Holy Spirit Vestry Minutes

---

Holy Spirit Vestry Minutes Monday, October 12, 2015 PRESENT: Margaret Borg, Mark Dvarishkis, Scott Jourdonnais, Kathy Swannack, Jeannie Warner, Ann Suter, Candice Lindsay, Lance Collister, Bob Wattenberg, Rev. Terri Ann Grotzinger Excused: Carla Mettling, Paul Polzin, Karen Shelly, Julie Benson 1. Prayer – prayerful story about “paying it forward” from Jeannie Warner. 2. Spiritual Reflection – What stands out about Holy Spirit Parish to you? 3. Administration/Business Matters – Consent Agenda Motion to approve the Consent Agenda Items; Seconded; Motion Passed 4. Parishioners’ concerns & correspondence; Newcomers – names and information: a. Richard and Willie Hoffer, friends of Terri's from California b. Robin and Trev Pierson, Church School registration (son Jake in 2nd grade) c. Thad Brinkman, fiancé of Jennifer Leistiko, Church School registration (son Trevor in 5th grade and daughter Emily in 9th grade) d. Mike Sousa, friend of Jodi Teeple Christophe, attending Adult Inquirers class e. Jodie Ulrigg, attending Adult Inquirers class f. George Bosse, attending Adult Inquirers class g. Alison and Brian Petty, moved here from Washington state and wants to become a member of this congregation, has children in Church School (Wesley in Nursery and Silvia (Sil) in Preschool) h. Mary Taylor and her grandson Cole Taylor, office visit i. Susan Stigdon, Supper Club sign-up j. Abigail Stevens, new choir member 5. Finance/Investment Report a. Candy reviewed the financial statements, highlighting items of significance. The Savings Account is going to be down a significant amount as per decisions made by the vestry: $37,696.81. The Mosier money was 2014 income. We pulled it over, used it and thus are paying assessment on it. We do not pay assessment on capital improvements. b. Motion to approve the Treasurer’s report for later audit; Seconded; Motion Passed. 6. Memorial Foundation – a. Last year we (the Memorial Board) agreed to make a donation to Dorcie Dvarishkis for Deacon School from funds designated for clergy development. This year Dorcie wrote the Memorial Foundation directly for the request. The Memorial Foundation notified the Vestry that they think this request is a vestry issue.-- A suggestion was made for the Vestry to write a letter to the Memorial Foundation recommending money to support Dorcie again this year via clergy development funds. It was recommended that the Vestry authorize the money to Dorcie now through our Reserves, and seek reimbursement from the Memorial Board if possible. .

1

b. Motion to pay $4864.00 to Dorcie to support her in her process in becoming a deacon; Seconded; Motion Passed (Mark Dvarishkis abstained from voting). 7. Old Business a. Parking Lot Improvements: There are some areas of the ground that will not be able to withstand the weight of the asphalt. If this is not addressed there is concern that we will have cracked asphalt in the future and the contractor will not warrantee their work. The soft spots need to be dug up and trucked out and gravel trucked back in and spread. The cost of this is $8,702.00 over and above our original bid. Lance brought up the idea of saving the soil that would be trucked out for our landscaping. Bob said he would check into the feasibility of this.

b. Motion to approve and additional $8702.00 towards the parking lot improvements; Seconded; Motion Passed. c.

d. e.

Stewardship: Terri let us know that we had positive comments regarding the presentations. There will be four Stewardship Sundays with one speaker per Sunday. Mark reminded us that all the Vestry members agreed to increase their pledges to 6% or more. Signatory on discretionary fund: We need one more person to be a signer on Terri’s discretionary fund. The Vestry will have to elect or appoint someone. Bennett letter: Gretchen, Terri- and Mark will work on setting up a discussion in January regarding the letter received from the Bennetts (7/6/15). A letter will be sent to the Bennetts in the meantime to let them know we are setting up a discussion.

8. New Business a. Adoption of Accounting Manual: Motion to approve the Accounting Manual; Seconded; Motion Passed. b.

c.

d.

100-year celebration: The date has been set for November 15 th. We will have one service at 9:00 am. The Vestry will host the reception. Margaret and Candy will plan the food and get the Vestry on board to help. Mutual Ministry Review: We are considering having a Mutual Ministry Review in November or early December. Terri will check to see if and the Rev. Cn. Chris Roberts is available to help with this. This would be a special meeting of the Vestry. November Vestry meeting: The November Vestry meeting will probably need to be held on a different date as many members will not be able to attend. A doodle poll will go out to see what date works best for members.

These are the Minutes that Kathy Swannack and I were able to capture. Respectfully Submitted,

Ann Suter Clerk of the Vestry

2

October Rector’s Report to Vestry No report available at time Vestry packet was sent out.

3

Vestry Ministry Reports A) Communications – Lance Collister/Scott Jourdonnais (Judy Parock, Chair) It has been a busy month preparing for Diocesan Convention and keeping up with all the activities happening at Holy Spirit at the same time! Press releases were sent to the Missoulian promoting the start of our fall programs, the Blessing of the Animals, Compline and Diocesan Convention. We also had radio spots on KUFM promoting the Blessing of the Animals and Compline which aired the week prior to each event. Rev. Terri had some flyers for the Blessing of the Animals service taken around to local vets to help promote the service. As a result of these efforts, and our promotion in the Sunday bulletins and Spirited Times, we had our highest number of participants in the Blessing of the Animals service! Kirk Johnson prepared a 100th Anniversary Celebration banner for the church yard sign. It was displayed in time for the Diocesan Convention on October 2-3, and it looks great! Judy also worked with Kirk to develop posters for the sandwich board signs. The first effort was a poster for the “Raising Faithful Teens— Technology” discussion set for October 19. We continued to promote church events. The plans for the Myanmar send-off, the “Raising Faithful Teens” discussion, the start of Compline and the Remembrance Lantern workshop were all promoted through the Sunday bulletin, the Spirited Times, and the church Facebook page. The office created posters promoting each of these events, and we featured each on the website rotator and calendar. The Myanmar rotator on the website links to the article written by Clem Work describing the work that the 16 volunteers are going to be doing in Myanmar. This article also contains a link to the blog that the folks on trip will be contributing to, electricity permitting! The link to the blog is also on the website rotator. The Myanmar Support Group, under the direction of Gretchen Strohmaier, also set up a bulletin board in the parish hall with information about the trip participants and suggestions for donated items that the volunteers can take with them to Myanmar and give to the teachers there. We also put up the Giving Grant rotator on the website, linking that to an article written by Glenn Hladek describing what the initial Giving Grants and what they were used for and encouraging others to submit grant applications by the October 13 meeting deadline. In preparation for Diocesan Convention we developed a rotator for the church website and for the church Facebook page welcoming visitors and delegates to Holy Spirit. The photo slide show that Clem Work developed for the “Our Next Step” presentation in church will also be shown at Diocesan Convention. Many of the photos that Clem used in the video came from our church Facebook page where we post all the photos we receive from our church events. It is our photo archive! – Judy Parock B) Finance – Bob Wattenberg (Mark Dvarishkis, Chair) No report. C) Holiday Market – Jeannie Warner (Tracey Gage and Diane Rasmuson, Co-Chairs) Past Chair and Present Advisor: Sarah Towle Advertising: Betsy Holmquist Luncheon: Mary Tromly Bake Sale: Laura Taylor The Market committee has met and planning is in progress. We plan on using the same format as last year; the only addition being we will have a table set up to sell ERD products (chocolate, nuts, tea and coffee). Luncheon will be served on Friday under the direction of Mary T.

4

We are currently in the process of collecting items for the Raffle and Silent Auction. Betsy is meeting with Judy this next week to make the advertising posters; we are also thinking about making advertising bookmarks to distribute. We plan on having a big donation drive Saturday October 31 from 10-2 and handing out treats to donors. We will be asking for volunteers to help set up the Market with sign ups starting October 18th thru November 1st. Set up for the Market will begin Monday November 2nd. The “Conga” Line will be in action after church on Sunday November 1st to bring donations up from the basement and set up tables and bookcases. We plan on displaying Raffle/Silent Auction items the two Sundays before the Market and the drawing will be made Sunday November 8th. Overall the outlook is good, we have some great donations for the Silent Auction (including use of a Condo) and lots of interesting looking boxes in the basement. – Tracey Gage and Diane Rasmuson, Co-Chairs 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 E)

Parish Life – Kathy Swannack/Margaret Borg (Chair is vacant) No report.

F)

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

G) Properties – Karen Shelly/Grounds; Bob Wattenberg/Buildings (Chair is vacant) No report. H)

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

Social Concerns – Carla Mettling (Glenn Hladek, Chair) Update on Giving Grants (Butterfly Grants) To date your SCC has funded three grant applications from our Holy Spirit family: 1) We funded an application for $250 that was matched with $200 by a parishioner of HSP. This grant application will seed a fund to provide $10 vouchers for newly released prisoners from state prisons to be used for haircuts and clothing. The funds will be dispensed as needed by Missoula Interfaith Collaborative to freed prisoners. This application was submitted by Sue Talbot. 2) We also funded a grant application for $300 to provide incentives for graduates of DUI Court. It will provide gasoline cards, give cards and other positive rewards for graduates. The cards will be awarded by the DUI Court in a special docket adjudicated by Justice Court II. It is based on restorative justice principles and designed to stop recidivism in persons convicted of a second or third DUI. This grant proposal was submitted by Karen Orzech.

5

3) We funded an application for $300 to help fund the creation of a Compact Disk called “Into the Light.” The CD will be distributed initially to Hospice to be used with persons at the end of life. It is hoped that eventually it will be sold nation-wide to provide continued funding of the project. The music will come from our own HSP Choir, the Men's Choir, local soloists, instrumentalists and possibly other choirs in the area. This application was submitted by Jeannie Warner. Our next series of applications will be reviewed at our October 13th meeting. Applications will be accepted until that date, so we are encouraging everyone to put on their creative socially concerned hats and meet the many needs of this community, state, country or world. At the meeting on the 13th, we will also be making decisions regarding the dispersion of our funds provided by the Memorial Foundation. Other topics discussed were MIC, gun violence, Mission to Myanmar, music therapy to treat dementia and Alzheimer. Please consider becoming involved with this very dynamic ministry, our meetings are generally the second Monday of each month (excepting October, meeting is Tuesday, 13th). – Glenn Hladek, Social Concerns Chair K) Spiritual Formation – Julie Benson (Gretchen Strohmaier, Chair) Church School and Spiritual Formation: Church School & QUEST started up for another year. The kick-off Sunday had lots of positive energy with extra music, thanks to Don Gisselbeck and Kathy Lundman, and an opportunity for art. Volunteers traced the outline of each child on large colorful sheets of butcher paper. The paper cut-outs of the children are now decorating our children’s worship walls. Our theme, God’s Story, is helping us to think about the basic theological tenets behind the stories of Scripture. Each week children are encouraged to consider a God’s story from their own personal experience as well. After church on our first Sunday back together we shared hotdogs and hamburgers out in the courtyard. It was very successful. Lots of people stayed for the event and also stuck around to visit with one another. It is worth doing again. Confirmation has also begun again, meeting on the first Sunday of each month. Jody Thomasson, Bill Earhart and Tanya Lodahl are leading this class. The adult Sunday morning book study, Things Hidden, by Richard Rohr has begun and a nice cadre of folks are participating in that. The group is led by Holly Swartz and Judy Anderson. Not Your Mama’s Sunday School: Convention Workshop. This workshop, led by myself and Wren Blessing (Canon for Christian Formation), was well attended with over 20 participants from around the diocese. We shared theories, ideas, resources and success stories for Christian formation. Participants were willing to share and eager to gain new resources. Positive connections among parishes were built. Discernment for Diocese Capital Campaign. I continue to serve on a diocese committee to discern this diocese’s openness to a capital campaign. I helped to organize a dinner in Helena for potential donors. Myanmar. Volunteers have created a bulletin board to raise awareness in the parish about this upcoming service/learning trip to Myanmar. Coordination of donated supplies for the Myanmar schools has also begun. I have worked together with volunteers to create a number of ways that parishioners can get involved in and support this effort. – Gretchen Strohmaier, Director of Spiritual Formation Youth Ministry: 6

In September, Youth Ministry's program-year got off to a great start. This semester we are exploring the question, "What is abundant life?" During QUEST classes, we are comparing cultural messages about abundance and value, with what the Bible tells us. We are reading many of Jesus' parables to help us understand what the Bible says about the nature of abundant life and where our value is rooted. Youth group for both are middle and high school met in September. As we have many new students this year with a large group of sixth graders, we used the meeting to get to know each other better and plan our upcoming year. September also held the first of our collaborative sessions for high school students. We've teamed up with St. Paul Lutheran, First Presbyterian Church, and the UCC to offer a monthly ecumenical gathering. There were more than 30 students at this first gathering, with eight participating from HSP. The high schoolers voted to name this collaborative group "Youth Pack." Youth Pack will meet monthly on the fourth Sunday. Confirmation also resumed in September. This year, we've reorganized the program a bit, opening it to students in seventh grade and above. In the past, students have started in sixth grade. There were several reasons for this change, but one of them was that sixth graders are being asked to participate in QUEST and Youth Group and beginning three new things at once felt a little overwhelming. I appreciate all Jody and Bill do to guide our Confirmation program. Looking ahead, I am excited about the large group of students we'll be taking to the Diocesan Youth Retreat in October. Wren Blessing will lead this retreat at Camp Marshall, October 9-11. We have nine students from HSP attending as well as three leaders. Again, thank you for your support of our youth. Gratefully, Lindsay Iudicello L)

Stewardship – Paul Polzin/Scott Jourdonnais (Molly Bowler, Chair) Committee met on September 24.  Reviewed first stewardship mailing  Reviewed data on pledges and congregation’s attitudes concerning funding priorities and knowledge of parish finances  Discussed future mailings  Discussed and identified potential speakers for the stewardship Sundays

7