The regular monthly meeting of the Vestry of R. E. Lee Memorial Church was held Monday, December 21, 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, Tim Gaylard, Elizabeth Harralson, Julia Littlefield, John Milford, Don Whittington, and Gail Dick, clerk. New members of the Vestry present were Suzanne Carmichael, Doug Cumming, and Gloria Smitka. Bob Glidden (chair of the Finance Committee) and Buddy Atkins (treasurer) were also present to discuss the proposed budget for 2010. Parishioners at large present were Bob Glick and Mo Littlefield. Absent: Sarah Lanford, Dick Rathmell, and Woody Sadler.

Lesson and Eucharist: The Gospel appointed for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Luke 1:39-55 was read and discussed. Tom asked for any prayer requests and celebrated the Eucharist.

Approval of November Minutes: There was one correction to the November minutes. On page 3, under “Old Business”, line 7 under “Update on Church Interior Renovation and Gadsden Funds Request”, the amount approved by the Vestry and Trustees and requested from the Gadsden Committee was $12,951, vice $12,591. The November meeting minutes were approved as amended. George noted that the Gadsden Committee had met on 16 December and set aside the funds, and that the check had already been received by the Financial Secretary.

Committee Reports:

• Green Committee:  No report.
• Finance Committee:  Don Whittington reviewed the monthly financials. He reported that pledges for the year are still slightly behind, but that we have no reason to believe that all will not be paid by the end of 2009. In fact, with the increase in freewill offerings this year we expect to end up with a small surplus. This will be helpful because any surplus can be carried over to 2010. It appears that the pledge goal set for next year by the Every Member Canvass may have been too optimistic. Consequently, planned expenditures have been cut to the bone in order to balance the budget. Bob Glidden, Finance Committee chair, will present the preliminary 2010 budget to the Vestry later in the meeting. Don also noted that the Easter and Thanksgiving special envelope offerings, which are normally used for the Mission Emergency Fund, had been significantly less this year than anticipated. He suggested that most parishioners were not aware of this relationship, and that if they were we might get more help. The Vestry agreed that this information should be placed in the bulletins and mentioned by the Rector in advance of the Christmas services. Finally, Don observed that the final pledges from the Capital Campaign are due at the end of this month. The Financial Secretary sent out a reminder to those with outstanding pledges last week. She will report the initial cut on the final results of the Capital Campaign to the Finance Committee next month.
• Property Committee:  John Milford reviewed several of the pending issues that the Property Committee is currently working. Rockbridge Environmental has completed the first part of its examination of the undercroft and has sent over the lab results. A high degree of the fungal spore (mold) Cladosporium was found to be present. Although this spore is common in Virginia, it should still be cleaned out from all interior spaces. The inspector also determined that most water entering the undercroft from outside seems to be coming in through the storage area in the kitchen closet. Rockbridge Environmental will be examining the church blueprints in order to get a better fix on the source of this seepage. Once these problems have been corrected a new ceiling will be installed in the undercroft. Earlier this month the Cadre Team (Bob Glick, Gordon Woodcock, Barton Dick, Merce Brooke), assisted by Shawn Rowsey and a group of the Church Youth led by Howard Pickett, installed approximately 6-8” of insulation in the Parish House attic. This was done on the recommendation of the group of VMI cadets who did an energy audit of the church complex in the spring. Finally, John reported that he and Shawn will be getting together after the New Year to develop a regular maintenance schedule for the steeple.  Old Tyme Restorations, which built and installed the new steeple, said that a maintenance check of the structure, primarily consisting of tightening the bolts and checking for leaks, should be conducted annually. A more extensive evaluation should be done every 10 years by a reputable company.

New Business:  Because of the expected duration of the Bylaws discussion, the chair decided to conduct “New Business” before “Old Business”.

• Christmas Gift and End of Year Bonus for the Sexton: As customary at the December meeting, a basket was passed to take up a Vestry collection as a Christmas gift to the Sexton, Connie Bryant, in appreciation for her outstanding work during the year. Tom added that because of the additional effort involved in the renovations of the church interior, Connie’s work load this year had far exceeded what a sexton would normally be called upon to do. He therefore proposed that, because of this additional work, Connie Bryant be awarded a $500 bonus this year, the money to be taken from the operating fund. Judy Glick so moved. John Milford seconded. Passed unanimously.

• Proposed 2010 Budget: A copy of the proposed 2010 budget had been distributed to Vestry members in advance of the meeting. Bob Glidden, the Finance Committee chair, reviewed this preliminary budget, which had been approved by his committee at its 8 December meeting. Buddy Atkins, the Parish Treasurer, was on hand to clarify details as necessary. Because the welcome increase in freewill offerings this year was primarily due to one parishioner, and because he will be gone much of next year, we cannot expect the same windfall. Currently pledges stand at $347,000, with 14 usual pledgers yet to come in. The Financial Secretary reports that if these 14 pledge what they did last year we can expect a total of $368,000. This is $8000 above the new budget goal of $360,000, and thus could produce a surplus in addition to the possible surplus from the 2009 budget, mentioned earlier. (Originally the target for this year had been $381,500, but this had been reduced after it had become clear that the Every Member Canvass goal had been too optimistic.) The income percentage to be taken from the endowments in 2010 is 4¾, which will add $6000 in revenues.

There will be no salary increases this year, which is in line with the diocese; we hope to do better in 2011. Tom had stated that his main priority in this regard was to move the Program Director, Sharon Massie, from three-quarters to fulltime. Unfortunately this budget cannot accomplish that and still be balanced; however, Sharon can and will be moved to seven-eighths, effective with the start of the year. Bob congratulated the Parish staff on its efficient use of resources during 2009, and noted especially the savings achieved with the new way to publish the “Cross & Crown”.

The Diocesan pledge will be increased from $50,400 to $52,000. In almost all areas, however, this budget has cut expenditures to the bone. In sum, it produces a positive balance of $660.11. Bob noted that a final recommended budget will be produced after all the 2009 and pledge figures are in. He expects that this can be done at the next Finance Committee meeting, scheduled for 14 January. As this occurs after the Vestry Retreat, Tom noted that the Vestry will hold a special meeting soon thereafter in order to approve the final 2010 budget. The Finance Committee had recommended approval of this budget as a preliminary budget. It was so moved, with no second needed, and passed unanimously.

Old Business:

·         Second Reading of the Proposed Parish Bylaws: The first Vestry reading of the new proposed Bylaws had been conducted at the November meeting. The purpose of that reading had been to produce a generally acceptable document to be made available to parishioners at large for comment and suggestion. A motion to accept the document had therefore been tabled at the conclusion of the November meeting pending the receipt of such input. Elizabeth Harralson remarked that since then she had been contacted by a significant number of parishioners who had concerns about the Bylaws. This indicated to her that there are at least several issues in the document which perhaps bear a wider hearing before the parish at large. Other Vestry members stated that they had had the same experience. Due to the volume of suggested amendments, and the controversial nature of several of them, it was agreed that the process should not be rushed and that final passage should be delayed, with the amended document ready for presentation at the February parish meeting, and hopefully subsequent passage by the Vestry at its following meeting.

Prior to bringing the tabled motion off the floor for discussion,Tom requested that several administrative procedures be established. First, he noted that although they are not yet in effect, the new bylaws call for a 2/3 majority vote of the Vestry (10 members) for approval. After brief discussion, Elizabeth moved that 2/3 of entire Vestry (currently10 members) be required to pass the new Bylaws. Judy seconded. Second, Tom proposed that a time limit be placed on the discussion of each new proposed amendment: ten minutes of total discussion for all grammatical/clarification items and a limit of five minutes for each of all the other individual items. The Vestry agreed to this restriction. Elizabeth then asked why it was necessary for the church adopt Bylaws at all. She and Judy both noted that a number of parishioners had questioned why it was now necessary to do so when the parish had done well throughout its history without them. In the discussion that followed it was generally agreed that it would be wise to have them because they provide a ready reference as to how this parish does things, affording information that might not be readily available in the general guidance given in the church constitution and canons (such as why this parish has fifteen Vestry members). After discussion, the Vestry agreed that the Bylaws were necessary and to continue with the work on them.

With no other administrative or procedural items presented, John Milford made a motion to bring the bylaws off the table for discussion and it was passed. Judy explained that in the amended copy of the Bylaws she had sent out prior to the meeting she had color coded the amendments by category: those dealing with grammar, sentence structure, etc. were in red; individual issues of substance were in purple; and a group of Trustee-related amendments were in green. With respect to two of the red items, which were deemed to warrant further discussion and therefore re-categorized to the purple category, all of the red items were passed without delay.

The following were the key decisions made with respect to the purple suggested amendments: First, Article II, Section 1, the suggested wording with respect to removing a person from the rolls by reason of inactivity was rejected. Second, Article III, Section 3, the suggested new wording with respect to the holding of special parish meetings was rejected as unnecessary. Third, Article III, Section 5, the number for a parish quorum was reduced from 33% to 20% as being more realistically achievable. Fourth, Article IV, Section 3, the suggested additional subparagraph on Vestry qualifications was rejected as diluting the basic qualifications already established. Fifth, Article IV, Section 3, an amendment prohibiting a person from holding positions on the Vestry and/or Trustees and/or Gadsden Committee at the same time was rejected as being unnecessary and not a conflict of interest. Sixth, Article V, Section 1, the amendment to return the number of Vestry members from 12 to 15 was accepted. Seventh, Article V, Section 1, and Article VI, Section 3, the suggested amendments to preclude the Rector from voting to break a tie Vestry vote were accepted. Eighth, Article XI in its entirety was to be reworded so that it only applied to Standing Committees of the Vestry. Finally, Article XIV, the suggested change on gifts and memorials was accepted with the caveat that it would also require consultation with the donor individual/family.

At this point, although the green sections containing the proposed amendments pertaining to the Trustees had not yet been addressed, several Vestry members stated that they would have to depart because of other commitments. As a solution, Tom proposed that the Bylaws, as amended so far be tabled until the Vestry retreat in early January. John Milford so moved and Don Whittington seconded. Passed unanimously.

Comments by the Wardens:

·         Junior Warden: Judy had no comment.

·         Senior Warden: George noted that he had coordinated with all the committee chairs concerning turnover for next year. The only change is that Frank Settle has agreed to take over from Don Ellis and Punky Dod as chair of the Christian Outreach Committee. Frank has asked Lynda deMaria to assist him. Committee reports for 2009 are due to Kay Horner by January 15 in order to give her sufficient time to prepare the annual report for the Parish Meeting on 14 February. George also announced that John Milford (chair), Jay Crawford, and Punky Dod had agreed to serve as the committee to draw up the slate of 2010 Vestry officers for presentation at the Retreat on 8 January. Finally, as this was George’s last meeting as Senior Warden, he thanked the Vestry for making 2009 a successful year, and especially his Vestry classmates, Woody Sadler, Molly Brown, and Susan Cross for their camaraderie and dedication; and Judy Glick, who in her first year on the Vestry had been such an invaluable asset as Junior Warden.

Comments by the Rector: Tom extended his thanks to George and Judy for their work as Senior and Junior Wardens. He also thanked all the vestry members for their hard work.

John closed with prayer.

Meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM.

Next meeting will be the Vestry retreat January 8-9, 2010, at The Belfrey, a bed and breakfast located on Thornhill Road near Effinger. Tom will provide directions and administrative requirements.

Respectfully submitted,

George Brooke, Senior Warden