St. John’s Episcopal Church

Bangor, Maine

August 8, 2006

Present: Fr. Wingert, R. Borok, D. Lewis, J. Perry, J. Olsen, J. Blanchette, S. Brakey, E. J. Hikel, C. Leick,  J. Pickering.   Excused:  J. Allen, J. Wilson.  Absent:  S. Hunt, H. Souweine.

Fr. John opened the meeting with prayer and a scripture reading from Second Peter. 

Minutes

The minutes of the June 13th meeting were accepted as presented.

Treasurer’s Report

            Don reported that we are a little ahead of where we expected to be at this time primarily because expenses are below budget.  Income, however, is down considerably.  Investment income needs to be dispersed to individual accounts.  This is normally done twice yearly and will be posted soon.  There is also still a need to have an audit before we call the new rector and Don will ask Bill Soule to head that up.

Wardens’ Reports

            Senior Warden R. Borok reported that a meeting is scheduled for 5:30 on September 12th with Linton, Bishop Knudsen, the Discernment Committee and the Vestry to go over the profile which will be circulated ahead of that date.  There was discussion as to whether the Vestry would hold its regular monthly meeting afterward or would postpone their scheduled meeting to September 19th.  It was decided that the Vestry would meet immediately following the profile meeting with the idea that if it could not complete its routine business at that time, a further meeting would take place on the 19th to allow it to finish its agenda.    Discussion was held concerning a possible meeting with Linton on October 12th to discuss church management issues with particular reference to church size and how that relates to its operation, what is expected of the Rector, and what is expected of the Vestry.  It was decided that Father John will brief the Vestry members on this matter along with information on cannons that Vestry members should be aware of.  Robin reported that several members of the Vestry had attended the meeting with Bishop Knudsen at St. Patrick's in Brewer regarding the National Convention held in Columbus and recommended that we have a diocesan facilitator come to St. John's to talk about convention issues.  Don reminded us that it is very important that both sides need to be adequately represented and it is possible that the right facilitator might be able to assure that is accomplished.  Father John asked that E.J., John and Robin work with him as a committee on this matter.

Interim Rector’s Report

            Summer Services - Attendance has been holding up although still somewhat lower that attendance during the winter months.  The Saturday service has consistently seen between 13 and 24 in attendance and will continue through August.  There will be an effort to find out why the young people from All Soul's who had initially shown interest in being involved musically with this service did not follow through and the possibility of continuing this service into September should that interest be rekindled was put forth.   Father John will be on vacation the week of August 20th and Rev. Charlene Alling will be with us.  He will return for services the following Saturday.  Nine people attended the Inquirers' Class last week and Fr. John anticipates that attendance will probably increase to about twelve.  Sexton Steve Gatchell is still ill after his recent hospitalization but has returned home and is doing better with several medications.  If Steve is not able to return to his duties at St. John's soon it will be necessary to address this problem next month.  Steve works fifteen hours a week and Don reports that he has been paid for the last two weeks although he only worked one of those weeks.  Don will also continue to pay Steve for the next month.  It was suggested that possibly the cleaning person who cleans at Don's business could assist during Steve's absence.  Fr. John will call Claudia Lewis for that person's phone number and see about arrangements to clean 234 French St.  The church is already cleaned through contracted service.

 Committee/Commission Reports

            Finance Committee:  Don is continuing to try to resolve the problem with Citibank regarding the lease on the Rizzo machine.  He requested authorization to expend up to $1500 for repair on the organ which was voted on and approved unanimously.  Ongoing problems with the sound system persist.  Hal Wheeler has said perhaps the installation of two additional speakers would help the problem.  Fr. John will contact George Wilde at New England School of Broadcasting to see if he has any additional suggestions.  Speaking a little louder and more slowly may help the problem.  However, it is not a long-term solution. 

            Communication Committee:  Steve advises he has doubled the size of our ad and has added information on the Saturday service.  Current cost is $140/week.  He hopes to add more people to his committee at Rally Day and assign specific areas of responsibility to individual persons. The web site is not easily updated and may need more templates.  He will follow up with Travis on an article for publication concerning the choir.

            Property Committee:  Jeff is awaiting two quotes for the remaining work to be done on the neighbor's driveway and the Church's walkways.  The masons are pretty much done and they will pull the scaffolding this week.  He is hoping to work out an amicable solution to the difficulties with the neighbors to the west.

            Education Committee:  A meeting is scheduled this Thursday evening to make plans for the new year.  Robin, Fr. John and E.J. are hoping to find better leadership for our Christian Education Program although because the number of children currently participating is so low it would not be profitable to pay too much for this.  A coordinator may or may not be a paid position.  In any event, this matter should be high on the new rector's list of items needing attention.

            Worship Committee:   John Pickering  is looking with Fr. John at possibilities that might create energy in our worship.

            Discernment Committee:  John reported the Discernment Committee will meet Wednesday as a group.  They have a document in hand that he feels will be in final form within two weeks.  They will look at different ways of having this profile accessible.  The Discernment Committee has had a busy summer with meetings, sometime two meetings, each week.  They have done an incredible amount of work and feel their task is nearly done.  Steven brought up the possibility of advertising outside the country.      

            Stewardship Committee:  Jim advised the theme for this year's campaign will be "Wisdom and Love."  A letter is planned to go out addressing several issues, i.e., the expected arrival of a new rector, Steve Gatchell's illness, and other items of concern to parishioners.  Pledges for this year are way down and it will be vitally important that this year's campaign increase contributions, especially in light of anticipated increases in costs for the new rector, heating, etc.  Several people have left our Church and there were 30 less pledges this year than last.  These "seeds of disaster" must be addressed and ways need to be found to make this year's campaign more successful.  A special meeting on September 5th will be held with Vestry members, the Stewardship Committee, and the Finance Committee gathering to address financial concerns and ideas for a successful campaign.  Meeting time will be either 6 or 7 p.m. - and members will be notified.  Fr. John expressed his deep concern about these financial issues and said we may need to prepare a contingency budget if we come up too short of our financial goal.

Old Business

            Fr. John and Steve are working with Sue on the plans for accomodations, etc. for our visitors from Haiti -  Les Petites Chanteurs on 9/26-27.  

New Business

            In order to increase room for greetings and fellowship, Fr. John made the suggestion that the coat racks could be moved into the back of the Church.  He also suggested the placement of the Children's Chapel in the back of the Church may be giving the wrong message about children.  He suggests that it could easily be placed up front where the baptismal font is now located and where it could be utilized in the event a children's service is added.

            Since Brother Donald and Brother Kenneth are no longer with us, the status our ministry in Haiti was discussed and it was decided to keep things as they are for the present.  Our outreach in the community needs improvement.

            The subject of a Columbarium - a repository for deceased members' ashes - will be deferred for a couple months until more information is available.

            The Ministry/Volunteer Fair will be held on September 10 but little was known of the plans since committee members Heather and Judy were absent.  It was decided to make it a "Pizza Party"  along with fresh veggies. 

            In a memo to Fr. John, Don had asked about the use of the Church for same-sex unions, and dissolution of marriages along with other issues.  Fr. John spoke at length about the many issues dividing the Episcopal Church including its deteriorating relationship with the Anglican Communion.  He spoke of the many issues that were of concern at the convention in Columbus and his fears for the future of the Episcopal Church which has already been seeing dwindling membership since 2003..  He emphasized the importance of the members of St. John's expressing their wishes concerning these issues so that they can be shared with potential rectors.  As indicated above, E. J., John, and Robin will work with Fr. John on setting up a meeting of the parish with a facilitator to talk about these divisive issues.

The meeting was  adjourned at 8:55  p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Joanne Olsen

Clerk