Wardens’ Report: July 2019
The Wardens’ Report: a brief summary of highlights from monthly Vestry meetings, designed to provide information about our growth, finances, priorities and progress towards our strategic plan.
At our July 23rd vestry meeting, we enjoyed dinner together and prayer before starting the meeting. This month, Leigh McAfee led us through prayer which included a time of intercession and prayer for Kathy Kenyon, our Coordinator of Sacramental Life. We gave praise for the many volunteers that Kathy shepherds so that our Sunday services run smoothly. We also prayed for Kathy and her husband, Matt, as they move into a new “empty nest” chapter of their life together. Additionally, we prayed for the hiring of a new Director of Worship Arts, for wisdom in our budgeting process, and for the Strategic Plan (Restoration 2025). As always, we invite you to join us in praying over the staff, vestry and all of God’s work on Quincy Street.
In our meeting, we received an encouraging update from Incarnation Anglican Church, and we approved their by-laws and their budget for the next fiscal year. We also approved a list of Restoration members who will represent us as Delegates at the DOMA Synod in November.
Brad Jones, our treasurer, led us through a financial report that showed June giving was 19% under projections, which indicates we likely could end the year 10-12% down for giving. Although our staff and volunteers have carefully managed expenses, this reality reminded us of the need to be good stewards and wise planners as we turned our conversation to the fiscal year 2020 budget. Our finance team had worked hard to present its recommendations for the 2020 budget, and, after thoughtful discussion, the Vestry voted to approve a $1.9 million budget. That is a slightly smaller budget than this current year. As we have previewed over the past several months, because giving has been below last year’s predictions, we decided to adopt a budget that anticipates lower giving and foregoes – for now – some plans that would trigger increases in spending.
Kevin Marshall, the vestry liaison to the Outreach Steering Team (OST), presented OST’s recommendations for outreach grants, and Vestry approved more than $190,000 in grants that will go out to support our partners in the next fiscal year. Our outreach grants, plus our support for trips abroad (like the Bolivia team that leaves next week) and consistent support for the Anglican Relief and Development Fund, represent Restoration’s commitment to invest 10% of our annual budget in our outreach ministries and partners. It is so exciting to see how God has connected Restoration to a wide variety of faithful servants, both globally and locally. This year’s outreach grants will go to many of our long-time partners, as well as a few new ministries where there is potential for congregational engagement.
David Hanke provided an update on the current search for a Director of Worship Arts. Please continue to pray for the hiring process and those involved. We are excited to see how God will provide a leader for that role. David also led the Vestry in a continuing discussion of our Strategic Plan (Restoration 2025). Please check out David’s recent blog post for an update. Have an idea or a vision? Submit them here.
If you have questions, concerns, words of wisdom or encouragement, please know that we are open to your feedback. 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’
– Chris Belen and Johanna Montague, Wardens