Vestry Meeting Minutes, June 27, 2007

Present: Gillian Ball, John Ballard, Katherine Byrne, Philip Cofer, Bill Connerat, Amrey Harden, Wren Howard, Robin Krause, Naomi Norman, Tom Odom, Fr. Robert Salamone

Clarification was asked as to which commission LIFE Book Club (formerly Mom's Book Club) belongs: Faith Formation

Questions, comments on Commission Reports which were submitted electronically:

Vestry would like additional information about the new Youth Director. Robert will introduce him on Sunday, July 1.

Naomi presented a proposal to reorganize the committee structure for outreach at Emmanuel. (A copy of the amended proposal has been attached to the minutes to avoid any misinterpretations.)

Motion: John Ballard made a motion to approve the Outreach Reorganization as proposed by Naomi and as amended per discussion during the vestry meeting (see amended proposal attached to minutes).

Motion carried. Action: Will be presented to congregation on July 1 at first of two outreach forums.

2. ALT (Athens Land Trust) and 3. CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) Proposals for Cottages

Naomi distributed a letter from Nancy Stangel of ALT describing ALT’s plans for the 685 Pope Street cottage (the former Meeting House). ALT proposes that Emmanuel donate the cottage and land to ALT; ALT would renovate the house and use it as their offices. They would give a Right of First Refusal to Emmanuel to purchase the cottage at a later date, if ALT feels the cottage is no longer feasible for their use as office space. They would also consider having Emmanuel retain ownership of the land, but the ALT Board would like to understand the Vestry's reason for wanting ownership of the land since ALT does not want to find itself in the position in a few years of having to find a new home for its offices. There was quite a bit of discussion about this aspect of the proposal, but most Vestry members seemed content with having the Right of First Refusal in the legal agreement between Emmanuel and ALT. If the Vestry votes to accept the ALT proposal and donate the cottage and land to ALT, ALT will "get earnest" about pursuing the development of the cottage and will investigate how much the restoration will cost the agency, if Emmanuel agrees to its proposal. This process may take 2 months.

Due to the projected cost of rehabilitation, ALT is no longer requesting a donation of the second cottage, 693 Pope Street (former Youth House). However, CASA is interested in this building. Mike Todd, a contractor for ALT, is willing to work with another non-profit agency and offer it a deal for tax credits, etc., similar to his arrangement with ALT, if ALT's proposal is approved by Emmanuel.

Fr. Robert believes that the issue of the cottages has been extremely divisive in the parish. Hopefully, a decision will heal our parish and we can put the issue behind us. He is convinced that the decision of allowing ALT & the Todds to restore the cottages is the right thing.

The Pope Street Association is trying to find another meeting place by August 15 when their 6-month grace period for moving ends. Father Robert announced that Al-Anon wants to use the meeting room at 540 Prince on Tuesday nights.

Five parishioners are needed to go to the Diocesan Council at the Cathedral, November 8. Volunteers: John Ballard, Bill Connerat, and Ron Bates. Naomi may go. The vestry forum on November 4 may discuss the agenda of the Diocesan Council.

David Wagner is the new Youth Minister. He has substituted in the Clarke County School System, has worked in the youth ministry at St. Aden’s in Alpharetta, has worked in several diocesan ministries and is an excellent musician.

Motion: Tom made a motion that the Vestry approve the Athens Land Trust proposal and that Emmanuel donate the cottage and land at 685 Pope Street Cottage (former Meeting House) to ALT to be used as their office. Seconded.

Motion: Gillian made a motion to approve The Neighborhood Commitment Program for our annual fall stewardship campaigns (2007 and 2008). Seconded.

Discussion: The program will be for two years and will include approximately 25 dessert meetings in different parishioners’ neighborhoods. Training will be either July 25 or August 10.

Naomi announced that the parish has acquired the Power Point program. She said that we now need a new projection screen (plus installation), a cart, and a remote, all of which would cost approximately $1000.

Motion: Gillian made a motion to fund the new audio-visual equipment in the amount of $1000.00. Seconded.

Amrey invited Gillian (Stewardship) and the Finance Committee to a July 16 meeting with Charles Gearing, the planned giving advisor to the diocese. He also announced that the Fraziers will be at the parish July 25 to make appraisals-- at no charges to the church-- for future church insurance.

Katherine: Ann Becker and I had a great time at Kanuga Conference Center. (Fr. Robert said the Kanuga Conference Center hosts an annual vestry retreat which includes many dioceses and suggested that Emmanuel might like to participate.)

Naomi: The Outreach Summit is scheduled for Sunday, September 16 after the 10:30 service. The forum on July 1 is to educate the parish on past outreach. The forum on August 5 will discuss future outreach plans. [Naomi will receive her second chemo treatment on June 30 and asks for prayers.]

Wren: Her own family members went on both the mission trip and the pilgrimmage and had very good experiences.

Tom reminded vestry members to get commission reorganizaing material to him by July 1. The new reoganization "instrument" will be coming out soon.

Robert: The green carpet in the hallway, Melissa’s office and Robert’s office will be taken up. There are hardwood floors underneath and, depending on condition, may be retained as they are and/or covered by runners.

December: Robin B. (Fr. Robt suggested the December meeting be held at his house.)

Approved electronically by: Amrey Harden, Wren Howard, John Ballard, Robin Krause, Tom Odom, Katherine Byrne, Naomi Norman

Proposal to Reorganize the Committee Structure for Outreach at Emmanuel

A quick look at the current functions, processes, and structures of the William-Rhodes Screening Committee and the Outreach Committee reveals that there is quite a bit of overlap between the two (see the background summaries below). Both committees are charged to make recommendations to the Vestry for spending the Endowment funds that are earmarked for outreach while the Outreach Committee also allocates the parish’s pledge and contribution income that is designated for Outreach. The William-Rhodes Screening Committee has an application form and process; the Outreach Committee does not. Neither committee has any guidelines for deciding which projects to fund. To pave the way for a more coordinated approach to managing and distributing our financial resources for outreach, it is necessary to reorganize the committee structure and remove the overlap. The goal of the proposed reorganization is to funnel our resources and energies through one body to enable us to accomplish more and to fulfill the mission of Emmanuel.

Proposal: Disband the current William-Rhodes Screening Committee and Outreach Committee and create a new committee, the Mission and Extended Ministries Committee (MEMC). This committee will be within the Extended Ministries Commission.

Mission and Vision of the Mission and Extended Ministries Committee: To live Christ’s love with intention by seeking out ways to serve others, promote justice, and enhance spiritual growth within our community, our nation and our world, and to be good stewards of those things at our disposal to meet this mission.

Function of the Mission and Extended Ministries Committee: The function of the MEMC is twofold: 1) to create and lead opportunities for hands-on outreach activities and 2) allocate all financial resources devoted to outreach activities and grants and coordinate giving for and in the name of Emmanuel. The committee will meet as needed, but at least six times a year to review proposals for funding from the community and the parish. The committee will review these applications and then make recommendations to the Vestry for funding; final approval rests with the Vestry. The committee chair or the Rector will call additional meetings to conduct other committee business whenever needed.

Process of the Mission and Extended Ministries Committee: All requests for funding will be submitted via formal application (see attached form). The applications will be due on or around Feb 15th, April 15th, June 15th, Aug 15th, Oct 15th and Dec 15th ; committee meetings will be on or around March 15th, May 15th, July 15th, Sept 15th , Nov 15th and Jan 15th to allow recommendations for funding to be sent to the Vestry for approval in time for the March, May, July, Sept, Nov and Jan Vestry meetings. The committee will have a set of criteria and other guidelines to govern its funding decisions; these criteria and guidelines will be developed by a group of the Vestry, in consultation with the Rector, members of the Extended Ministries Commission and others. These criteria will reflect parish goals and priorities for outreach and will periodically be reviewed by the parish as a whole at an Outreach Summit or through some other mechanism. Outreach funding will support and complement the vision and mission of Emmanuel Church; all grants will be given in the name of Emmanuel Church. All applications, committee discussion, and recommendations will be kept confidential until after letters are mailed to all applicants and the committee has published its list of successful applications.

Structure of the Mission and Extended Ministries Committee: The Rector, the Senior Warden and the Vestry member/s on the Extended Ministries Commission will serve as non-voting ex officio members of this committee. The committee will consist of nine voting members who will be nominated by the Rector and approved by the Vestry to serve staggered three-year terms; membership will include various stakeholders to be specified when the re-organization of the entire commission and committee structure of the parish is completed and after all stakeholders have been identified and agree with the new structure and procedures. All committee meetings will appear on the church calendar and will be open to the parish as a whole; visitors will be expected to respect the confidentiality of the funding deliberations. The committee will keep minutes and will regularly publish lists of projects that have been funded and the dollar amounts.

Regular Monthly Vestry Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 7:00pm

Proposal to Reorganize the Committee Structure for Outreach at Emmanuel