The regular monthly meeting of the Vestry of R. E. Lee Memorial Church was held Monday, April 20, 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, Jay Crawford, Susan Cross, Punky Dod, Mary Doyle, Timothy Gaylard, Elizabeth Harralson, Sarah Lanford, Julia Littlefield, John Milford, Dick Rathmell, Woody Sadler, Don Whittington, and Gail Dick, clerk.

Lesson and Eucharist: The Gospel appointed for the Second Sunday in Easter (John 20:19-31) was contemplated and discussed. Tom asked for any prayer requests and celebrated the Eucharist.

Approval of March Minutes: Accepted as published.

Committee Reports:

• Christian Education:  Mary Doyle read the report submitted to her by Sharon Massie, the Director of Christian Education. The committee, chaired by Steve Grist, last met on 26 February, and meets quarterly. Sharon and Steve meet monthly. On Sunday, 3 May, during his annual visit, Bishop Powell will lead an adult forum in the Parish Hall beginning at 9:15. The regularly scheduled adult education classes will not meet on that day. Beginning on 10 May, at 9:30 in the Parish House conference room, a four-week adult education class entitled “What Would It Take to Change the World?” will be conducted. This class will focus on the themes raised by the hymn, “Amazing Grace”. Regular Sunday School classes will end on 31 May. A picnic on the church grounds to honor the teachers will follow the 10:30 service on that day. Vacation Bible School (VBS) will be conducted 8-12 June from 9:00 to noon. The start-up meeting for VBS will be held on 22 April, and anyone interested in helping is encouraged to attend. Regular Sunday School classes will resume on 23 August, with Welcoming Sunday scheduled for 13 September.
• Finance: Woody reported that the Finance Committee did not meet this month. However, he distributed and reviewed both the long and short versions of the “Statement of Revenues and Expenses for the Period Ending 31 March”. (A copy of the short version is attached to these minutes.) Under revenues Woody noted that the plate offerings were down about $1000 from what had been projected, perhaps because to the weak economy. He also cautioned that while overall income is ahead of projections, this is likely due to the fact that some parishioners pay their full annual pledge at the beginning of the year. On the expense side, Woody stated that the administrative staff had done a good job in keeping costs down, and that the gas bill has been much lower this year than had been projected. On the latter, Tom was commended for his diligence in monitoring and fine tuning the thermostats.
• Endowment and Investments: Jay reported the proceedings of the last meeting of this committee, held on 17 March. Bob Glidden had reviewed the status of the Capital Campaign; he noted that there are still about $114K (46K in restricted funds and 68K in unrestricted) in unpaid pledges that are due before the Campaign ends on 31 December of this year. Spend-down of Campaign funds will be controlled to allow for flexibility in future years if pledges are not fully paid. Dan Vance had provided an update on the status of the parish’s investments in firms doing business with the government of the Sudan: the latest figure is about twelve one-hundredths of one percent, a very small figure which would not be worth the effort to try to reduce further. Dan also stated that there had been a drop of 31% in the value of the church portfolio in 2008 and an additional 10% thus far in 2009. However, he noted that because this tracked with the drop in the stock market he recommended leaving the investments just as they are at present. The committee also decided that the Junior Warden should be a full member. The parish’s financial secretary, Anita Ramp, will be invited to the next meeting to review some of the current church funds.
• Green: Elizabeth reminded everyone that next Sunday is Rogation Sunday. Tom will conduct a “blessing of the earth” following the 10:30 service. The previously announced mug “in-take” will be that day as well. Paper coffee cups are to be eliminated and replaced by donated mugs. Parishioners will be encouraged to donate any excess mugs to the church in support of this initiative. Elizabeth also noted that there will be a joint Green-Property presentation to the congregation on Wednesday, 22 April (Earth Day) of the findings of the energy audit. See the Property Committee section below for more details.
• Property: John reported that the Cadre Team has now been organized and that Merce Brooke is heading it up. A list of projects is being identified for the team to work on. Gordon Woodcock has already begun by filling some potholes in the driveway. This month’s measurement of the displacement in the south wall of the Parish House revealed that the gap has continued to shrink and now is about 1/16ths of an inch. The final report on the energy audit will be presented by the three VMI cadets who conducted it to the congregation at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 22 April in the Parish Hall. The format will be a PowerPoint presentation followed by a Q&A period. John Burleson is coordinating for the church. Woody stated that he had heard the report when it was previously presented at the Mechanical Engineering Department at VMI and had been quite impressed. George suggested, and the Vestry agreed, that it would be appropriate to present each of the cadets with a copy of General Lee’s Church as a token of our appreciation for their work. Woody also suggested that a letter commending the cadets be sent to the VMI superintendent, General Peay. George agreed to do that.

Old Business

• Parish House Roof Contract: John advised that Largent Roofing out of Harrisonburg had been retained to do the roofing project for the Parish House and the roof over the elevator shaft. Largent’s bid was $2815 and will be paid for out of the operating budget. Bill Reid, Largent’s project officer, has told John that he expects that work can begin next week. Bill also has asked to have the firm which installed the air conditioning unit condensers on the roof to come out and properly seal the lines which go into the roof. This should be done at the same time as Largent’s roofers do their work, if possible. None of the Vestry members could recall who had done that work, but Tom said that it had been arranged through Tom Hart. Once the roofing work has been completed, the water damage to the ceilings of the rooms on the top floor of the Parish House and to the elevator shaft sheathing will be addressed.
• Church Facility Electrical Repair: Status:  John stated that three electrical companies have submitted proposals to correct the electrical problems in the church building and the Parish House which were identified in the Aulbach report. These proposals, however, were still incomplete at the time of the Vestry meeting, as only Lexington Electric had presented the requested separate written bids for the rewiring of the chandeliers ($5727) and the general electrical work ($2474). Shenandoah Electric submitted a single written bid of $4000 and has been asked to clarify this. Donald Electric has submitted only a general verbal proposal of $2000, but has promised that a written bid will be forthcoming this week. Once all proposals have been received in the proper format, Property will coordinate with the Finance Committee on funds availability and make a recommendation to the Vestry on which bid to select.
• Parish House Sidewalk Repaving/Safety Improvements: Three proposals have been received regarding the repaving and raising of the sidewalk in front of the Parish House. All three would remove the present sidewalk, re-lay the bed for better drainage, re-pave, and replace at least one of the steps leading down to Washington Street. John Friedrichs, who is doing the re-pointing of the church, submitted a written bid of $9900 to redo the sidewalk, replace the top step, and resurface the other step. Larry Hostetter presented a written bid of $8304, and includes replacement of all the Washington Street steps. Tom Hart submitted a written bid of $10,800 on behalf of a firm from Lynchburg which he employs. The Hart figure also includes Tom’s 15% commission. Property will coordinate with the Finance Committee and make a recommendation to the Vestry on which bid to select.

• Columbarium Update from March:  Dick presented a draft policy statement and proposed “Columbarium Niche Certificate of Reservation” legal document in response to a Vestry tasking made at its March meeting. Unfortunately, many of the Vestry members had received these items too late to thoroughly review them and so a decision on whether to accept them was tabled until May. Dick noted several things that the policy statement attempted to address. These included affording people the opportunity to pay now for the right to reserve a niche for the future; and that a name must be associated with any reserved niche, but that if that person cannot be located after a reasonable time has passed the niche reverts to the church. Dick also stated that physical construction of all present niches has been fully paid for and that any new monies received for niche reservations would go into a columbarium fund used to construct new niches. However, payments for niche reservations would not be tax-deductible as “donations”. Elizabeth stressed that the policy document must make it clear that a person who reserves a niche does not “own” it; rather, the church does, and the person merely reserves it “in perpetuity”. George observed that the church also must establish a clear, readily accessible records tracking system for niche reservations to avoid potential legal problems. Dick asked that Vestry members thoroughly review the policy statement and reservation document before the 18 May Vestry meeting and submit any recommendations to him. Particular attention should be paid to the question of whether a niche reservation fee should be refundable.
• Undercroft Project:  Elizabeth reported that she will have an estimate from Tom Hart on the VMDO plan for renovating the Undercroft by next month’s Vestry meeting. This will provide a third estimate for a thorough renovation of these spaces once the funds become available to consider it. In the short term the steps proposed last month to make the Undercroft a more usable area should be undertaken now. These include removing the rails and putting new locks on all the doors to the utility rooms. The Cadre Team will be asked to move along this summer with items they can take care of such as painting, re-plastering, removing the old radiator hooks, and ensuring that the overhead lights are more securely wired.
• Placing of “Episcopal Church Welcomes You” Signs:  Elizabeth provided a follow-up report on her efforts to secure placement of an “Episcopal Church Welcomes You” sign in Lexington. She has found that such a sign cannot be placed within the city limits of Lexington. This restriction includes placement on the large civic organization signboards on routes 11 and 60 due to lack of space on the boards. Bill Blatter, the city zoning and planning director, also informed her that she would have to get VDOT permission to place a sign on the right-of-way in the county and he thought that obtaining such permission would be unlikely. Elizabeth has concluded that placement of this sign is not going to happen. Woody suggested that she call the local VDOT office just out of curiosity and see what they say.
• Church Sign Update:  George reported that the church sign situation remains unresolved. Andy Wolfe had promised him that the sign would be ready during the week following last month’s Vestry meeting. This did not occur. Andy then stated that he would have the sign ready in time for this Vestry meeting. Again, he failed to produce, and has done so without explanation. George observed that this whole project had become something of an embarrassing farce and that he felt that it was now time to sever relations with Mr Wolfe and locate another firm to make the sign according to the specifications that the Vestry had long ago approved. However, Woody, who is in partnership with Andy at Mariner Media, said that he had just spoken with him and that everything was done except for the painting. Woody said that he could bring the sign to the 4 May Property Committee meeting and let that committee decide whether to continue with Andy or go elsewhere. Lee Sauder, who has agreed to make the wrought iron staff on which the sign will hang, is waiting for the sign to begin work.
• Resolution of Gadsden Committee Status: This was a follow up item from the February Vestry meeting, which had been deferred from the January Retreat. The original issue was resolution of a Committee on Committees recommendation that the Gadsden Committee be classified as a Standing Committee of the Vestry. Before a vote was taken in February, Tom had asked that he be allowed to investigate with the Diocese the legal Vestry responsibilities concerning the Gadsden Endowment. At this meeting he reported that he had since spoken with Mark Loftis, the chancellor at Diocese. Mark had told him that in the current Board of Trustees-Vestry Agreement the Vestry had declared its oversight responsibilities with respect to the endowment, and that this could not be changed unless both parties (Trustees and Vestry) agreed to do so. Prior to taking a vote on the Committee on Committees’ recommendation, George reviewed Louise Moore’s background information on the wording of the Gadsden will concerning the creation of the trust. A vote was then taken: the Vestry voted unanimously to reject the recommendation, thereby retaining the Gadsden Committee in its current status. Elizabeth then requested that the resolution be amended to include the phrase that the Vestry affirmed its support of the current Board of Trustees-Vestry Agreement. A motion was made to this effect, with the caveat that this did not prevent the current Vestry from undertaking a revision of the document. The amended resolution was then submitted to a vote and it passed, 13-0. Woody and Judy abstained. Woody expressed his concern with respect to the tax status of the Gadsden Endowment. He noted that a few years ago the tax laws had changed with respect to trusts and that if Gadsden was a pure trust with limited Vestry involvement it might have to be treated differently from the other church funds that are controlled by the Vestry. Tom agreed. Woody was asked to research this matter and report back at the 18 May Vestry meeting.  

New Business

• Parishioner Gift for Church Interior Improvements:  George brought to the Vestry’s attention that he and Tom had met with an anonymous parishioner who wished to make a generous gift of up to $50,000 to return the interior of the church building, specifically the areas of the nave, chancel, narthex, and balcony, to its once pristine appearance. The parishioner stated that over the years the interior of the church had been allowed to become somewhat “shabby”. Those items which were most obvious to her were the worn spots, the stains, and the jagged cuts in the carpet; the poor state of the pew cushions; the worn and discolored spots on the wooden flooring, and the broken tile in the narthex, which presented a tripping hazard. Based on their discussion with the parishioner, George and Tom subsequently met with Judy and John and drew up a list of projected items on which the gift could be used. Copies of this list were then passed out to the Vestry. It was noted that not all items would require outside contract work: some could be accomplished by the Cadre Team and the sexton. Estimates were being obtained for those which would require outside work. Mary had earlier mentioned that the choir was in the process of deciding whether to eliminate seat cushions as an aid to acoustics. George noted that Judy was currently putting together an order for new pew cushions and that the order would be paid for with gift money. If the choir opted out of this cushion purchase that money would probably not be available if the choir later changed its mind. Mary was asked to expedite the choir decision. George noted that he and Tom were meeting with the parishioner on Wednesday, 22 April to get her approval of the specifics on how the money would be spent. All of this would be clearer by the time the Vestry met in May.

Comments by the Wardens: 

Junior Warden: Judy mentioned that Melissa Cox thought it would be nice if Vestry members wrote a note to each of our four confirmands, Conde´ Crittenden, Sydney Cross, Samantha Dozal, and Thomas McHan. The Vestry agreed. A box will be placed in the church office for the notes. They will be presented on the day of confirmation, 3 May.  

Senior Warden: George mentioned 1) that Bob Glidden had updated the 2005 draft by-laws and that pending Diocesan concurrence, these will be finalized beginning in May after Bob returns from vacation; 2) that Woody had prepared some additional grant requests to help finance re-pointing and that these would be sent out this week; 3) that Bishop Powell will make his annual visit to R.E. Lee on Sunday, 3 May. Susan is preparing a brunch for the confirmands, their families, the Bishop, the Rector, and the wardens following the 10:30 service. In addition, from 3:00-5:00 on that day the Augusta Convocation will meet in the Parish Hall. The Bishop will be in attendance. Parish delegates and alternates to the Diocesan Council were reminded that they should attend the Convocation. Furthermore, the Bishop will preach at the 5:00 service, after which there will be a Canterbury dinner to honor the graduates from W&L and VMI and those who helped cook the Canterbury meals this year; and 4) that there are three more Sunday newcomer orientation sessions, beginning at 9:15 on 26 April, and 10 and 17 May. Vestry members were encouraged to attend at least one of these.

Comments by the Rector: Tom stated that he had been called by the Bishop and asked to mentor a woman who will be graduating from seminary this spring but who is out of synch with the ordination process. She will not be eligible to be ordained for another 15 months. Until then she needs to serve as a seminary intern in a parish. Her name is Theresa Brion, and she is married to Dennis Brion, a professor at the W&L School of Law. Theresa has no prior connection with R.E. Lee but she will be here for the summer. She needs a parish experience and she could get involved with all aspects of this church until she is ready to find her own church.

Julia closed the meeting with a prayer from the United Thank Offering Handbook. The prayer was offered in anticipation of the spring UTO ingathering on 26 April.

The meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
The next meeting will be at 5:00 p.m. Monday 18 May 2009 in the Parish Hall.

Respectfully submitted,
Gail Dick, Clerk