At its October meeting, the Vestry

1) approved the recommendations of the Social Ministry Committee for disbursement from the Discretionary Outreach line item funds in the amounts of $1000 to Stop Hunger Now, $500 to Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, $500 to Orange Alamance Prison Ministry, and $2000 to Chapel of the Cross Resettlement Project;

2) set the date of the Annual Meeting for Sunday, March 4, 2007;

3) learned that Bishop Curry has honored Bill Joyner by naming him Archdeacon and that he will be commissioned at Annual Convention in January;

4) approved the distribution of the assessment for seminary support for 2006 in the amount of $3249 each to Virginia Theological Seminary, University of the South, and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and $1624.50 each to Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church;

5) asked the Personnel Committee in consultation with the Rector to study the issue of duties and responsibilities of a development director for the parish; and

6) received the 2006 salary studies data completed by the Personnel Committee.

Following a bag supper, the Vestry met in focus session in the parish library to hear a report about last spring’s mission trip to Honduras. Vestry members present were Jim Crow (Sr. Warden), Steve Lackey (Jr. Warden), Chris Bowes, Mary Schoenfeld, Terry Eason, Ann Henley, Chip Hill, Clare Baum, Gail Cloud, Larry Logan, and Sandra McClaskey. Also present were Stephen Elkins-Williams (Rector), Bill Joyner (Deacon), Gabe Lamazares (Diocesan Intern), Barbara Hastings (Parish Administrator), Reid Conrad (Treasurer), and Nancy Kelly (Clerk).

Mr. Elkins-Williams opened the focus session at 6:30 p.m. and turned the meeting over to Ms Henley, Chair of the Global Missions Committee.

Ms Henley began her remarks by thanking the Vestry for both its vision and its support in making the mission trip to Honduras possible. She then presented a slide show of the trip with images of El Hogar orphanage, the technical school and the agricultural school to which the boys can go to learn skills after completing classes at the orphanage, and of different parishes of the Episcopal Church in Honduras.

Mr. Joyner then spoke a little of the meaningful interactions between those who went on the trip and the boys at the school. Ms Henley mentioned also that Mr. Joyner preached in Spanish at a bilingual mass.

The focus session concluded at 7:00 p.m., and the Vestry moved to the more formal part

The October meeting of the Vestry was held in the parish library on Thursday, October 16, 2006. Vestry members present were Jim Crow (Sr. Warden), Steve Lackey (Jr. Warden), Chris Bowes, Mary Schoenfeld, Terry Eason, Ann Henley, Chip Hill, Clare Baum, Gail Cloud, Larry Logan, and Sandra McClaskey. Also present were Stephen Elkins-Williams (Rector), Bill Joyner (Deacon) for part of the meeting, Gabe Lamazares (Diocesan Intern), Barbara Hastings (Parish Administrator), Reid Conrad (Treasurer), and Nancy Kelly (Clerk).

The Rector presided and opened the business meeting at 7:00 p.m.

Bible Study

Mr. Hill led the Bible study for the evening. The Gospel reading appointed for the day was Luke 9: 18-27.

Selection of Timekeeper

Mr. Crow volunteered to serve as timekeeper.

PARISH CONCERNS

Mr. Logan asked that the issues of the readability of Crossings and of the user-friendliness of the church website be maintained as high priority items. Mrs. Hastings responded that the website is a training issue and is being worked on, although slowly. Mr. Eason suggested that there needs to be a small committee and not just a single individual making decisions on graphics and content and that other church websites should be researched.

There were no corrections to the minutes of the focus session of September 21.

The following corrections were made to the minutes of the Vestry meeting of September 21:

p. 5, fourth paragraph, change “and then the next six months of the salary would be in the 2008 budget.” to “and then six months of the salary would be in the 2008 budget.”

p. 6, third paragraph, third line, change “the Jr. Warden has created excellent tools” to “the Jr. Wardens have created excellent tools”

p. 6, third paragraph, line 5, change “A development director would provide us those tools.” to “A development director would provide us the leadership to develop those tools.”

p. 10, line 5, change “to reduce bulletin business” to “to reduce bulletin busyness”

It was moved by Mrs. McClaskey, seconded by Mrs. Schoenfeld, and passed unanimously, that the Vestry approve the minutes of the focus session of September 21 and approve the minutes of the Vestry meeting of September 21 as amended.

All items are to remain on the addendum, pending completion.

The following items were placed on the Consent Agenda (attached):

-recommendations of the Social Ministry Committee for disbursement from the Discretionary Outreach line item funds in the amounts of $1000 to Stop Hunger Now, $500 to Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, $500 to Orange Alamance Prison Ministry, and $2000 to Chapel of the Cross Resettlement Project.

Also attached is the Social Ministry Committee tracking forms for these recommendations.

The question was raised as to how much money the Social Ministry Committee has left in its budget. Referring to the current balance sheets, it was determined that the discretionary outreach line item has spent just over 56% of its budget to date.

Mr. Logan then asked if the shortfall in the youth mission trip might be covered from Social Ministry Committee discretionary funds. Mr. Elkins-Williams replied that the protocol would be to refer the matter to the SMC for a recommendation.

It was moved by Mr. Logan, seconded by Mrs. Bowes, and passed unanimously, that the Vestry approve the Consent Agenda.

Mr. Elkins-Williams asked for approval of the date for the Annual Meeting.

It was moved by Mr. Logan, seconded by Ms Baum, and passed unanimously, that the Vestry set Sunday, March 4, 2007, as the date of the Annual Meeting of the parish.

The 2007 Vestry election schedule is attached.

Mr. Elkins-Williams announced that the Chapel of the Cross is mentioned in The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill 1795-1975 by Dr. Ruth Little. There will be a reception and talk at The Horace Williams House at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, October 27.

He also distributed a pamphlet, Voting God’s Politics: An Issues Guide for Christians, put out by Sojourner Magazine.

Ms Lee’s report is attached.

Associate for Parish Ministry

Mr. Frazelle’s report is attached.

Returning to the previous discussion of the deficit from the youth mission trip, Mr. Eason asked how in future we can keep these overruns from happening. Mr. Conrad said that some of the deficit resulted from communications issues. Mr. Elkins-Williams added that another factor was that there were many youth who wanted to take part in the trip, and we certainly don’t want to discourage participation. Mr. Elkins-Williams will pass on to Mr. Frazelle the suggestion that he approach the Social Ministry Committee about perhaps covering some of the deficit.

Deacon (Bill Joyner)

Mr. Elkins-Williams reported that Bishop Curry has honored Mr. Joyner by asking him to be the Archdeacon. In this position, Mr. Joyner will “ manage” the other deacons and help Bishop Curry decide where to assign deacons. He will be commissioned at Annual Convention in January.

Mr. Joyner reported that the monthly service for individuals with developmental disabilities now has five or six musicians at every service.

Senior Warden
The report of the Sr. Warden is attached.

Also attached is the research article on Death Row Injustices, referred to in item 1 of the report. This research was funded in part by the Chapel of the Cross.

Junior Warden
The Jr. Warden’s report is attached.

Mr. Lackey reported that there has been good response from those asked to plam and lead in the parish dialogue sessions. He announced that a parish dialogue session with the Vestry will serve as the focus session in November. The focus session will serve several purposes: to give the Vestry an idea of what will take place at these gatherings, to gather information from the Vestry much as information will be gathered from parishioners at the gatherings, and to allow the Vestry to critique the process. In order to allow sufficient time for the process, the focus session will begin at 6:15 p.m.

Mr. Lackey thanked those who have helped with the calling for the annual campaign.

Ms Henley said that Mr. Lackey did a good job of laying out all of the stewardship opportunities at the recent Sunday forum.

Mrs. Hastings reported on the status-to-date of the annual campaign. To date 130 pledges have been received for a total of $331,450.

Parish Administrator
The Parish Administrator’s report is attached.

Mrs. Hastings said that all phone service is now with Madison River Communications and that we have been very satisfied with the service.

Mrs. Hastings, commenting on the continuing education section of her report, said that the parochial report will be much easier to complete once the new ACS module is in place.

Treasurer
Attached are the Treasurer’s Narrative Report for September 2006 and the draft Combined Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2006.

Mr. Conrad reported that the budget is looking good for a strong year’s end. Seasonal expenses are balancing out.

Mr. Conrad emphasized that we need to move forward with increasing the line of credit with Bank of America. Mr. Eason suggested that the first expense of substance associated with the capital campaign would be architectural expenses, and he asked if we would have the first payments of campaign pledges in place in 2007 to cover this expense.

Mr. Crow asked about the loan principal of $215,300 on p. 1 of the balance sheets, asking if this is a loan against the Bank of America line of credit. Mr. Hill suggested that this figure represents instead money that we borrowed from ourselves. Mr. Conrad said that he will research and clarify this matter. Mr. Crow added that if it is indeed a loan against Bank of America, we are approaching the limit of the existing $400,000 line of credit. Mr. Conrad reiterated that we need a greater line of credit for cash flow purposes for the capital campaign.

Mr. Logan asked about unpledged contributions and how we might turn these into pledges. Mr. Elkins-Williams said that it’s difficult to track this, but he assured Mr. Logan that these individuals will be given the opportunity to make a pledge again this year. He added that having a development director on staff would help in these matters.

Finance Committee
The report of the Finance Committee is attached.

It was moved by the Finance Committee and passed unanimously that the Vestry approve the distribution of the assessment for seminary support for 2006 in the amount of $3249 each to Virginia Theological Seminary, University of the South, and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and $1624.50 each to Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church.

In discussion of budgetary targets, it was noted that the diocese is planning a 3.75% cost-of-living increase.

Buildings and Grounds Committee
The report of the Buildings and Grounds Committee is attached.

Ms Baum reported that the committee hopes to have available at the November meeting a specific proposal for how to proceed with the dining room floor.

Personnel Committee
The Personnel Committee report on the development director position is attached.

Mrs. Bowes said that the main concern of the Personnel Committee is the proposed timeline for hiring a development director in early spring 2007. The committee would like to have in hand the Whitney Jones feasibility study before hiring for the position.

The committee recommends that, as this would be the only staff position with primary responsibility to generate revenue, job security should depend on performance. Mr. Crow argued that the job of the development director is not to raise money, but rather to give the parish the tools to raise money and to lead us in doing that.

Mr. Elkins-Williams said that he will work with the Personnel Committee to develop a proposed job description for the position.

Mr. Logan suggested that the idea of a part-time position not be rejected, and Mr. Crow added that this could be worked out during the interview process, depending on the candidates available. Mr. Eason added that he would like to see a full-time position that combines development and membership development. A staff member in this position would interact with parishioners by getting to know them as individuals and not just for their financial situation. Mr. Logan agreed that this is a great idea. Mr. Eason will forward to Mr. Elkins-Williams the name of an individual in Richmond who has expertise in this area.

Mr. Elkins-Williams brought the discussion to a close by noting that it is the consensus of the Vestry that the Personnel Committee in consultation with the Rector will develop further the duties and responsibilities of a proposed development director for this parish.

Attached are the 2006 Salary Study Data: Other Chapel Hill Churches and the 2006 Salary Study Data: Episcopal Churches about Same Size as Chapel of the Cross. Mrs. Bowes said that she was pleased to find from the studies that our salaries seem to be in line with those of the other churches studied. Mr. Logan noted that other churches seem to place more emphasis on youth ministry.

Global Missions Committee

The report of the Global Missions Committee is attached.

Ms Henley reported that Honduras Night was a very successful event. The Global Commissions Committee wants to continue the work in Honduras by developing a connection with San Patricio parish in El Progreso, Honduras, and is looking at the possibility of a mission trip in spring 2007. Mr. Elkins-Williams recalled that the impetus for all of this came from the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes conference two years ago. He went on to recommend to all Vestry members attendance at a CEEP conference at least once during their tenure on the Vestry.

Mrs. Bowes said that she was moved by the needs of the people in Honduras for worship space and said that we need to help those in Honduras build as we are building.

On February 2-5, we will have visitors from St. Peter and St. Paul, Spring, South Africa.

Referring to the committee’s decision to provide scholarship money for a girl at the Kwansa school, Ms Henley reported that the cost of a scholarship to sponsor a girl is $750.

Hospitality Committee

The report of the Hospitality Committee is attached.

Mrs. Schoenfeld gave an overview of the various ministries of the committee.

The Rector offered a prayer and the meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

(Attachments are available in the library for review.)

Buildings and Grounds Committee – Check with Hartman-Cox before proceeding to replace maple trees.

Buildings and Grounds Committee – Follow up on the issue of having available at each service someone trained to troubleshoot problems with sound system.

Mr. Conrad - Research and clarify matter of $215,300 loan principal.

Mr. Elkins-Williams - Suggest to Mr. Frazelle that he contact Social Ministry Committee about deficit from mission trip.

Mr. Elkins-Williams and Personnel Committee - Study issues relating to job description for development director.