Vestry Minutes
RE Lee Memorial Episcopal Church
17 August 2009

The regular monthly meeting of the Vestry of R. E. Lee Memorial Church was held Monday, August 17, 2009, at 5:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall of the church.

Present: The Rev. Tom Crittenden (chair), George Brooke(Senior Warden), Judy Glick (Junior Warden), Molly Brown, Punky Dod, Mary Doyle, Tim Gaylard, Elizabeth Harralson, Sarah Lanford, Julia Littlefield, John Milford, Woody Sadler, and Gail Dick, clerk. Absent: Jay Crawford, Susan Cross, Dick Rathmell, and Don Whittington. Guests: Theresa Brion and Sharon Massie

Lesson and Eucharist: The Gospel appointed for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, John 6:51-58, was read and discussed. Tom asked for any prayer requests and celebrated the Eucharist.

Tom welcomed Theresa Brion and Sharon Massie to the meeting. He informed the Vestry that Theresa, who has finished seminary and is interning at R.E. Lee in preparation for her future ordination, would like to learn more the about administration of the church. To assist her in achieving this goal she will attend Vestry and committee meetings and help out in the church office.

 

Approval of June Minutes: Accepted as published.

 

Report of the Dane Boston Discernment Committee: Tom moved this item up on the published agenda. The issue at hand was whether Dane Boston, who has just finished his first year at Yale Divinity School and is sponsored by this Parish, should be advanced from aspirant to postulant status. Once a candidate becomes a postulant, he or she becomes officially recognized by the Bishop as being in the ordination process. Tom noted that the Vestry of the sponsoring church, as well as the Rector, is required to recommend approval (or rejection) to the Bishop of the advancement of an aspirant, and that a quorum of the Vestry is essential in the vote. (Four members of the Vestry were absent, and two others had indicated that they needed to leave early.) The basis for the discussion was the formal, written report submitted by Dane’s Discernment Committee, whose members had been appointed by the Rector, and which was chaired by Elizabeth Harralson. Copies of the Discernment Committee report and Dane’s own “spiritual autobiography” had been mailed to all Vestry members in advance of the meeting. Elizabeth explained the role of the committee and that the committee believed Dane to be highly qualified for advancement. George commended the Discernment Committee for its fine work. Other members of the Vestry agreed and all commented favorably on Dane’s qualifications Tom asked for a vote recommending the approval of Dane Boston for postulancy. Passed unanimously (11/15 members present).

 

Committee Reports:

 

  • Christian Education: Sharon Massie, the Parish’s Director of Christian Education, reviewed the various Christian education events that occurred over the summer and what was planned for the fall. Vacation Bible School (VBS), which went from 27-31 July, was very successful, with 42 children in attendance and more than 30 adult and youth assistants helping out. Sharon believes that as a result of this positive experience, the Parish has potentially gained five new families. She thanked Tom for his extensive participation in VBS. With respect to the fall, Sharon noted that Godly Play and St. Francis Choir will resume on Wednesday, 19 August. Sunday School will begin on 23 August with a “Sundae School” introduction (ice cream in the patio courtyard along with songs, followed by registration and then short sessions in the various classrooms). She was also happy to report that she now has a full slate of teachers. The Youth Program will start with a pool party at the Crittendens on 23 August at 5:00 p.m. Howard Pickett will join returnees Mayumi Smitka and Catherine Kruse as youth workers this year. Sharon also briefly reviewed all the adult class offerings that she has organized and the tentative plans for resuming the Education for Ministry (EfM) course (scheduled to begin on 22 September). A printed copy listing all of the fall offerings is attached to this report in the Minutes Book.

 

  • Finance: Woody reviewed the monthly financial reports and reported that the church’s finances remain on track for this year. He noted that “free will offerings” are high, which has helped to offset the lower than expected pledge revenue. George commented that this may be due to the economy: Some parishioners who would ordinarily pledge were reluctant to commit ahead this year and opted instead to “offer as you go” by making periodic “free will offerings”. The first draft 2010 proposed budget, prepared by the Finance Committee, is $584,651.79, which is a 5% increase over this year’s budget. In this draft, expenses exceed income by $5,000. It also includes the Every Member Canvass goal of $390,000. Much massaging is still needed before the final proposed 2010 draft budget is sent to the Vestry in December.

 

  • Personnel and Administration: George stated that this committee, which he chairs, met on 6 August to determine recommendations to be made to the Finance Committee on 2010 pay raises for salaried (Tom, Kay Horner, Daniel Brinson, and Sharon Massie) and hourly wage (Gail Dick, Anita Ramp, Connie Bryant and the youth and nursery) workers. Last year, with the constrained economy anticipated for 2009, the decision was made to cap pay raises at 2.5%. For 2010, despite the economic uncertainty, it was the unanimous decision of the committee that a 3% raise should be recommended, though with some modifications:

a)      For the current full-time salaried personnel, Tom, Kay, and Daniel, a 3% raise was recommended.

b)      Sharon Massie is currently a ¾ time employee. With her increase in responsibilities, which included assumption of duties as Parish webmaster, the committee agreed to recommend that she be moved to full-time status. However, because she could not be given a 3% raise on top of the promotion, the committee recommended that she be awarded a bonus worth 3% of her 2009 salary.

c)      A 3% pay raise was also recommended in the hourly wage rate for Gail, Anita, and Connie. However, increases were not recommended for youth and nursery workers for 2010 because they are not long-time employees and their jobs are subject to frequent turnover.

d)     The Parish chaplain, Bob Crewdson, receives a flat fee stipend per month he works during the school year. There will be no increase this year.

 

  • Stewardship: In Susan’s absence, Tom provided an update on the Every Member Canvass. The same basic schedule and mailings will be used this year as were used last year. In addition, articles on stewardship written by committee members will be included in the “Cross and Crown” each month throughout the year. The campaign will officially kick off in mid-September with the objective of winding up the campaign by the end of October. The committee is still looking for a lay person to deliver the lay stewardship sermon on 4 October. Several Vestry members commented on the wonderful job that Jonathan Webster did last year in delivering this sermon. An invitation was extended to the Vestry to attend an “envelope stuffing party” for the initial stewardship mailing, which is scheduled for Wednesday, 9 September, at 5:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall.

 

  • Green: Elizabeth reported there was a good turnout for the Rockbridge Grown presentation on 24 June. The organization has a directory of local producers of meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables on their website, www.rockbridgegrown.org. On 30 September there will be a Harvest Dinner celebration at W&L from 5:00-7:15 p.m. featuring locally grown produce and vegetables. This event will be open to the public. On 8 November, after the 5:00 service, there will be a pot luck dinner in the Parish Hall, followed by a presentation from Chris Wise and Bill Hamilton from W&L on how the university is attempting to achieve green sustainability. John Milford mentioned that some of the local youth had participated in a gleaning project at an apple farm last year. All of the apples gleaned went to the Blue Ridge Food Pantry. John suggested that the church consider organizing such a project among the Parish youth.

 

  • Property:  John Milford advised the Vestry that the front wall of the Parish House appears to be stable with no further separation or closure detected in the last two months. With the repair of the Parish House roof, the installation of the new church sign, and the replacement of the air conditioning in the Parish House administrative spaces having been completed over the summer, the next large property project will be the replacement of the sidewalk in front of the Parish House. This is scheduled to begin on Monday, 24 August.  John Friedrichs, who was awarded the contract, anticipates that this will be a week-long job. When the sidewalk project has been completed, John will begin the re-pointing of the west side of the church building. He hopes to have this completed by the end of October. George noted that another grant, this one in the amount of $1000, had been received from the Historic Lexington Foundation to help us pay for re-pointing. John Milford noted that the Cadre Team has been working hard on the undercroft. Walls have been washed and primed, and are now in the process of being painted. The objective is to get the painting completed by the start of the Sunday School year. To achieve this more volunteer painters are needed. Work will continue this Friday (21 August) and Saturday (22 August) mornings. Paint and brushes will be provided.

 Old Business

  • VMDO Estimate on Undercroft Renovation. Elizabeth reported that she had finally received an estimate from Tom Hart on what it would cost to renovate the Undercroft using the VMDO plan. VMDO is an architectural firm which presented a plan for renovation of the space back in 2005, but the plan was never acted on. When she had been assigned earlier in the year to run the small ad hoc Vestry committee to review the future of the Undercroft, Elizabeth had questioned both the cost ($50,000 and $60,000, respectively) and the utility of the two Undercroft renovation plans that the Vestry had developed in late 2008. Tom Hart had provided the estimates for both of these plans, also. Tom’s estimate of the cost to implement the VMDO plan is about $85,000. He noted that the major added expense would come from the requirement to raise the ceiling and to move some utility units. Elizabeth stated that despite the cost, the Undercroft committee preferred the VMDO plan to the two 2008 plans. Tom Crittenden said that he would now like to take the initiative on this project. As a start he will set up a meeting with Tom Hart to discuss the VMDO plan and estimate. He would like R.E. Lee to agree on a plan that will last for many years, which might cost more up front. The future plan for the Undercroft is for it to house a choir room, an office for Daniel, a vesting room, a music library, and a handicapped restroom.

 

  • Status Update on Parishioner Gift for Interior Church Improvements and Improvement Plan:  Tom provided an update on the renovation of the church interior. John Sorrells, a local woodworker highly recommended by Tom Hart, has tentatively been selected to install the new hardwood floor and steps in the chancel. Mr Sorrells has submitted an estimate of $15,000 for the project, which is one-third less than the other estimate received. This figure is based on the installation of stained oak, which is about half the cost of using hard pine, the wood of the nave floors. Mr Sorrells has warned that his estimate may go up slightly, depending on what the current step risers are made of; he will have a team coming in on 1 September to remove some carpet and check that out. Mr Sorrells would begin work on 24 September, and the job will take about two weeks to complete, necessitating that services would again have to be conducted in the Parish Hall during this period.

 

The refurbishing of the original tile uncovered at the foot of the bell tower stairs is coming along slowly. The tile has been cleaned, but still needs to be brightened and sealed. The Rector is working with Keith Gibson on how best to proceed with this so as not to damage the tile. George noted that both he and the Junior Warden had received some highly negative feedback from several parishioners who don’t like the new tile in the narthex and on the bridge. Some have even suggested removing it and starting over again. George stated that the group who selected the tile consisted of several well-respected parishioners, some of long-standing, who had done their best to select the most appropriate tile. He observed that regardless of what had been chosen, there would always have been people who would not have been satisfied. In any case, to pull up that tile now and replace it would show fiscal irresponsibility in a tough economic time. He suggested moving on to more urgent tasks and then re-visiting the issue in a couple of years if there is sufficient support for it.

 

New Business

 

  • Letter from David Gates: George read a letter from David Gates, a parishioner and member of the choir, which stated his desire to leave the nave and chancel floors carpetless once the floorwork has been completed. Mr Gates’s basic argument was that the bare, re-finished floors are beautiful and that the acoustics will be much better without carpet on them. This generated a discussion of the carpet issue. Tom and George both noted that the current plan is for there to be carpet runners in all three aisles of the nave. The carpet in the center aisle will extend up the stairs to the chancel and then around the rail. George noted that the donor of the funds for the refurbishment of the church interior fully expects that carpet will be put down and that in his view not to do so would be breaking faith with her. Judy stated that she had been approached by several parishioners who wanted to know when carpet would be re-installed. The answer to this is that it will be a last step, as carpet cannot be put down until all the floorwork has been completed. Several points were discussed such as the noise factor and the safety of footing on bare floors. Tom noted that if the installation of carpet does eventually become an issue, it will be the Vestry which will make the ultimate decision. Mary Doyle mentioned that Jim Brinson has advised her that there is an acoustic carpet material, similar to that used in the new pew cushions, which is available on the market. Mr Gates’s letter is attached to these minutes in the Minutes Book.

 

  • Property/Finance Letter to the Vestry Requesting Matching Gadsden Funds for Capital Improvement: The Vestry considered a joint request made to it and the Trustees by the chairmen of the Property and Finance committees for Gadsden funds to match the recent donor gift of $50,000 for interior church improvements. The letter cited a paragraph in the Gadsden Guidelines (Joint Board of Trustees-Vestry Agreement of December 1985) which states that once Trustee-Vestry approval for capital expenditures has been received, the Gadsden Committee shall “set aside” the funds “for those purposes”, and that those funds shall subsequently be “allocated after one-half of the proposed project cost has been raised by the congregation from its own resources. No more than twenty-five percent of annual funds of the Gadsden Endowment will be allocated to capital projects of R.E. Lee Memorial Church in any single year.” To match the $50,000 donor gift, the letter requested that $12,500 be allocated from the Gadsden Fund per year over the next four years, stating that these amounts “should be well within the 25% limitation of Gadsden expenditures for capital projects in any single year.”

 

Tom noted that these funds would be greatly beneficial in completing the internal refurbishment of the church to the standard requested by the donor. The cost of finishing the improvements will exceed the amount of the gift, most notably in the estimated expenditures for the new chancel floor, for repair and enhancement of the bell tower floor, for completion of the electrical work, and for repair of the water damage around the rose and balcony steps windows. Elizabeth praised the new work that had already been done in the nave, balcony, and sanctuary but argued that the use of Gadsden funds was not the right way to complete it. First of all, she noted that a Three-Phase Master Plan for church improvements had been developed by an outside firm under contract from the Vestry in 2006. The first phase of the plan had been conducted in the form of our Capital Campaign and was now almost complete. The subsequent phases should be honored and the types of repairs/improvements identified in the joint Property-Finance letter should be included within them. Second, the letter did not completely conform to the requirements for a request for capital expenditures from Gadsden funds that were laid out in the 1985 agreement. The agreement specifically stated that grants could only be made on a one-year basis and the letter requested a four-year grant. Furthermore, the joint letter listed several items as justification for matching funds that did not fit within the original gift, such as repair of the front steps of the church and the patio in the church courtyard. In sum, she said that she preferred to raise the necessary additional funds by going back to the parish and requesting additional donations.

 

George said that he disagreed with Elizabeth on several things. Reference to the Master Plan was misplaced because when it was originally presented in 2006, the Vestry had realized that it was unattainable in its existing form. As a result, those items identified as key items but which had been placed in later phases were moved forward into Phase One, which had then been carried out as the present Capital Campaign. Consequently, neither the original Second nor Third phases remained in their original form anyway. Even if a new Second Phase could be developed it would take time to do so and more time to execute as a Capital Campaign. The present Campaign would not even be over until 31 December of this year. Those items which needed money to complete were immediate and could not wait for several years. George agreed with Elizabeth that the joint letter overlooked the one-year requirement in the 1985 agreement, but said that the request could be amended to state that the it was for one year only, with the proviso that subsequent one-year requests would be made annually for up to four years as long as the requirement could be justified and the overall $50,000 gift was not exceeded. He also agreed with Elizabeth that several of the items listed in the joint letter did not fit within the criteria of “matching”. These could easily be struck from a revised joint letter, but even when they were there would still be a need for additional funds to complete the renovation of the church interior, and so the basic intent of the letter remained valid. Finally, George said that in his view it made no sense to go back and ask the congregation for additional donations in this straitened economic environment and at a time when we are preparing to ask parishioners to increase their pledge amounts for 2010, if the money is available through Gadsden.

 

Tom asked for the opinions of other Vestry members. Woody, Judy, and John agreed that the letter needed refinement but that the request was valid and that the money was needed. Julia cited her personal memories of the Gadsden sisters when she was a little girl and how much they loved the church, the construction of which their grandfather, The Rev. William Nelson Pendleton, had overseen. She was sure that if they were asked, they would support the request. Punky asked whether taking out a line of credit to finance the remaining improvements had been considered. It had not, but in subsequent discussion this did not garner much support, as it would entail taking on additional debt. Sarah argued that the request was improper because it was made in the incorrect sequence; she stated that she had had a part in the original drafting of the 1985 agreement and the intent was that a request for matching funds should precede the raising of funds by the congregation. The opposite was occurring here. Several Vestry members stated that this did not make sense, since it unfairly restricted the availability of Gadsden funds to the church when parishioners wanted to be generous. Tim and Mary were concerned about the general description of the items in the joint letter; they seemed too open-ended and as Elizabeth had noted, went beyond the criteria of “matching funds”. However, they believed that they could support the request if this area was cleaned up to their satisfaction. After much additional discussion, Tom asked whether the issue should be voted on or deferred to the next Vestry meeting for more thought. The consensus was against deferral. Motion: Woody moved that the Vestry ask the Trustees to approve a request for Gadsden funds matching the Donor gift to support specified capital repairs and improvements in the interior of the church, such request to be made for one year in an amount up to $12,500. Julia seconded. Motion passed, 9-2.

 

Comments by the Wardens and Rector

 

  • Senior Warden: George let the Vestry know that the columbarium package is complete and available. Catherine Harcus, chairman of the Parish Life Guild, will be stepping down this month and a new chair will need to be identified. In the long term we will also be seeking a new leader for the Cadre Team. George asked Vestry members to begin thinking about potential new Vestry members. In order to stir parishioner interest and minimize misconceptions about Vestry duty, Tom is planning on conducting an orientation for potential new members in November, just before the annual Parish meeting. The new choir cabinet, approved for purchase in June by the Vestry, has been completed and delivered. Daniel Brinson is very pleased with the product. The 2010 Blue Ridge Garden Club Spring Garden Tour will occur on Saturday, 24 April next year. Jane Brooke is chair of the tour. Houses on the tour will be the old Rectory (Coxes home), the W&L President’s House, and the Lee-Jackson House. Because of the expected popularity of this particular tour and the proximity of the houses to our church, the club has asked to use the Parish House for serving refreshments for the event. They also would like to have a docent in the church to answer any questions people may have. More to follow.

 

  • Junior Warden: Judy commented that the pew cushions are in place and have received many favorable comments. However, several of the altar kneeling cushions do not fit correctly. These will be replaced by the contractor in September when the company representative again visits the church.

 

  • Rector: Tom told the Vestry that the Director of the YMCA (Suzanne Mayerchak) has asked the church for permission for the YMCA Middle School After School Program to use the Undercroft from 24 August to18 December for its fall activities. Usage would be for two and a half hours daily, Monday through Friday. The YMCA is currently renovating a space next to Tractor Supply for its program, but that will not be ready until the spring. After consulting with the Senior Warden, Tom has told the YMCA that permission would be granted but with a set of several strict provisions, to include adequate adult supervision, no meeting during the church’s bazaar week, no liability for the church, and certain vacation of the premises after the beginning of the December holiday break. Tom passed out a complete list of the provisions of use to each Vestry member. The Vestry agreed with the list but asked Tom to get further clarification on three items: That students will not be allowed in areas of the church other than the Undercroft unless engaged in supervised activities in areas permitted by the church; that students will not use the playground; and that nothing will be attached to the walls of the Undercroft (no tape, tacks, nails, etc.). Tom said that he would do so.

 

Closing prayer was offered by Mary Doyle. She read an Irish blessing.

Meeting adjourned at 7:45.

Next meeting will be Monday September 21 at 5:00 in the Parish Hall. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Gail G. Dick, Clerk