Wardens’ Report: January 2016
The Wardens’ Report: a brief summary of highlights from monthly Vestry meetings, designed to demystify our work and provide some information about our growth, finances, priorities and progress towards our strategic plan.
Our prayers at the rail were again guided by the Evening Prayer Service in the Texts for Common Prayer. We asked God to have mercy on the vulnerable in our community — especially those suffering challenges from the winter storm. And we asked for a joyful ministry among our staff and volunteers and for humility and wisdom as we began our first business meeting in 2016 with six new members: Meredith Lloyd, Becky Mohr, Michael Dodson and Dietrich Kuhlmann as elected congregants and Liz Gray and Nathan Dickerson as non-voting staff participants in this sabbatical year.
This meeting served as a continuation of the new vestry orientation process that began in December taking extra time to explain the breadth of church operations and the role of Vestry in them. We discussed the various officer roles in preparation for the upcoming election of our officers: two Wardens, a Secretary and a Treasurer. And we took care to explain how we have come to some of the practices we hope to maintain as we learn to make decisions together for the good of the community.
Among the responsibilities the church has given the vestry is the care and oversight of our Rector. To that end, we discussed with David his 360 performance review. We expressed our appreciation for his exemplary work as our “CEO” and pastor. We are blessed to have him.
Another special vestry responsibility is making recommendations to the Ordination Committee of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic for our members who are exploring a call to the priesthood. We are pleased to have a full pipeline of five candidates in various stages of the process and received with joy the reports of their progress. We acknowledge with grateful hearts the countless hours given by various members of our community who have participated in discernment processes to equip the Vestry to fulfill our role. We will be sure to make you aware of any upcoming ordination services as the processes play out at the Diocesan level.
We received a strong financial report for December 2015 and reviewed our overall financial picture four months into fiscal year 2016. Effectively, our operating income through December 31 was about $602,000 or 103% of plan and total operating expenses were about $463,000 or 100% of plan. We began our fiscal year with about four months of operating cash on hand and still have that healthy cushion, well within our targeted range. Thanks be to God.
Please pray for us as we head to Western Maryland for a Vestry retreat this weekend. We will elect our officers and are devoting the 21-hour period to a discussion of church planting — a major part of our strategic plan called Restoration 2019. We are thankful for Nathan’s leadership in this endeavor and look forward to the places God will call us.
If you have questions, concerns or words of wisdom or encouragement, please know that we are open to your feedback on all aspects of our life together on Quincy Street.
You can read an archive of past Wardens’ Reports on our website or Vestry Meeting minutes on CCB, under the ‘Files’ tab in the ‘Entire Church Group’
-Carolyn Weimer and Ramsey Wilson, Wardens