Annual Meeting 2010 : Report of the Senior Warden

Connie Parrish, Senior Warden

The work of a vestry typically has a seasonal rhythm - it starts with the election of new members at Annual Meeting in late January. That is quickly followed by a day-long retreat at which goals and priorities for the upcoming year are established. Then it’s time to get to work on the general business of the vestry.

Around mid-October that work begins to focus on the next year’s budget. We meet with each program manager to hear about their vision for the upcoming year and the budget they will need to accomplish their work. The goal is to have an approved budget by Annual Meeting.

As you know, 2009 was not a typical year.

We began with a period of turmoil.
  • In late January the Annual Meeting was postponed to deal with parish leadership challenges.
  • Vestry meetings included both out-going and in-coming members, and the focus was on understanding the issues and working with the Diocese and Rector to come to a resolution.

During this time, most other business was put on hold.

After Tricia’s departure, vestry had two main priorities.
  • First - to talk and listen to the congregation so that we could all come to a better understanding of what happened and how people felt about it, and start the work to rebuild our community,
  • And second - to bring on a Priest-in-Charge. Again, a lot of standard vestry business was put on hold.

On May 1st, vestry met with the Priest-in-Charge candidate recommended by the Diocese. A few days later we unanimously voted to accept The Reverend Kate Ekrem as our new Priest-In-Charge. At this point we felt like we were moving in a positive direction and transitioning to a new stage.

With tremendous support and contributions from Sabeth, Ted, Cheryl and Emma, vestry spent the next three months looking at business items that had been on hold and putting each into one of two categories: 1. yes, we can work on this – let’s get cracking; or 2. no, this needs to wait for Kate’s arrival. It almost became a mantra at our vestry meetings “You know, we really need to wait for Kate before we tackle this”.

So what DID we get done during this interim period? A number of things:

I. Vestry established two new committees –

A Communications Committee was formed to establish consistent and helpful communications practices and policies. Under this committee’s “umbrella”, among other things, is Redeemer’s website, the on-line calendar, and Redeeming Features.

An ad hoc Nursery Committee was formed to establish practices and policies for our Sunday Nursery in recognition of our responsibility to operate under the spirit and intent of “Safe Church” guidelines and to ensure quality and consistency in our Nursery staff. Members of this committee worked very hard to complete their business in time for the start of our program year in September.
• They developed a safe church policy as it pertains to child care, and a vision statement that guides our child care policies and practices.
• In addition, they hired a new caregiver, Laura Kelley, who is working out very well.

II. Also during this time, we developed and approved a new facilities rental policy for groups inside and outside the parish.

III. We listened to our Treasurer and heard that our deficit was growing. So we brainstormed ways to reduce the gap. The result was the 13th month initiative, which was Randy Bowlby’s idea. And thanks to your generosity, that initiative improved our year-end position significantly. You will hear more details about this in the Treasurer’s Report.

IV. On a more exciting note, the first J2A Pilgrimage took place in July and included four members of the vestry – our youth members, Katherine Mirani and Lindsay Koso, and George Murnaghan and Sandy Keshishian. Those of you who came to their presentation in the fall know what an incredible experience that was for everyone who went.

Redeemer welcomed Kate and her family on Sunday, August 2. Kate’s first vestry meeting was 3 days later. We did not present her with the long list of business items that had been awaiting her arrival (though I suspect Kate already had a clue as to what was in store, because Sabeth captured the “list” on giant post-it notes that were plastered all over her office walls). Instead we spent the entire meeting talking about some basic questions that may sound familiar to you:

 What keeps you coming to Redeemer?  What is an example of something you think is best about Redeemer?  Are there things you wish were different about Redeemer?  What challenges do you see for Redeemer in the short or long-term?

We used the many ideas generated during that meeting as the basis for our priorities and goals discussion at our retreat, which finally took place in mid-September. We narrowed our list down to three key areas of focus and a few specific goals. Those areas are worship, community, and stewardship - and they guided our work for the balance of the year.

WORSHIP has been an area of discussion ever since I arrived at Redeemer 16 years ago, and I know it was going on before that as well. Worship is one of the key things that brings us to Redeemer, so it’s understandable that as we change we look at how we worship together. Vestry and Kate decided it is important to get worship questions “on the table”, and to that end Kate has established a Worship Committee.

COMMUNITY is a theme we hear every time we have conversations within the parish – the importance of opportunities to spend time together outside of worship and get to know each other; of caring for members of our congregation in difficult times and celebrating with them in joyful times. As ideas come before vestry, from our committees and ministries, and from individual parishioners, one of the ways we look at them is the context of their contribution to “community”.

The third area vestry has focused on is STEWARDSHIP. Sabeth and Ted did a great job helping the new committee think about a broader definition of stewardship back in July and August. At the time of the vestry retreat, however, there was an immediate need to complete planning for the annual stewardship campaign and get that underway. Many vestry members joined parishioner volunteers and took an active role in our campaign, hosting and facilitating the cottage meetings held last fall to learn about areas of Redeemer that are most important to us all. Vestry will continue to look at stewardship from a broader perspective this year and will be talking about strategic planning and how to meet our long-term capital needs.

Most recently, vestry has been working on the budget for 2010. We caught up with the rhythm of a typical vestry year in mid-October and began our meetings with program managers. And here we are at Annual Meeting, with an approved budget in hand that Dinesh and Jim will walk you through shortly.

As I looked back over 2009 to put this report together, it struck me how many important issues vestry addressed last year. We were only able to do it because of your prayers and support. And it’s not just the vestry that had a busy year. The entire parish, working together, accomplished so much. I look at where the parish is now, and I’m excited by what I see. This community is on positive path, and I’m looking forward to what is in store for us in 2010.

Just a side bar – I hope a lot of what I’ve just told about vestry’s business activities sounded familiar from • our Sunday “Vestry Person of the Day” announcements, • the vestry summaries in Redeeming Features, and • the vestry minutes that are posted on the website.

Good communication is always important. But because it has not been a typical year at Redeemer, vestry has been very intentional about improving communications to the parish – to keep you informed about what vestry has been doing, and to communicate in different ways to help ensure as many people as possible get the messages.

I have one last piece of business – thank-yous.

I want to thank Sabeth for her leadership during the period we were without a Rector or Priest-in-Charge. In addition to everything else she did, Sabeth was a valuable member of the vestry during that interim period.

Similar thanks go to Ted Gaiser, our Deacon, for the extra time he gave us over the spring and summer months and for his leadership in our stewardship campaign. Ted was instrumental in pulling our stewardship conversations into a cohesive campaign, and he conducted training for all the volunteers.

I also want to thank Kate - for coming in with a gentle hand, for listening to us and working collaboratively with us, and for leading us as we work to find our way.

Most of all, thank you, vestry members – all of you - for an incredible year.

At the beginning of our 2009 tenure, we had 5 continuing and 7 new vestry members. We met twice a month, every month. With each meeting, I came to know, respect and appreciate the individual gifts of each vestry member. At the same time, these individuals grew into a very effective team. I believe that the work this vestry has done proves that the whole really is greater than sum of its parts.

And I am going to miss the “parts” who are leaving!

I want to acknowledge the out-going members of the 2009 Vestry - Janet Kern, Jack Manes, Erica Brotschi, Jed Geyerhahn, Katherine Mirani and Lindsay Koso.

THANK YOU, Janet, Jack, Erica, Jed, Katherine and Lindsay, for sharing your unique gifts with the vestry. I will miss your individual perspectives and insights, and the enthusiasm and energy and love for this community that you brought to each vestry meeting. It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve on vestry with you.