At this February Vestry meeting we will be welcoming our new Vestry members, as we do every February. This year’s new members are Betsy Philips, Ian MacKay, Josh Reinke, and Victoria Cantor. We have a short agenda for this February meeting as we start into the new year, partially due to the fact that our Vestry Planning Day will be on February 26th, and we’ll be using that time to focus on the underlying structure of Vestry, including the make-up of our committees, Vestry norms, and taking a closer look at the Mutual Ministry Report we began last January. These discussions will point us in the direction of what actions we see ourselves taking in 2012. 

Action seems to me to be an operative word right now at Calvary. COG will be launching a series of forum discussions, also on February 26th, during which the entire parish will have the opportunity to talk about how to turn the corporate values we discerned during the house meetings last fall into action. How do we interpret our values in terms of what we do as a church? What activities are we doing now that we feel accurately reflect our values? What new activities can we envision as a result of our values discernment? I anticipate that the discussion we have as a Vestry during our planning meeting will influence the discussions we have as a parish during the forums and vice-versa, and I strongly encourage all Vestry members to attend the forums to participate and to listen. 

One other thought on action: sometimes we can overdo it! The phenomenon of parishioner burn-out was discussed at the latest Outreach Committee meeting, and it was commented that it’s important for us to learn to spread out the tasks needing doing so as not to overload any particular individual. It’s awfully easy to over-rely on parishioners who are already active. Some questions we can ask at our planning meeting may be, “How do we involve more people in all the activities we currently have going on at Calvary? How do we spread the wealth of being a part of something worthwhile? How do we grow as a church so we can expand our good works?” I know this is a question that our Junior Warden  Al Reetz is particularly concerned with, and maybe it’s time to take some action on this front! 

As we begin the new year of Vestry activities we welcome four new Vestry members on the three year rotation prescribed in our bylaws. With this change, I began reflecting on my role on the Vestry. One “hat” a Jr. Warden wears as I understand it, is to serve as the “peoples warden”.

My interaction with members of the congregation has been most enjoyable, if not fully successful. Most everything shared of late is highly positive, however at times, I find myself wishing I could always ameliorate issues with promptness. That having been said, please continue to use me, the people’s warden, as a sounding board via conversation, telephone or email. Our greatest resource may well be the Holy Spirit moving among us and causing us to be warm and welcoming with each other and with visitors. This was clearly in evidence this past weekend in the Lenten Bible Study, the successful Adult Forum on our future as a church body and during our Vestry Retreat.

If we continue to personify the love, generosity and tolerance of Christ and remaining open to each other and our community, I trust our future will hold unlimited blessings in terms of what God calls us to do. With prayers, yours and mine, we will achieve God’s will. An additional thought, I don’t mean to infer that I have a substantial understanding of this Holy Spirit/God connection; it’s a journey of learning.

A word about our relationship with COPA and related activities. On February 8th, eight members of our COPA Core Team convened with Annie Willis, in a significant organizational meeting. After hearing a report on the two day COPA Conference for Clergy, called by Bishop Mary and attended by Fr. Joel, we proceeded as is typical of COPA meetings, with a high level of participant contribution as we discussed our reasons for joining COPA, the history of Calvary COPA activities since late 2010 and a discussion concerning our hopes for our future with COPA. We observed that the skills taught by COPA during the past year have greatly helped us in our recent discernment process.

Future Calvary COPA meetings were scheduled for the first Sunday every other month at 4 PM beginning on March 4. These meetings under the leadership of Annie Willis directly involve the COPA Core Team and are open to new team members and all interested. Please mark your calendars.

Respectfully submitted,

Al Reetz

A meeting of the Vestry of Calvary Episcopal Church was held at 7:00 PM on Thursday, May 19, 2011. The following actions were taken:

The Vestry Minutes of April 14, 2011 were approved.

The parish continues to experience a shortfall in income. Pledge income is running $7,476 behind projections, and Use of Church income is running $5,161 behind projections. Outreach income is running $4,987 behind projections. Specific remedial actions are being taken. These actions include instituting mechanisms to advertise the availability of our parish hall through the Internet and in other ways, promoting the SCRIP program, reducing the size of the meals served at the Monday Night Coffee House, seeking new grant sources for funding of our outreach ministries, a call for additional pledge income by members of the Stewardship Committee, and holding fundraising events for these programs like the upcoming “Gin Sing” on Friday May 20, 2011.

Four workshops are scheduled with Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA) to train Calvary members for COPA leadership roles. These training sessions are Sunday, June 5th - 3 to 5pm; Sunday, June 12th - 3 to 5pm; Saturday, June 18th - 10 am to 12pm; and Sunday, June 26th - 3 to 5 pm in the parish hall. All Calvary members who are interested in leadership training are encouraged to attend these four sessions. Those interested in participating will be asked to attend all four sessions.

The proposal by the "Committee for Growth in a Changing World" (COG) has been developed more fully. This proposal specifies a discernment process to redefine the mission statement of the parish. The Diana Butler Bass book, Christianity for the Rest of Us offers focused study questions to guide readers, which will be important in this process. Twenty-one members of the parish attended the Diocesan workshop on May 14, 2011 in Salinas conducted by Diana Butler Bass. Fr. John Buenz will be meeting with the COG on June 7, 2011 and will lead the parish-wide kick-off event on September 11, 2011.

Worship surveys are being analyzed by the Worship Committee at their upcoming meeting at 3:00 PM on Friday May 20, 2011. All members of the parish are encouraged to complete and return a survey form. Survey forms are available in the narthex or at the parish office.

At the next Vestry meeting of June 16, 2011, the Vestry will approve the minutes of the Vestry meeting of May 19. 2011, adopt the Financial Report for May 2011, review the Financial Reports for May, discuss the ongoing COPA Training sessions; receive a status report on the COG discernment process, and receive the reports of the various parish committees.

Scott Galloway, Clerk

VESTRY MEMBERS

The Rev. Joel P. Miller, Rector

Richard Enriquez, Class of 2014

Scott Galloway, Clerk, Class of 2013

Sally Green, Class of 2012

Melinda Martin, Class of 2012

Ola Monaghan, Class of 2013

Tony Nickel, Class of 2012

Penny Oliver, Class of 2012

Chris Perrin, Class of 2014

Sarah Peterson, Class of 2013

Al Reetz, Jr. Warden, Class of 2013

John Vesecky, Class of 2014

Cathy Watson, Sr. Warden, Class of 2014

Eddie Cepeda, Treasurer, Non-Vestry Member

Joshua Reinke, Youth Vestry Member

Income at this point in time, 1/3 of the way through the year, is significantly lower than projected.  Easter season did not bring in any substantial increase in Pledges or Use of Church which are line items that are considerably under budget.  In addition to these two categories, Choral Scholar Offering and Food Pantry Offering are also quite lower than projected numbers.

However, our April receipts lived up to expectations – just barely. Including the Easter offerings, our net income for the month reached $39.25, hardly cancelling the deficit increase for March. Thus, our year-to-date deficit decreased only slightly, to $15,104.98. As we enter the slow months of summer when receipts traditionally slip, sending in advance pledges now, before you head out on vacation, will be a big help.