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Church of Our Redeemer Annual Meeting Sunday, January 26, 2020Minutes: DRAFTPresiding:The Rev. Kate EkremClerk:Cathy BurnsParliamentarian:Charles HornigThe meeting began at 9:50 with Rector’s Call to Order, followed by her address, and a celebration of Eucharist in the sanctuary. The Address began with Kate Ekrem addressing today’s Gospel reading from the book of Matthew. In this reading, Jesus asked the fishermen to follow him. She asked, “Did they just get up and leave?” She said change is difficult. Then she identified many of the worship changes we experimented with this fall.Does God have a stable future for us? Probably not. She talked about a white-water world. Rafting guides state four rules to negotiate white water: First, lean into the rocks, not against them. The more we talk to each other, the better off we can be. We can learn more about each other from this talk. Lexington is a more diverse community and we have responded with the REAG Committee (Racial Equity Action Group) with members like Mia Ong, Deb Jacoby-Twigg, and others who are leading this charge. Second, never stop paddling. You need to keep the boat moving in the right direction. Keep to your regular habits as an individual. As a community, keep up with our regular schedule and go about business as always. Third, rest in the calm spots. We need to take a break when we can. We will be doing this during Lent. We will have a parish Sabbath. We will focus on prayer and worship and things that nuture and inform us. Coffee hour will be looser and will have no committee meetings. Setting things down helps us determine what is important. For instance, we will not have a vestry meeting during Lent. Sabbath is a commandment to remember that God is in charge. Lastly, if you fall into the water, let go of everything except your life jacket. Hold on to what will keep you afloat. What did the disciples hold on to? Jesus. We can hold on to Jesus to keep us afloat. Our stability comes from God and our relationship with Jesus. Change is hard.From here, Kate said that we learned so much from the many worship experiments. For instance, it is hard to see the choir when they are on the floor. Our values are what serve as our life jacket. Sharing our lives with each other through music and prayer is what we do. We would like our worship space to be warm and friendly and welcoming to children. We value a community of inclusion and love. What might this look like? We don’t know yet, but we will figure it out without breaking the bank and straining our resources because it will be done with love. God’s love will carry us through.This is our tenth annual meeting together. Kate looked back at previous sermons. Ten years ago, she mentioned we might need to do something about the ancient organ. All the messages in the sermons included the theme that God is calling us to change because he is calling us to fish for other people and opening ourselves up to new people means change. We may need to let some things go and entertain new ideas and ways of doing things. Many years ago, David and Claudia Cooper brought the retreat; Helene Huggins brought liturgy teams. What new things have we not yet discovered?Kate reminded us that the collect for the parish from last year sums up all of this. She suggested that we pray it together:Loving God, who calls us to restore unity and justice, your son Jesus teaches us that love brings us together in a community where all are welcome. Help us deepen our faith and relationships so that we can grow our community to make a difference within and beyond ourselves, through Jesus Christ Our Redeemer. Amen.?After Eucharist, the meeting was suspended and the congregation moved to the Great Hall for lunch and a slide show prepared by Randy Bowlby. The slide show included pictures from the many events of 2019 that we shared together. While members were enjoying their lunch, the meeting was recalled to order at 11:07 a.m. by Kate Ekrem with a prayer of blessing. Charles Hornig will serve as our Parliamentarian.A quorum was certified by the clerk and a motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed to approve the minutes of the 2019 Annual Meeting.2019 Nominating Committee Report (Ian Fox)The committee worked for several months on the slate. Thank you to the members of the committee: Ian Fox, Christopher Huggins, Jackie Potdevin, Randy Bowlby, and Lee Noel Chase.The following nominees for officers, vestry, and deanery representatives:Senior Warden: Bill VogeleJunior Warden: Murray DanielsTreasurer: Jeanne JacobyClerk: Cathy BurnsVestry for 3-year term: Susan Burkhardt and one open spotVestry for 1 year term: Paula AntonevichYouth member for 1-year term: Rebecca VossDeanery representatives (one year term): Linda Kukolich, Ginny Neumann, and Karen SchragleThe following vestry members will continue to serve their elected terms and are not standing for election this year:2-year term: Susan Dresley and Dan Voss1 year term: Mia OngAdditional nominations were requested from the floor: Murray Daniels nominated Cassie Bowlby for the open 3-year spot. No other nominations were made.A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to elect the slate of officers, vestry and deanery representatives as submitted and included in the annual report, with the addition of Cassie Bowlby filling the 3 year open slot.This group will be commissioned next Sunday, February 2, 2020.Election of the Nominating Committee for 2020-2021Elections are for a one year term. This group considers who to invite to serve for open positions, makes those invitations, and provides nominations for next year’s vestry and deanery reps. We will elect 5 members, according to our by-laws.Nominations were taken from the floor for the Nominating Committee for 2020-2021. Nominations included: Christopher Huggins, Jackie Potdevin, Lee Noel Chase, Keira Fox, Karen Schragle, and Tony Johnson. It was noted that Keira Fox is only 14 so is not eligible to serve.With only 5 people accepting the nomination to the Nominating Committee for 2020-2021, an election was deemed not necessary. Kate proposed that Keira will serve as a youth representative on next year’s committee. A motion was made, seconded and approved for the 2020-2021 Nominating Committee with Christopher Huggins, Jackie Potdevin, Lee Noel Chase, Karen Schragle, and Tony Johnson, with Keira Fox as a youth representative.Leadership ReportWarden’s Report and Financial Report (Bill Vogele)Bill Vogele wanted to thank all who are on the Vestry this past year. For those who are leaving: Bethany Friesner, Erica Brotschi, Steven Dillman, and Bonnie Ramage especially.He also noted another thank you- 10 years with Kate Ekrem. Bill mentioned that Kate will be speaking to us about her sabbatical later this summer. She modeled the stole she was given.Thank you to Worship Space design and worship experiments as well as the members of the Organ Committee.Bill said last year that he proposed that in 2019 we would be together showing who we are as stewards of God’s love in the world; we will continue to invest in Evangelism and Communication to make this love known; and we will grow in ways so that all people are welcomed and invited into this community. In February, the Vestry created a collect on our Retreat which we pray together regularly. We work on improving our communications to the outside world. The Evangelism and Communication committee worked hard to create a new logo. Through all our work, we have defined ourselves as drawn by faith; powered by love; committed to justice. This is only possible with your gifts of time, talent, and treasure.2020 Financial Review: Last year we had a surplus of $27,000 despite predictions made this time last year. This coming year, we are looking at a small deficit of $15,000. This can be attributed to increased utility costs while other expenses moderated. We also installed split systems in the Rectory. We are looking into solar panels on the roof of the church. Ingrid Klimoff has offered to look at solar panels and possibly composting. Thank you, Ingrid Klimoff! The Budget was approved by Vestry. Bill remarked that parishioner offerings pay for personnel while our rental income helps pay for operating costs. We have very good management of our finances overall. Kate then thanked us for gifts and said she loves her job. Her theme for her sabbatical is Pilgrimage. She’d like to go on a walking pilgrimage that will end at Canterbury Cathedral. While she’s away, Andrew will be here full time. The bulk of her time away will be in the summer so it was felt that Andrew did not need a second person to fill in. We may tap Frank Fornaro or other clergy to help out.WSRD Team reportSusan Dresley talked about what a great group of people she had to work on the committee. She presented the team timeline: first meeting in May; church visits in July and August; plans to share what was learned on church visits in September; Organ committee always asking questions; Our first experiment was in September followed by the second in October. Feedback came in many ways – written feedback on index cards, emailed comments, and an adult forum on November 24th.Proposed worship space renovation timeline – February vestry will review the WSRD report. Susan reviewed the timeline out into Fall 2021. It is vitally important to keep the values we have determined to be important: inclusion/welcome; music, space for community; prayer; traditional plus; beauty. These are on the cards in the center of every table. The team came up with “Must Haves” and “Nice to Have” elements.Small group discussion/activity- Tabletalk; reactions/feedback to WSRD reportWSRD team shared their “Must Have” list. Tables of parishioners were given a list of items and they put them in columns of “must have”, “nice to have,” etc. Discussions from the tables noted a need or desire for:a place for small worship services better lighting; security measure to make sure people in the building are safe lower altar – split decision by youth table – some nice to be close up but others liked having it high up; a/v and projection capability; more brightly lit altar area. 80/275 – we should not diminish that worship space used once a week but also make it a general space for other events – look at our values on this; what other spaces do we have and how are they being used?; Lee Noel says to let the architects come up with the solutions – we need to be clear on what we want; acoustical problem but also have an opportunity – stewardship (biggest space being used 3 hours a week) and evangelism (biggest space could be used for films or theatrical productions etc. Challenge us to think about stewardship for evangelism and outreach. Kate will collect the cards – must haves and nice to haves.Our second activity was to draw what you think the sanctuary might look like, starting with the chancel, nave, and balcony. We need to place the altar, font, pulpit, lectern, choir, organ console, music director, clergy congregation, soft space, sound distributors, and sound generators. Groups shared out their thoughts. Lots of different ideas were shared with the attendees. A motion was made and seconded and approved by unanimous vote to adjourn the annual meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 1:02pm.Submitted by,Cathy Burns, ClerkMeeting Attendees:Bill VogeleNancy WilliamsCharles Hornig Richard Friesner Ingrid KlimoffPeter JacobyCathy BurnsIan FoxTony Johnson George MurnaghanCA HugginsEvelyn HaussleinKaren SchragleAlix FoxSusan Dresley Erica BrotschiKatharine A MockettSandra KoerberGinny NeumannSteve KukolichJim Neumann Marcia H. Skiff-DoanDebbie LeBlancLinda KukolichHarriet AnthesCara KalfMary Eames Ucci Steven DillmanDr. Barbara “B.J” Addison ReidSusanne DillmanAdele PurvisSofia KosoConnie Parrish Jackie PotdevinHaynes PorterPeter KosoNate Jacoby-TwiggSusan BurkhardtMia Jacoby-Twigg Cassie BowlbyNoah Jacoby-TwiggRandy BowlbySarah ConradCaroline WortmanRebecca Voss Bruce FrancisSam StevensJulia FrancisCharlie CoonsSara B ChasePaula Antonevich Lee Noel ChaseRussell AntonevichMurray DanielsBethany FriesnerDeb Jacoby-TwiggMaryAnn Christie BurnsideJamie BurnsideMia OngWinthrop BrownSteve Burns ................
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