Adminitration Leadership Team Report
Administration Leadership Team Report
Finance Committee: Dave Vachet
The Finance Committee is composed of representatives from various committees within the church that deal with the financial issues of that particular committee. Those committee are as follows: Buildings & Grounds, the Budget Committee, the Long Range Plan Committee, the Pre-School/MMO Committee, the Endowment Fund, and the Stewardship Chair. The Parish Administrator and the Treasurer complete this committee. A sub-committee of the Finance Committee is the Operations Committee, which develops policies and financial procedures. Financial recommendations are made by this group and are then passed on to the Vestry for action.
A new firm completed the audit this year and a few recommendations were noted. The audit was not completed or included for the pre-school and we are looking for an internal audit for this. The Stewardship campaign was completed and unfortunately the average pledge per unit was down. The Budget committee submitted a budget to the Vestry for approval with options to balance the budget. The Vestry also cut items from the budget to balance it and several items were included by the Finance committee and passed back for Vestry approval.
The Operations committee submitted to the Vestry several policies and procedures that were approved and put in place. The Endowment committee submitted their annual recommendations for work inside and outside the parish.
The Treasurer reported the shortfall for this year, 2008 will be taken out of the reserve fund. This will leave the fund balance below the suggested amount.
Buildings and Grounds is working with the Long Range Plan representative to discuss a budget model for the facilities.
Buildings and Grounds (B & G Quarterly Report)
Recently completed/planned/in-process projects include the following:
• Installation of the Dishwasher in the Parrish Hall
• Repair to the main cooling condenser for the sanctuary
• Replacement and maintenance on all HVAC components
• Refitting of several existing exterior lighting fixtures
• Miscellaneous masonry repairs
• Stainless steel wall protection in Kitchen
• Exterior roadside signage
• Lighting repair in the Nave
• Refinements & additions to the new exterior lighting
Budget Committee: Patrick deFur
The budget process for 2009 has been completed and approved by the Vestry.
Glen Knowles has accepted the position of budget chair for the next term.
Endowment Fund, Inc.: Nancy Knight
2008 Board of Directors:
President – Nancy Knight
Vice President – Frank McDonald
Treasurer – Calvin Easter
Secretary – Dean West
Director – Art Hunt
The St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church Endowment Fund was established by the Vestry in 1990 for the purpose of enhancing the ministry of St. Matthew’s Church and to meet emergency or unusual needs within the parish which are not normally funded by the operating budget. The income from the Endowment Fund investments is required to be disbursed annually – 50% for work outside the parish and 50% for work inside the parish. The income for 2008 is approximately $18,000. The Board of Directors recommended and the Vestry approved the following for the 2008 distribution for work outside the parish: $5,000 to Anglican Frontier Missions (AFM), $3,000 to Young Life Richmond West End, and $1,000 to Called to Serve Ministries. Due to the economic situation, no decision has been made regarding work inside the parish. The remaining Endowment Fund income, which is designated for work inside the parish, will be held for future distribution as allowed by the Vestry resolution to adopt the Endowment Fund.
The Vestry approved the Endowment Board’s recommendation to appoint Art Hunt to a three year term on the Endowment Fund Board of Directors.
The officers of the Board of Directors will remain the same for 2009.
Insurance: Dean West and Gene Riley
The insurance committee has discussed the current coverage we have with Church Insurance Company and for the following reasons we do not see a need for change at this point.
1. We cannot get the coverage we have now with any other company, especially the blanket we have with the Diocese.
2. The annual premium increase was not enough to justify putting the package out for bid.
3. We have been offered the option for “Terrorist Coverage” but we do not think that is necessary.
4. We are currently involved in research with Church Insurance Company to determine if the St. Matthew's Endowment Board is covered under our current coverage.
Personnel: Emily Gitchell
We began the 2008 year with the resignation of Ken Langley as the Youth Minister. Ken left for seminary at the end of May. Anne Randolph Tabb was hired as an interim replacement. The church was impressed with her theology, experience, and enthusiasm. She continues in that role at this time.
The rector took a sabbatical this summer from May 1, 2008 through August 15, 2008. He did return to work some during this time to cover while Mario was on a mission trip to Belize. Mario filled in during this time of Chuck’s absence and handled all matters of the Church as needed.
All vestry members were asked to submit and evaluation on the rector. All evaluations were sent to the Personnel committee and a final copy of Chuck’s evaluation was created and submitted to the vestry to share with Chuck.
Typically, the personnel committee would submit recommendations for pay increases. However, during this annual review period, no increases were given based on not meeting the budget requirements.
In 2007, a church secretary was hired, after several months of searching. On January 15, 2009, the decision was made to eliminate the position of Church Secretary for budgetary reasons. Pauline Mula, our current Church Secretary, will leave the employment of St. Matthews on February 13, 2009.
Stewardship: Rob Lesniak
This past fall the theme of the 2009 Stewardship Campaign was Working Together for the Kingdom and the Church based on Acts 2:42-47.
Prayer sessions were held on multiple
Friday afternoons in the sanctuary to pray for Stewardship and the financial needs of the congregation and the church. As of the date of this report we have received 184 pledges totaling $610,588. By comparison, as of early January of 2008, we had received approximately 190 pledge cards with pledges totaling approximately $678,000. So far in 2009 we have not received
pledge cards from approximately 35 persons or families (units) who pledged last year. Reminder letters have been sent out in an attempt to ensure that people had not simple forgotten to turn in a pledge card. Unfortunately, the average pledge per unit is down by $54,741, or approximately 8% from last year. The average pledge amount for 2008 was approximately $3,539 per pledging
unit. The average pledge amount for 2009, thus far, is approximately $3,318 per pledging unit.
There seems to be a trend of a decreasing number of pledge cards coupled with a
significant decrease in the average pledge amount. Unless additional income is received in 2009, significant reductions in church spending must occur.
John Spedea will be serving as the Chair of the Stewardship Committee for our fall 2009 campaign. I will remain on the committee as a member. We are currently seeking the appointment of a co-chair for the fall Stewardship campaign.
Please keep stewardship and the needs of our congregation, the church and the staff in your daily prayer.
Nominating: Vernon Plack
The Vestry nominating committee for the incoming Vestry class consisted of Betty Helms, Glen Knowles, John Aliotti, Michael Rhodes, Lynda Jenkins and Vernon Plack (chair). The slate of nominees included Wynn Burr, Bill Davidson, Patrick deFur, Chuck Godfrey, Michael Hagerty and John Hillestad. The election is scheduled to take place on Sunday, Jan 25.
Communications: Norm Hyde
Committee Members: Doug LeBlanc, Q-link editor; Jeff Johnson, Q-link designer, and much assistance from Ken Roach on Technology this year
St. Matthew’s Mission:
To know Christ and to make him known through the power of the Holy Spirit by devotion to Christ, fellowship within the church, and revelation of God’s nature in work and deed.
In support of its mission, St. Matthew’s has developed four goals for its three-year plan (’08-’10).
1. To develop the congregation’s biblical knowledge and application in Christian living through education for all ages.
2. To provide intentional care for all persons and groups at St. Matthew’s to enable them to grow as disciples of Christ.
3. To provide opportunities for members of the congregation to share their time, talent and treasure in local community outreach.
4. To make visible the mission and ministries of St. Matthew’s, as we seek to fulfill God’s purpose as a church.
Please list below current or planned activities, programs or ministries which support these goals and indicate which goal(s) your committee's activities, programs or ministries address:
A very year for the committee! With the help of staff and Ken Roach, we successfully launched the new web site! Principal design work is done and we’re slowly adding features ourselves instead of relying on the designer to do so, a welcome change. With the help of the Audio Guild, we’ve been posting both print and audio versions of the weekly sermons on the site. The latest Q-link is now on-line as well. The opportunities for increased and more effective communication are very high with this new tool and the Internet. Any and all feedback on the web site is welcome. Thanks so much for your patience and support on this major project.
Regarding the Q-link, an effort is underway to migrate it the web site as soon as practical, with just a few printed copies for those who wish to still want a paper copy. We changed the publication schedule this year to give our volunteers more flexibility in the production schedule.
We’ve posted the Vestry candidate’s interviews on the website as well as printed hard copies in the Narthex and the hallway as an alternative.
Finally – 2009 will mark the beginning of my sixth year as chairman of communications, three of them as Q-link editor as well. If you know of anyone with an appropriate background interested in stepping up to this role, please let me know so I can start recruiting them. While this is a role I sought after leaving the Vestry, I feel it’s time to start working to pass the baton and bring in fresh leadership and ideas.
Technology: Ken Roach
The new cabling, server, and network installed last year for our offices has decreased problems, improved stability, and increased communication speed. With these improvements we have rarely needed our private technology provider to solve problems this year. Two new cable lines were installed this year, one for a new office and one for stability and backup to our Church Office.
Long-Range Planning: Tim Lough
Click here to view the extensive report.
Pre-School: Sue Rickman
St. Matthew's Preschool opened on Monday, September 8th with 4 classes. We had a total enrollment of 41 preschoolers. This is an increase over the past few years. We currently have a staff of 5 and are looking to hire an additional assistant teacher. As an outreach of St. Matthew's, one of our goals is to provide partial/full scholarship to families needing assistance. This year we have approximately 10% of our total budget being used for scholarship.
Mom's Morning Out (MMO): Spring Kirby
The 2008-2009 school year started the week of September 8 for Mothers' Morning Out (at/near capacity of approximately 40 spaces). Our registration with the state Department of Social Services went smoothly this summer with all inspections passed on the first try.