The regular monthly meeting of the Vestry of R. E. Lee Memorial Church was held Monday, August 18, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall of the church.

Present: Buddy Atkins, George Brooke, Molly Brown, John Burleson, Roger Crockett, Jay Crawford, Susan Cross, Elizabeth Harralson, Bridget Kelley-Dearing, John Milford, Dick Rathmell, Woody Sadler, Gretchen Walden, Rev. Thomas Crittenden, Bob de Maria (acting clerk)

Absent: Bob Glidden and Julia Littlefield

George Brooke called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes: There having been no July Vestry meeting, the June minutes were reviewed and approved as distributed. There was no discussion.

Committee Reports:

     Finance Committee:

• Woody reviewed the Profit and Loss Statement for fiscal year 2008 through 30 June. He reported that the parish finances are on track.

• The 2009 budget is currently under development by the Finance Committee. At present there is an $80,000 shortfall but the Finance Committee expects to resolve this deficit in time to present the budget to the Vestry at its September meeting.

• Susan reported that we will ask for a 12% increase in pledges for 2009.

• The Everymember Canvass will kick off earlier this year, according to the following schedule:

o   Vestry members who will be available are asked to meet on September 11 at 5:00 in the Parish House in order to stuff envelopes for the initial Canvass mailing.

o   September 21 is designated as Inspiration Sunday. Rev. Tom will give a “Sermon on the Amount”.

o   September 28 is designated as Stewardship Sunday and pledge cards will be distributed.

o   October 5 is designated as Consecration Sunday. Pledges will be turned in.

o   October 19 is designated as Victory Sunday. There will be a follow-up reminder for pledges not yet received.

Property Committee:

• George reviewed the background and status of the re-pointing of the church building. During 2007 the Vestry had discussed the hiring of John Friedrichs, a local stonemason, to do the work. Mr Friedrichs’ proposal was to complete it over a four year period at a cost of approximately $10,000 a year. However, due to the confusion attendant to the selection of a new rector, the Vestry never took a vote on the contract. Even so, Mr Friedrichs completed the first phase of the re-pointing earlier this summer. Following brief discussion, George Brooke moved and the Vestry approved the hiring of John Friedrichs to complete the re-pointing of the church over a period of four years at an approximate cost of $10,000 per year. Mr Friedrichs will conduct the second phase of re-pointing next summer.

• Woody noted that he has identified three to four charitable foundations to help the church in paying for the re-pointing work. With the aid of Mr Friedrichs, he is in the process of putting together the grant applications.

• John said that the radiators in the nave have been removed and the holes in the floor have been plugged. In addition, the floor tiles in the undercroft have been removed. Unfortunately, the contractors left a mess behind. Connie Bryant, our sexton, did a superior job in cleaning up the mess. John stated that the Property Committee recommended that Connie be presented with a $100.00 bonus for her extra work. The Vestry approved this recommendation without discussion.

• John reported that Jerry Nay is investigating the replacing of the present lighting on order to brighten the nave of the church. John noted that replacing the yellow bulbs would be costly because they are no longer made and there would have to be a form made in order to replicate them.

• Jerry is also working with a professional consulting firm who will take a look at Parish House lighting issues, both interior and exterior. Rev. Tom noted that this is needed not only for security and safety but for energy saving as well.

• The Property Committee will review these matters in greater detail and report to the Vestry at the September meeting.

• Viewing windows are to be installed this week in the Sunday school room doors in the Parish House.

Columbarium Committee:

• Dick Rathmell noted that the Scatter Garden is being used.

• The Columbarium Arks are ready to be installed. Rev. Tom noted that architect Madison Spencer was in a car accident. As a result, the initial installation of the Arks has been delayed a week and will not begin until 28 August.

• There appears to be some confusion as to whether those who had contributed to the Columbarium during the Capital Campaign had done so in the belief that they were paying for a niche. Rev. Tom asked Bob de Maria (vestry member and clerk 2005- 2007) to review his Vestry meeting tapes to see whether any position had been established on the issue. The matter will be discussed further during the September Vestry meeting.

Gadsden Committee: Roger Crockett reported the following grants have been made:

• $5500 was requested by the Diocese for Phoebe Needles for the design and maintenance of their web site. The committee granted $3650 for the design; once it is completed and the site is up, the committee has earmarked the remainder for site maintenance.

• The committee granted $1080 to Bishop Powell and his wife to attend the Episcopal Church in the 2008 Sudan Partners Conference.

• The committee granted $4,000 to help the W&L Campus Kitchens project.

• The committee granted $2,500 to Kendall for work done on the Borden Center.

• The committee granted $5,000 to the Valley Association for Independent Living.

• The committee granted $8,800 to R.A.T.S. to help purchase a wheel chair accessible van.

• The committee granted $1,000 to Sudan Relief to help pay for the Uganda tax on the Tailoring School.

• The committee granted $1,064 to help pay tuition for four Lost Boys to continue their course work at Virginia Western Community College.

Green Committee:

• Elizabeth reported that Prof. Jim Kahn from W&L will speak at 7:30 p.m. on 12 November in the Parish Hall. His topic will probably be economics and the environment.

• The committee procured free copies of the “Green Issue” of Preservation magazine from the National Trust.

Education Committee: Bridget reviewed a detailed report (attached) from the Director of Christian Education (Sharon Massie) which addressed all the planned Christian education initiatives planned for the fall.

Old Business

• Buddy reported that as sponsor of the Boy Scout troop, the parish takes on the scouts as a mission of the parish. The scout troop is not a legal entity in its own right and must depend upon the sponsor to hold property which must be titled and/or licensed. He made a motion to allow the troop to purchase a new trailer to be titled in the name of the parish and to acquire insurance for the trailer as an addition to the parish’s current insurance policies in support of the scouts. It will be the responsibility of the scout leadership to be certain that volunteers who tow the trailer have sufficient liability insurance on the vehicle they are using to tow the trailer. (Motion Passed)

New Business

• Rev. Tom reported on the “Stop Hunger Now” campaign. There will be a gathering of the parish’s youth on September 7 in Staunton to put together 40, 000 meal packets to send overseas in support of this project. To support the youth financially in doing their part, Rev. Tom made a motion that the loose plate offerings on August 24 and 31 be directed towards this end. The youth also intend to hold a car wash in the W&L parking lot off Red Square on the morning of 31 August to raise matching funds. (Roger noted that use of this lot had to be cleared with W&L in advance.) (Motion Passed)

• The draft Mutual Ministry Review has been completed and circulated to the Vestry via e-mail. Vestry members were asked to review the draft report and submit any recommended corrections to Bob Glidden by August 22. Once finalized, 150 copies of the report will be printed by Compton’s in Lexington at a cost of $245. These will be made available to the congregation in the narthex on 7 September. George and Rev. Tom thanked the Vestry members who compiled the final report.

• George addressed the issue of signage in front of the church. Bob Glidden has contacted Montauk Signage in East Nassau, New York and they can produce an attractive one-sided four foot by four foot sign for $1,880 and a two-sided sign for $3,385. There was a brief discussion on sign parameters, where such a sign should be placed, and whether a second sign should be considered for placement by the W&L entrance. Bob will be tasked with disseminating the information from Montauk Signage to the Vestry in advance of the September meeting so that it can be discussed at that meeting.

Capital Campaign

• Elizabeth reported that the Campaign has exceeded its goal. We had 80% participation. (142 of 180 units).

• The closing of the Campaign will be announced by Barton Dick (Campaign chair) at the 7 September services. Barton will also announce that there will be a celebratory service on Sunday, 2 November, All Saints Day, to recognize the parish’s success in the Campaign. Rev. Tom will coordinate with Barton and will also make pertinent comments about the Campaign on 7 September.

• Barton will contact Dave Bateman of Kirby Smith (the campaign consultants) to see if our contract with them might include the printing of an informative brochure about the results of the Campaign. The brochure would be disseminated on 2 November.

Wardens’ Report

• George noted that it is time to begin considering nominees to stand for Vestry election this fall. Vestry members should be able to provide the names of prospective nominees at the September meeting. Rev. Tom pointed out that election to the Vestry is not a popularity contest. We should look for people who display leadership qualities.

Rector’s Report

• Rev. Tom noted that there will be a reception for the VMI Rats on August 31. Rev. Bob Crewdson will be present. He will ask that parishioners bring cell phones for their use since rats are not allowed to have phones. There are still spots available for the Adopt-A-Rat program and a sign-up table will be set up again in the plaza Sunday, August 24.

• The first Canterbury Club meeting will be on Sunday, September 7 and both Rev. Tom and Rev. Bob will be there. Punky Dod will be in charge of the dinners this year. Elizabeth remarked that it is very rewarding cooking for the Canterbury.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:58 p.m.

John read the closing prayer.

The next Vestry meeting will be at 5:00 on Monday, 15 September, in the Parish House.

Respectfully Submitted,

Bob de Maria, Acting Clerk