint Stewardship Ministry/Vestry plan to engage the wider congregation in yearlong stewardship. Lastly, I continue to teach the liturgical portion of the Deacon’s School, meeting here the first weekend of the months of February, March and April. The emphasis is on the role of deacons in the liturgy, what to think about, how to work with varying priestly styles, and experiencing what’s different between Eucharistic Prayers. This month the emphasis was on Memorial Services and Eucharistic Prayer 1. I am looking forward to Holy Week and Easter! Faithfully, The Rev. Terri Ann Grotzinger Rector

Vestry Ministry Reports

A) Communications – Lance Collister (Judy Parock, Chair) The new banner for the Lenten season and the new banner for Easter were delivered to the church in time for the Lenten banner to be installed before the first Sunday in Lent. These banners are somewhat different from the previous banners we have ordered. Ordering from the previous supplier was not an option due to the exorbitant increase in price, so a new process was used to create a double-sided banner. We’re not sure if it will prove satisfactory. The banners came with a number of wrinkles in them due to shipping and the way the banners are sewn together. We will have to see how they hold up. In order to publicize our Lenten series, Gretchen Strohmaier ordered a sandwich board sign to use to attract foot traffic. She is working with Kirk Johnson to design some larger signs to use on the sandwich boards, but they are not ready yet. In the meantime we have created larger versions of the poster that we are using for Lent to display on the sandwich board sign. This version of the poster displays the name of the speaker for that week, along with their topic. Our ads for the Lenten series are being run on KUFM, and Gretchen has also had information about the Lenten series on the Saturday Religion Page of the Missoulian. She also used that avenue to advertise our Ukrainian Egg Decorating Workshop, which did attract a few people from the greater community to our church on Saturday. We’ve refreshed the rotator on the Home page of the website with pictures appropriate to the Lenten season, and used those pictures to draw people further into the website where there is more detailed information about the various Lenten activities at Holy Spirit. Elizabeth has created a graphic on the Worship page on the website which outlines the various Lenten activities at Holy Spirit. This is an easy way for a visitor to the website to connect with all the things that are happening at Holy Spirit this Lent. We’ve also updated our Facebook page to a more Lenten feel and are advertising our various Lenten activities on that page. We recently passed 200 “Likes” on our Facebook page, a milestone for us! Finally, Kirk Johnson created a beautiful set of banners for the parish hall which display our Vision and Mission statement with great style. Please take a look if you haven’t noticed them yet. ̶ Judy Parock Chair B) Holiday Market – (Sarah Towle, Chair) No Report.

C) Newcomers – (Frank and Beverley Sherman, Jim and Jeanne Clark, Co-Chairs) Newcomers does not have a report this month. Terri is scheduling a meeting with the group to discuss its future. ̶ Frank Sherman, Co-Chair D) Parish Life – E)

Personnel – Mark Dvarishkis No report.

F)

Properties –

G) Rummage Sale – (

, Chair)

H) Social Concerns – (Glenn Hladek, Chair) Reports and discussion re: 1) MIC action Council Meeting on March 12th at HSP 2) Discussion of "Giving Grants" application form 3) Integration of church service and justice work 4) Report on blood drive 5) Report on Homeless Connect and strong encouragement that HSP have a greater presence next year 6) Update on Myanmar trip 7) Report on Bob's class "Helping your Neighbor” 8) HSP representative for United Thank Offering - Lucia volunteered 9) Global Faith Webinar with Nicholas Kristof 10) Hosting dinner for Special Olympics at HSP 11) New member Heidi Kendal was welcomed 12) Next meeting - March 9th ̶ Glenn Hladek, Chairperson - SCC I)

Spiritual Formation – (Gretchen Strohmaier, Chair) Lent is in full swing now. Tom Todd kicked off our first potluck presentation on Wednesday, February 25th, with between 60 and 70 participants, including a couple from the community who joined us. The series, The Arts in the Life of the Spirit, continues with Father Rob from Annunication Greek Orthodox Church talking about icons; Art History Professor Rafael Chacón talking about visual arts; Musician and Conductor, Dick Brown, talking about music; and Author and Poet, Jocelyn Siler, presenting on writing as a tool that shapes the Life of the Spirit. We are excited that about 30 people are reading the Parker Palmer Lenten book, and we are trying to encourage those readers to share what they are learning with others. The Sunday morning gathering between services—facilitated by Steve Shelly─to discuss the book has varied from 5 to 10 participants which includes some new folks who have not participated in Spiritual Formation programs previously. Monday evenings, Gretchen has been offering a small group for Lent, focused on creativity and the life of the Spirit. Each week participants experiment with a different creative tool for listening to God in their lives. Last week participants did collage. The group of 5 -10 people has been a varied mix of parishioners (several who are new to the parish), including some younger women and some parents with school age children. Youth Group. Lindsay Iudicello hosted the first youth group meeting for senior high youth with 7 youth attending. She was encouraged by the fact that both regular participators and a couple of youth who have not been engaged for several years came to the evening meeting. Together they created a structure and plan for their time together this spring. They will meet once a month, as will the junior high youth group. Lindsay has also connected with a handful of volunteers who will be helping to assist with the group. ̶ Gretchen Strohmaier, Chair

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Stewardship – (Molly Bowler, Chair)