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July 29, 2007

Notes from the June Vestry Meeting

Rector’s Report: the Rev. Mike Spillane
Fr. Mike presented the information and printed material that will be used at the town hall meetings, starting at noon and 7 PM tomorrow.

He feels strongly that God’s spirit is working through Trinity, from input from parishioners, the incredibly effort and enthusiastic participation of staff, and the way the new program has come together. Programmatic changes discussed at the Vestry retreat have been further refined, and are placed into a context that clarifies the profound redevelopment that must take place in order for our community to flourish and grow:

Phase I (last year) Budgetary issues addressed: resulting in financial health and a process that moves us toward a balanced budget.

Phase II (this year) Community Health: symptoms of current “ill health” include four disparate services; volunteer burnout; we are stuck in existing patterns; clergy-staff-laity spread too thin.

Phase III (future) Focus on Mission: turning outward to our community and our world in mission and ministry.

The ten-year trend of numbers of baptized members, pledge dollars, and average Sunday attendance shows that while the first two parameters have held somewhat stable, average Sunday attendance is roughly half what it was in 2001.

The current focus is on community health; the vision is of a community where there is a place for everyone (including ages 8-18, currently under-represented), everyone is spiritually fed and growing, and there is a balance of workload and people resources, and people discover their growth opportunities.

The first step toward creating a healthy community will be a change in Sunday worship, with a total of two services, an 8:30 contemplative “Peace” service, and a lively 10:30 “Joy” service with extensive youth involvement. The approximately 45 minutes between services will be a “Forum” for fellowship, intergenerational, and adult education activities. “Give us two hours of your Sunday morning” will be the expectation created. The details of each worship service have not been fully defined but may be expected to evolve over time as we try different things and staff gets feedback.

Fr. Mike emphasized that much input from the parish had already been obtained during his three months here, through the profile, the “dream” sessions, and conversations with many individuals and small groups. He also emphasized the ability to better marshal the resources we have with two services, and the fact that the solution involves “shared sacrifice” with many constituencies giving up valued practices for the common good.

Consent Agenda: Howard Smith
Two items were forwarded from Executive Committee with recommendations for approval without additional discussion:

1) The purchase of lightweight tables for Angus and Trinity Halls with funds coming from the Memorial Fund as recommended by the Finance Committee ($5700). Moved, seconded, and approved.

2) Securing a maintenance contract for the air haulers in Angus and Trinity Halls ($1000), with funds derived from the Maintenance Budget. Moved, seconded, and approved.

Memorial Garden: Howard Smith, Peter Bostock
The Buildings & Grounds Commission has estimated a $2000 unbudgeted expense to repair the irrigation system in the Memorial Garden and do extensive weeding. As noted in the Finance Committee minutes, perhaps we need a mechanism to find parishioners who might be willing to take on some of this work as a stewardship commitment, rather than always “writing a check.” Peter reminded the group that we have had three workdays already this season, and will probably need to plan for another one before Fr. Mike’s installation. A motion was made to approve up to $2000 for these repairs, funding to come from the Memorial Garden Fund. Motion seconded and approved.

Mission/Vision Subcommittee: Linda Hubbard Gulker
The first meeting of this subcommittee, consisting of Linda, Cathy, and Jeannie, will occur next week. The group plans to bring initial ideas to the next Vestry meeting. The deliverable is a proposed set of statements, or perhaps multiple sets for discussion, that capture the essence of Trinity’s unique vision and mission.

Communications: Linda Hubbard Gulker
Linda’s primary efforts with regard to the Web site have to been move it to a more sustainable model with controlled access by a small group of trained users to allow for frequent and easy updates. We have gotten outside assistance at a favorable rate from a designer, to further facilitate navigation from the home page. This is an iterative process which ultimately will result in easier access by end-users. Linda is researching existing platforms available to non-profit organizations. This discovery process involves talking to vendors and existing church customers, as well as evaluating the options associated with the underlying architecture.