Wardens’ Report: March 2017
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.
The Vestry gathered on Tuesday for our March meeting. As is our custom, we have dinner together and begin the meeting with prayer in the sanctuary. Each month we spend time specifically praying for one staff member and this month Leigh McAfee guided us through prayer as we gave thanks for the work and contribution of Nathan Dickerson. We appreciate the way Nathan shepherds small group leaders, thinks strategically about church planting, and pastors our congregation well.
As we begin our preparations and discussions for next year’s budget, treasurer Meredith Lloyd walked us through February’s monthly financial documents. Our average Sunday attendance for the month of February was 574 and our year to date attendance is up 12% over FY2016. While our giving was a bit under budget for the month, our year to date giving and our year to date spending are right on budget. At the beginning of the fiscal year, we chose to delay spending on targeted non-essential items until after the first half of the year. In our business meeting, we voted to release spending on those items.
As Restoration Immigration Legal Aid (RILA) begins to grow and serve more clients, they continue to look for ways to raise the necessary funding. We discussed their proposal to apply for a grant through the Anglican communion and voted to allow them to use a specific fundraising platform. We remain excited about the ways God is using Restoration to love, serve and connect with our neighbors.
Restoration continues to grow and our children’s ministry comprises almost 25% of our weekly attendance. As we anticipate further growth and opportunities to reach beyond Quincy Street through church planting and RILA, we become aware of our limitations. Part of our discussions at Vestry each month involve listening to where God is leading us and planning toward future needs. We are thankful to have had the opportunity to meet with Bishop John Guernsey on Saturday. He is encouraging of the work that Restoration is doing and we are grateful for his wisdom. That conversation helped guide our discussion as we considered personnel and volunteer needs and as we think about sending out church planters in the coming years.
As always, 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’
-Dietrich Kuhlmann and Hannah Royal, Wardens