SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2005

CAMP MIKELL

VESTRY PRESENT: Lee Gaby, Jay Shinn, David Kidd, Robin Krause, Hal Cofer, Lee Albright, Allison Clements, Brian Tison, Butch Bush, David Woodruff, Amrey Harden, Robin Bewley, Robin Krause, Wren Howard, and Tom Odom.

OTHERS PRESENT: Mother Mandy Brady and Diocese of Atlanta Canon to the Ordinary Reverend Rick Calloway.

PRAYER, PRAISE AND SONG

Senior Warden Lee Gaby began the meeting at 9:00 a.m. Robin Bewley opened us in prayer. Mother Mandy led us singing “Behold, I Make All Things New.”

CHANGES TO THE AGENDA

Lee Gaby announced the following changes to the agenda:

1. Elect A Secretary for this meeting only -- Lee Gaby nominated Allison Clements; Hal Cofer seconded the nomination; the vote to appoint Allison as Secretary for the meeting was unanimous. It was noted that Dee Forrester, former Secretary to the Vestry, would be willing to serve as Clerk (keeper of the Seal) until a permanent replacement for her was found.

2. Bible Study was added.

3. A report from the “Dry Bones” group was added.

4. A Stewardship report was added.

5. Ratification of the election of Hal Cofer to the Vestry was added.

BIBLE STUDY

Lee Gaby discussed the theme for the year would be a “Ministry of Pairs” and in that vein David Kidd read a passage from Luke and Robin Bewley a passage from Genesis.

Lee also assigned each Vestry member a personal prayer in hopes each person would faithfully pray his/her passage daily. Lee also presented each member a book, Those Episkopals, which were each signed by the whole Vestry.

DEVOTION

Brian Tison spoke of the unique opportunity the Vestry has this year and hopes that he, and us all, will do a better job of listening to the parish but also asking the parish to respect each other. Robin Bewley reminded us of the need to balance focusing on the agenda and not letting it become derailed by the need for all to speak their mind.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mandy reminded us of the housekeeping rules for checking out of Camp Mikell.

ELECTION OF HAL COFER

A motion to ratify the electronic vote electing Hal Cofer by majority vote was made and all were in favor. Hal will be completing the one year term left by the resignation of Laura Cofer. He will be eligible for a full three year term after the completion of this one year term. Mandy offered thanks to Hal for rearranging his schedule to be at the retreat for the weekend.

EXTENDED MINISTRIES COMMISSION REPORT

Lee Gaby made the Extended Ministries Commission report on behalf of Duncan Krause. There was an increase in the amount of endowment earnings, so the committee will have another meeting to discuss disbursement of all the funds. Phil Phillip Cofer is going to step in as chair of the commission. Lee Gaby encouraged the Vestry to review the recommendations of the Commission before they come to the Vestry for approval.

COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS

Lee Gaby announced the following Commission, Committee and Chair Structure:

Commission Chair Committees Committee Chair

RESOURCE Tom Odom Archives Naomi Norman

Facilities Jay Shinn

St. Francis Guild Frank Henning

AGM Peg Wood

FINANCE Butch Bush Finance Butch Bush

Insurance Chair Open

*Amrey Harden has been added to the Finance Committee

DAY SCHOOL Allison Clements

EDUCATION Wren Howard Special Projects David Woodruff to assist

PARISH LIFE Lee Albright Holy Cookers Robin Bewley

Brotherhood of St. Andrews Andrew

Daughters of the King

WORSHIP Robin Krause LEM Lay Eucharistic Ministers

Altar Guild

Choir

Acolytes

EXTENDED MINISTRIES

David Kidd (temporary) Williams-Rhodes Advisory Committee, Phillip Cofer, Chair

Interfaith Hospitality Network Athens,

Lee Gaby, Coordinator

Thanksgiving Dinner

Blood Drive

Relay for Life

Campus Ministry,

Fr. Dann Brown, Priest

Thrift House of Emmanuel,

Linda Ford, Chair

PASTORAL CARE Penny McLanahan Guild of the Christ Child

Stephen Ministry

Agape Meals

COMMUNICATION Hal Cofer Special Project Asst., Robin Bewley

SENIOR WARDEN REPORT

Lee Gaby listed many of the items that he as the Senior Warden without a Rector has dealt with in the last week: Day School scholarships, use of the common room by individuals, the parish discretionary fund, clergy continuing education, the folding machine, computer server issues, the heat in the nursery, and personnel issues with the staff.

A brief discussion was held regarding how the Senior Warden is appointed/elected in the absence of a Rector. David Woodruff made the motion that Lee Gay continue as the Senior Warden for another annual term. Jay Shinn seconded the motion. Fourteen voted in favor of the motion, there were no dissents, and Lee Gaby abstained.

COMMUNICATION REPORT

The group discussed how best to keep the parish informed of the happenings of the Vestry. It was decided that Lee Gaby would report immediately in the Tower on the events at the Vestry Retreat. A separate first class letter would be mailed to the congregation to report on the meeting of the Vestry with Bishop Alexander discussing the search for a new rector. Lee Gaby also suggested that the nine Commission Chairs each take on the responsibility of writing a Vestry Report for the Tower highlighting their commission as well as any vestry news.

FACILITIES REPORT

Jay Shinn reported that Jay Staines and Bill Fox are joining the Facilities Committee. The lease with the Potters House is not signed but hopefully will be within the month. The Potters House would not execute the contract until the renovations to their space were complete. The HVAC work is about to be completed.

David Kidd brought up that no action had been taken to tar the cottages’ roofs despite a prior unanimous vote to do so. Jay Shinn apologized and agreed to look promptly into tarring or tarping the roofs.

FINANCE REPORT Inc/Exp rpt

Butch Bush explained that the 2004 year end finances ended in the negative by the amount of $63,269.46. To cover this amount approximately $19,000 was transferred from the escrowed maintenance account and approximately $31,300 was transferred from the accumulated surplus, thus the net loss for the 2004 budget is $12,889. The downfall for the 2004 fiscal year was the $17,228 of pledges that were not paid.

Butch Bush made the motion that Mother Mandy’s housing allowance for the 2005 Budget be set at $25,000 and Father Peter Courtney’s housing allowance be set at $38,000. The vote to approve this motion was unanimous.

DRY BONES REPORT

Penny McLanahan reported that the Dry Bones group has planned to meet with consultant Cici Duke on Sunday, January 30th. Ms. Duke will teach the group facilitating skills to help the Dry Bones members with the small in-home group meetings they hope to hold between now and spring break. The Dry Bones group wanted to make sure their plans to hold the group meetings would not interfere with the rector search process in any way. The consensus of the Vestry was that the group proceed with the training.

STEWARDSHIP REPORT

Brian Tison reported that 235 units had pledged $493,000 to date. He urged that we return to him soon the lists of non-pledging parishioners that we had called to encourage giving. Brian also noted that he wants to meet with the Commission Chairs to share information collected from the time and talent cards. Brian hopes to form an active stewardship committee this year to research tax issues, stock transfers, etc.

ACTION ITEMS

Appointments to the AGM Committee:

Tom Odom made a motion to table the appointments for a month in order to review the committee. All were in favor of the motion.

Worship Service:

The Worship Committee led by Joe Napoli recommended that the worship schedule be changed to 8:30 Rite I Service, 9:30 Christian Education, and 10:30 Rite II Service. A motion was made to accept the recommendation of the committee and have services at 8:30 and 10:30 with Christian Education at 9:30. Fourteen voted in favor, no one was opposed, and David Woodruff abstained.

A second motion was made to start the new worship schedule on Sunday, February 13th, 2005. This motion was unanimously approved.

Election of Junior Warden:

After Lee Gaby read the By-laws regarding the duties of the Junior Warden a paper ballot was held. Jay Shinn and Robin Bewley were nominated, and Jay Shinn was elected Junior Warden.

Executive Committee:

The Vestry discussed the role of the Executive Committee after concern was raised with how it had functioned in the past. The By-laws, as read by Lee Gaby, state that the Executive Committee may act in times of emergency and regarding personnel matters. David Woodruff suggested that the Executive Committee, instead of acting as a decision-making body, follow the By-laws as currently written and that what constitutes an “emergency” be defined. Talk followed regarding the makeup of the committee. Mandy suggested that in other parishes the rector puts forth names for the Executive Committee for the Vestry to appoint. Lee Gaby stated that he thought class representation was important primarily as a means to develop leadership.

Robin Krause made the motion to nominate Robin Bewley for the Executive Committee which Butch Bush seconded. This motion passed unanimously. Note: the Executive Committee of the Vestry now consists of Priest-in-Charge Mo. Mandy Brady, Sr. Warden Lee Gaby, Jr. Warden Jay Shinn, Robin Bewley, and Lee Albright.

GOOD OF THE ORDER

Butch Bush kindly offered to lead the Vestry Holy Cooker team on February 23rd.

David Woodruff expressed his thanks to Lee Gaby for his service to the parish.

Robin Bewley thanked Peggy Allen for her help in cleaning out the pantry and defrosting the freezer.

Jay Shinn offered his gratitude to Jim Jacobson for his contribution to the church.

Mandy expressed that she felt the vestry had worked hard this weekend.

Brian Tison feeling it was important for the vestry to socialize together volunteered his home for the first get-together.

Mother Mandy closed the meeting with prayer.

Respectfully submitted,

Allison Clements