Approved Vestry Meeting Minutes
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Benicia
September 15, 2020 @ 7:00 via Zoom
Next Meeting: October 20 @ 7:00 via Zoom
Call to Order: The September 15, 2020 Vestry meeting was called to order at 7:04 pm by the Rev. Annie Pierpoint Mertz.
Present: Cathy Cellini, Heather Healy, Charlie Kilbourne, Helen Kennedy- Lazar, Yann Jouvenot Sells (Senior Warden), Rev. Annie Pierpoint Mertz (Rector), Ken Nowinski, Kim Rodekohr (Junior Warden), Art Schipper (Interim Treasurer), David White, Betsy Zampa (Clerk), Giovanna Zampa (Youth Advisor).
Absent: Jorge Castaneda
Kim Rodekohr shared a reading by Victoria Erickson.
Consent Calendar
Approval of August Vestry Minutes – Cathy Cellini made a motion to approve the Vestry minutes from the August 18, 2020 meeting. Helen Kennedy-Lazar seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
Treasurer’s report – Rev. Annie Pierpoint Mertz made a motion to approve the Discretionary Account Memo that Art Shipper prepared (see attached). Kim Rodekohr seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
Revised May, June, July Treasurer’s Monthly Reports – Art Schipper reported that he’d revised the May, June and July Treasurer’s monthly reports to reflect that the church had spent the Paycheck Protection funds appropriately during said months. A motion was made by Helen Kennedy-Lazar to approve the revised Treasurer’s Reports for May, June and July. Heather Healy seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
August Treasurer’s Monthly Report – Dave White made a motion to approve the August 2020 Treasurer’s report. Yann Jouvenot Sells seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Reports
Junior Warden – Kim Rodekohr moved that the Vestry accept the $8500 proposal from Apco Paving (see attached) and pay for the project out of one of the church reserve accounts. Helen Kennedy-Lazar seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
Kim reported that she is still investigating the reason that our water use/bill has been significantly higher .
Kim asked for and got volunteers to help paint the inside of the rectory.
Kim stated that Bay Alarm had discovered that the fire alarm in the rectory is not monitored by an alarm service. She will make sure that this gets done and that the insurance company is aware that we have a monitored service, which may provide some discount on the premium.
Senior Warden – Yann reported that he and Annie are working on options to craft a mission statement.
They are also looking at ideas for more professional audio-visual equipment so that St. Paul’s can produce quality video of the church services going forward, even when the pandemic has ended.
Yann reported on a Solano Pride and Faith Service which will be taking place in October with Fr. Mack Olson. More details to come.
Rector’s Report – Annie reported that she is in touch with a person who has expertise in audio visual equipment.
She is launching a course entitled Sacred Ground and seven people have signed up.
She is beginning a baptismal course for four families.
At the Worship Committee Meeting which will take place tomorrow night Rev. Annie anticipates that they will talk about doing only one 10 am live streamed service beginning in November.
Rev. Annie polled the Vestry on finding a day to attend a “Finding our why Workshop.” The date is Saturday, October 3 from 3 – 4:30 pm on Zoom.
Annie was pleased to report that Donna Patey has agreed to be the Pledge Drive Coordinator. We will be using The Episcopal Network of Stewardship (TENS) program which will be launched on the last Sunday of October and run through November. The ingathering will be on Sunday, November 29th.
Fall Stewardship & Fundraising
Report from digital fundraiser webinar – Charlie Kilbourne and Cathy Cellini attended the Fall Fundraising & Stewardship Seminar. Charlie gave a report on what they’d learned from the seminar and agreed to send out the links to the power point and webinar to the rest of the Vestry.
Links Follow:
Virtual Galas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjStQoaVD_A&feature=youtu.be
PowerPoint
Vestry Class of 2024 – The Vestry discussed a list of folks who might be interested and able to serve on the Vestry in beginning in 2021. An initial group of three was decided upon. Dave White will check with his person, Kim Rodekohr will check with the other and Annie will check with the third.
Call for Adjournment and Closing Prayer – Helen Kennedy- Lazar made motion was made to adjourn the Vestry meeting. Kim Rodekohr seconded the motion.
Rev. Annie closed the meeting in prayer at 8:29 pm.
Submitted,
Betsy Zampa, Clerk
E-Vote
On 9/29/20 The Rev. Annie Pierpoint Mertz sent out an email with the following motion:
I move that we approve this contract (attached – Benicia Contract.doc) and empower Yann to sign it on our behalf.
The motion passed unanimously on 9/30/20.