Present at the meeting were vestry members Jaci Lageson, Nickie Van
Stelten, Rochelle Wegman, Sr. Warden Nancy Zwickey, Jr. Warden Ray
Splinter, Fr. Paul Rider, Secretary Tracy Muhlenbeck, Beth Davis, Jim
McGuire, Missy Manderfeld, and Bill Gray.

The Vestry meeting was opened with a brief study from A Disciple’s
Prayer Book, page 37, “A Gathering”, and a reflection on a scripture
verse. Fr. Paul focused the group on the attitude of service and the
idea that God calls us to regard others in higher esteem than we would
consider ourselves.

Fr. Paul spent some time discussing the way Vestry meetings should
be run and asked for input about this topic. Following is a list of the
points brought up:

Firm agenda with set ending time
Meeting should start on time
No interruptions
Agenda item time allotments
Consent agenda
Members should come prepared and with a smile
Members should agree to disagree
Each should listen respectfully
The meeting should begin and end in prayer
Remember the church’s mission in decision making
Members should follow through

Extensive discussion was put into the idea of having a consent
agenda. Some believed that all reports should be presented and debated
and some felt that if a committee had already done the work, that the
reports did not need to be labored over in the Vestry meeting.

The minutes from the last meeting were e-mailed to Vestry members
and printed in the Chronicle. Motion to approve minutes as printed was
made by Ray Splinter. Seconded by Nancy Zwickey. Approved.

Financial Report

Bill Gray distributed and led discussion of the Financial Report. He
pointed out items on the balance sheet and reported that nothing had
been taken from investments to balance the books in about three years.
Income is ahead of projections on investments but not on plate and
pledge. Some debate was held over what was to be considered plate and
what was pledge. Fr. Paul understands that any money given which is not
pledge, is plate? According to Jaci Lageson, Lowell is giving a
statement to anyone giving regularly. Nancy Zwickey and Bill Gray will
put a note in the Chronicle about the policy about the 3rd Sunday’s
plate going to Fr. Paul’s Discretionary Fund.

Fr. Paul noted that there must be an error in his check amount as it
is currently the same as what he was getting when Social Security was
being removed. Bill Gray will check with Lowell on this item and Fr.
Paul will call David at the Diocese to try to straighten out the
problem.

Nancy Zwickey and Fr. Paul would like the finance committee to
create the PO# so that Lowell will know where to charge items and so
that expenses can be tracked.

Bill Gray pointed out hat the budget for snow removal for the entire
year is already exceeded. Snow will still need to be removed this year
during the next winter. It was agreed that the current snow removal
company is still charging a reasonable amount.

Motion to approve the Financial Report was made by Bill Gray.
Seconded by Beth Davis. Approved unanimously.

Bill has offered to put the Financial Report into the Vestry members
mailboxes the week before the Vestry meeting so they can be reviewed in
advance of the Vestry meeting in order to speed up the process.

Team Reports
Property Team

Ray Splinter presented the property team’s report on the
consideration of the gift of a vehicle by Nancy Zwickey.  Details
are in the report.

Parking Lot Team

The property team has collected names of property owners and found a
law on the books about parking requirements for landlords. Beth has a
copy of the ordinance from the city and will give it to Ray. Fr. Paul
and Jerry Wegman put into effect the procedure of placing warning
flyers on cars and then the second notice that towing of unauthorized
vehicles will begin on March 14 after 6:00 a.m. Fr. Paul asked if Jerry
has contacted All American Towing. Ray said that they had. The property
committee will be getting down to business. Beth inquired that with
this policy in place, was there any reason for the property committee
to pursue notification of the property owners.

Communication Team

Beth Davis discussed publicity. She thought a better job had been
done lately, although the information in the newspaper about services
was incorrect. People in the congregation did not know about the jazz
mass. Missy Manderfeld thought that the jazz mass should have been
better advertised to the community. Beth thought that when the choir
knew about it, everyone else should have.

Check In

Missy Manderfeld has spoken with her constituents. She has heard
that they like Fr. Paul and enjoy his sermons. Nickie Van Stelton has
talked to most of her constituents with a few exceptions. Barb &
Will Partridge have a new e-mail address. Nickie will give it to us.
Everyone is happy and/or thinks we are doing better than in the past.
Jim McGuire has not talked with anyone new. He is happy to get an
updated constituency list. Rochelle Wegman has not contacted anyone on
her list. She noted that the guys who worked on the Shrove Tuesday
pancake supper had a good time. Jaci Lageson submitted her resignation
to the Vestry. It is not possible for her to continue on. Bill Gray
noted that the procedure is for the Vestry to call and appoint a
replacement.

Jr. Warden

Fr. Paul asked Ray if anyone has talked to him about the organ
repair estimate given for $1,900 to have the pipes realigned. There was
some discussion about the need followed by a motion by Rochelle Wegman
to approve the expense of $1,900 to realign the pipes and the structure
which holds them in place with funds from the capital fund. Seconded by
Missy Manderfeld. Approved.

Bill Gray believes that memorial funds were given by Betsy Fowler.
He does not know what the balance is, as it is a part of the investment
funds. Jim would like to know the amount of money dedicated to music in
memorial funds.

Ray reported that there was a successful clean up around the church.
Lights were installed in the office and kitchen.

Sr. Warden

Nancy Zwickey discussed the constituency list. She noticed that
there are some people missing, including Gary Hudson. She suspects that
he made the original list. She asked the Vestry members to review,
correct and add any missing members. She also asked the Vestry to get
e-mail addresses from members, if possible. Although the meeting date
for the Vestry was moved to accommodate her schedule, Nancy realizes
now that a proper meeting cannot be held the first Tuesday of the month
because of month end reports. Therefore, Nancy Zwickey presented a
motion to move the Vestry meeting back to the 2nd Tuesday of the month.
Bill Gray seconded. Approved unanimously.

Nancy expressed her determination not to focus on the money the
church does not have. She also would like everyone to contact their
constituents and invite them to the progressive dinner.

Priest-In-Charge

Fr. Paul reviewed his Time/Job Event pie chart. He is still working
on the personal contact category. He wants to see that happen more. He
reported on the Campus Ministry Dinner. There were about two dozen
people invited. There were only four in attendance besides Winnie
Mitchell, Kevin Bullock, and Fr. Paul. Although he was disappointed
with the turn out, he was not disappointed with the discussion. He
feels a definite call for the church to be involved in campus ministry.
He invited the Vestry for prayer for discernment about where the
congregation is being led. There was a good turn out for the Ash
Wednesday service. He is also pleased with the attendance at Lenten
services so far. He is especially thankful for the wide range of
presenters for the Women of Faith series. Bill Gray noted that the
women who are presenting and being presented should be published in the
bulletin.

Fr. Paul is also thankful for the soup and bread servers and the
turn out for the pancake supper.  He praised Rochelle for the
great job decorating and the door prizes for the pancake supper. He
would like to put together a fellowship committee who job would be to
oversee events and make sure there is advertisement for them. Any
suggestions would be welcome.

Finally, Fr. Paul announced the information about the upcoming Palm
Sunday procession to be held at 2:00 p.m. on April 4, Palm Sunday. St.
John’s will join congregations up and down Broad with “Unity in
Diversity” as the theme.

Work of the Church: Current
Van Gift

At the last Vestry meeting, the members were asked to consider the
gift of a van by Nancy Zwickey and to be prepared to discuss and vote
on the item at this meeting. The property team has suggested the
acceptance of the gift of the vehicle and, if acceptable to Nancy, the
sale of the van. There was considerable discussion about the “dream of
the church owning a van” vs. “the reality of owning, maintaining, and
storing a van.” A motion to accept the gift of a van from Nancy Zwickey
was made by Beth Davis. Seconded by Nickie Van Stelten. Passed
unanimously.

Missy Manderfeld mad a motion to accept the recommendation of the
property committee to sell the van and deposit the funds into the
capital fund. Seconded by Beth Davis. Approved unanimously. Bill noted
that a receipt for the book value will need to be given to Nancy and
then the van could be put on a consignment lot. Someone will need to
look into the insurance coverage needed so that potential purchasers
may drive it.

Fr. Paul was grateful to hear the comments and become grounded about
the details. He was very excited about the prospect of moving elderly,
kids to VBS and Sunday School. It must not be something we can do at
this time. Nancy will deal with Ray to transfer the title.

Secretary Search

Tracy explained the difficult decision she has had to make to resign
from the position of Parish Secretary. She submitted her notice to Fr.
Paul on February 19. She has agreed to stay on until after Easter so as
not to leave the church in the position of searching for a secretary
during Lent. Beth moved to accept (with regret) the resignation of
Tracy Muhlenbeck as Secretary and to authorize the Personnel Committee
to begin a search. Seconded by Jim McGuire. Passed unanimously.

Work of the Church: Future
Phone System

Mary Reeves was scheduled to present the options for the phone
system but was not in attendance. Fr. Paul is unhappy about the way the
phones work for several reasons. Fr. Paul and Tracy met with Mary and
she was going to come up with a plan to help manage some of the
problems while keeping costs down. Fr. Paul thought he should discuss
it with the property committee and he and Ray arranged to meet for
coffee.

Vestry Retreat

Fr. Paul had lined up a facilitator for the retreat scheduled for
the weekend of March 12–13 but the person had to cancel. The Vestry
wished to keep the meeting scheduled since rescheduling was so
difficult. The meeting was shortened to Saturday, March 13, from 9:00
a.m. to noon.

Calendar

Beth made an observation about a calendar item distributed in the
Chronicle. The April calendar had been included without any of the Holy
Week information on it. Beth noted that it should not have been
included without adequate information.

Nancy indicated that the Progressive Dinner was planned for the
evening of April 24. The rummage sale is also on that Friday the 23 and
Saturday the 24 of April. Rochelle Wegman brought up the idea of having
an upcoming agenda posted. Perhaps a flip chart with upcoming items on
it.

Closing

Fr. Paul closed the meeting with prayer.

Action Items

Bill Gray will check with Lowell regarding the correct amount of
Fr. Paul’s check.
Fr. Paul will call David at the Diocese regarding the payroll
issues.
The Finance Committee will create Purchase Order #’s for tracking
expenses.
Bill Gray will put the Financial Report in the mailboxes of the
Vestry members the week before the Vestry meeting for review.
Beth Davis will give a copy of the city ordinance regarding
parking to Ray Splinter.
Nickie Van Stelten will give Barb and Will Partridge’s new e-mail
address to the church office for entry into the database.
The Vestry will appoint a replacement for Jaci Lageson.
Vestry members will review, correct or add any members missing
from their list of constituents and obtain any available e-mail
addresses.
Vestry members will contact and invite their constituents to the
Progressive Dinner on April 24.
Nancy Zwickey will get together with Ray Splinter to transfer the
title for the gifted van.