Rector’s Update: call for Vestry nominations

Hi Restoration,

We had a great parish meeting on Sunday.  You can hear the audio and watch the slides on our YouTube Channel. Thanks to everyone who attended and thanks be to God for His faithful provision and guidance.  Truly, there are many good things that are growing here.

During the parish meeting, our senior warden, Brad Jones, opened nominations for the 2021 Vestry election.  The form for making a nomination can be found here.  Feel free to be brief in your responses on the form.  You do not have to inform your nominee that they have been nominated.  Remember, we usually have dozens of nominees, but a slate of only 5-7 candidates. It is a process that requires a couple of months of discernment and prayer.  

What are we looking for in a vestry candidate?
Our by-laws offer this description. 

To serve on the vestry, an individual should:

1. Be a mature Christian committed to the orthodox doctrine, discipline and worship of the Church, not one who has recently come into faith;
2. Be temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, gentle, not quarrelsome, and have a good reputation with those outside the Church (see 1 Tim. 3 and Titus 1);
3. Maintain an active life of prayer and study of Scripture;
4. Be known and respected among the Church;
5. Have a strong record of serving the Church and cheerfully giving to the
   Church of his/her time, talent and treasure;
6. Have family relationships that honor God and reflect strong Christian commitment;
7. Have enough time to be able to serve effectively as a Vestry member; and
8. Make a commitment to put Vestry service high on the list of personal priorities.

This list is a challenge for us all and by God’s grace, it describes a number of people at Restoration. I encourage you to let these characteristics inform the way you pray about your nominees.

What is required of a vestry member?
Some of our current vestry members have described it like this:

As a member of the Restoration Vestry, you are committed to devoting yourself to the Word of God and to be faithful in prayer.  You will be encouraged to form a small team of intercessors who will pray with and for you as you cover our church, our staff, our missionaries and our meetings in prayer. 
 
The Restoration Vestry has ten Tuesday evening meetings each year as well as one weekend-long retreat and one meeting with the Bishop.  Together, the Vestry will discuss and vote on items including the church budget, our strategic plan, the management of our facility, new initiatives, outreach and crisis management.  Vestry meetings tend to last 2-3 hours each month and require 1-2 hours of advance document/email reading. In addition, every member of the Vestry serves as the Vestry liaison to a church advisory team and/or as a Vestry leader (Warden, Treasurer, Secretary). Advisory team participation involves 1-2 hours of additional involvement each month and leadership role time commitments will vary.

It is a significant commitment of prayer, time, and leadership over a three year period.  The vestry members who are elected this year will serve from January 2022 until January 2025. 

What is the timeline for the 2021 Vestry election?
Nominations will be open from October 3-17.  Again, you can submit your nominations, here. 

During the week of October 24, nominees will be informed of their nomination.  Not everyone who is nominated becomes a nominee.  

On November 19, the slate of candidates will be shared with the congregation, along with a brief bio on each candidate.

The actual election will take place through a personalized Survey Monkey link that will be sent to each member of the congregation on November 28.  Those links can be used once and will stay open for a week. The election will close on December 5 and the results announced on December 8.

Who is overseeing the election?
At their September meeting, the vestry appointed a vestry discernment committee who will receive all of the nominations and discern the final slate.  That committee is made up of our three outgoing vestry members:  Mary Breed, Erica Chapman, and Brad Jones, plus the rector, David Hanke.  This committee will review the nominations and make decisions regarding the slate.  Please pray for us as we pray for you and our congregation during this time.  

Finally…
As I get ready to send this, I want to acknowledge that it has been a very challenging morning for staff, students, and parents at Washington-Liberty High School.  We are grateful to God that things which were threatened did not materialize into actual violence.  At the same time, these threats are frightening.  We come again to the Lord, asking for his help:

The Almighty Lord, who is a strong tower to all who put their trust in him, to whom all things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth bow and obey: Be now and evermore our defense.  Make us know and feel that the only Name under heaven given for health and salvation is the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.  (BCP p. 226)

With love,
David