St. George’s Episcopal Church
Annual Meeting to Review Year 2010
Agenda, January 15, 2012
Signing of the Articles of Association by new voting members
(Please sign prior to the meeting)
Report of the Rector
(Verbal Report presented with Sermon, Written Report in program)
Reports of Committees and Organizations
(See printed program)
Minutes of 2010 Annual Meeting: Liz Reisz
Mission Moment – Children’s Church
Report of the Nominating Committee with Recommendations for 2012: Peter Yauch
Election of Officers and Parish Representatives
Mission Moment – Soup Ministry at Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Center, Biddeford
Treasurer’s Report for 2011: George Dow, Treasurer
Report of the Stewardship Committee: Dave Dube, Chair
Presentation of the 2012 Budget: Lew Butler, Finance Committee
Mission Moment – Prison Ministry at Cumberland County Jail
Acknowledging Transitions in our Common Life
Our sincere thanks to those who are retiring or moving on from ministries or committees
or those who have completed their assignments:
- Jane Sweeney Beecher from the Nominating Committee
- Janet Crandlemire from the Altar Guild
- Dave Dube from vestry
- Brenda Ervin from the Nominating Committee
- Rich Ervin from the Vestry
- Mark Ford from the Nominating Committee
- Jeannette Gross from Eucharistic Visitors
- Heather Hesse-Stromberg from the Vestry and Church School
- Pat Linscott from Eucharistic Visitors
- Jean Mercer from the Altar Guild
- Cindy Perkins as chair of Altar and Flower Guilds
Mission Moment – Youth Group
Adjourn to Eucharist
St. George’s Episcopal Church
Minutes of the Annual Meeting for the Year 2010
January 23, 2011 9:30 a.m.
- The minutes of the Annual Meeting on January 24, 2010 were unanimously approved.
- The Reports of the Rector, Pastoral Associate/Deacon, Deacon, Wardens, Missions, Committees and Organizations were distributed in written form.
- The Report of the Nominating Committee was given by Julie McKay with the following nominations for 2011:
Senior Warden: Robert Palmer (1-year term)
Junior Warden: Charlie Smith (1-year term)
Treasurer: George Dow (1-year term)
Vestry:Daryl McKay (2-year term)
Barbara Boschert (3-year term)
Allee Gray (3-year term)
Frank Jillson (3-year term)
Delegates to the Diocesan Convention 2011:
Holly Sargent (1-year term)
Ralph Davison (1-year term)
Mary Anne Smith (1-year term)
Alternates to the Diocesan Convention 2011:
Dick Balkite (1-year term)
Susan Balkite (1-year term)
Marcia Williams (1-year term)
Derek Michaud (1-year term)
Shelley Fitzgerald (1-year term)
Charlie Smith (1-year term)
Nominating Committee:
Julie McKay (3-year term)
Peter Yauch (3-year term)
The slate was accepted as presented.
4.Report of the Rector – Oral Report presented with the Sermon, Written Report Excerpt:
It seems a little strange to be submitting an annual report, since I have been your rector for only six short weeks. However, this is the nature of transition, which of course you well know, because St. George’s has been in transition for some time now. Can you believe that it was almost two years ago that the Reverend Paige Blair, your rector of nearly nine years, announced that she would be leaving? And thus, the whirlwind began. In November, with the work of your Discernment Committee completed, the Vestry announced whom they had called to be your new rector, and I am so honored to have been chosen.
There is no doubt that there are challenges in the days ahead for St. George’s You have identified them – aging buildings, insufficient space, financial stability, crafting liturgy to nourish and empower the variety of people who gather here (and those who do not yet gather here) to worship week after week. In spite of these challenges you remain a vibrant community of faith that longs to grow, not simply for the sake of growth, but for the sake of forming more faithful leaders who will leave this place and go out into the world to do God’s work, serving the poor, the sick, the downhearted, prisoners, anyone who may be in need of the hope that Christ alone can offer. You are a community of faith that longs to be known for service to others (Parish Profile, Goals and Challenges).
As we move into 2011 and look forward to our ministry together I am convinced that with God’s help we can face these and any challenge which may arise and indeed become a community of faith known for its service to others. St. George’s has a very bright future ahead. Since we began our ministry together in December, we have already seen a 26% increase in average Sunday attendance, but more importantly we have started to see the Spirit do her work as we begin to shore up the best of the past and as new ideas begin to percolate, stirring up our excitement for ministry together. Thanks be to God!
Please see the written copy for the full report.
5.Treasurer’s Report for 2010 – George Dow, Treasurer
2010 saw pledge giving in the amount of $209,265.34 against a budget of $207,994.00. This was a great effort for a very difficult time economically as well as internally here at St. George’s. Total contributions for 2010, which include pledge giving, loose plate offering and Non-Identified Pledge giving, (Non-Identified pledge givers are parishioners who for tax purposes cannot pledge, or prefer to not be identified, but give with regularity and have shown and expressed their commitment to support St. George’s), totaled $228,360.58 against a budget of $237,194.00. This represented a deficit in revenue of ($8,833.42).
As of December 31, 2010 we had $41,564.43 in our operating account and total current assets of $452,544.27. NOTE: $20,000 of the operating account total is money associated with the ring donated by Bud Wagner and are intended for the rectory work and are not available for general operating expenses. Also, after we consider the $1,623.00 for Christmas outreach, our operating budget entering into 2011 has an undesignated balance of $19,941.43.
As we enter 2011 with a proposed balanced budget and available funds of $19,941.43 in our operating account, I consider us to be in a sound financial position.
Please see written copy for full report.
6. Report of the Stewardship Committee – Daryl McKay, Chair
We have pledges totaling $6,000 more than the total pledges from 2010 and people continue to send in pledges. The formal Stewardship campaign ends today and we end the year with the same number of pledging units as last year. It should be noted that it is the first year in many years that the number of pledging units did not decrease.
- Report of 2011 Budget – Lew Butler, Finance Committee
Lew reported that in October of 2010 the Vestry decided to reinvigorate the Finance Committee to look at the financial future of St. George’s. The committee is made up of Ted Little, Dick Balkite, Frank Jillson, Cal Wallace, Brian Wilson and Ralph Davison. The goal of the Committee was to have a balanced budget.
- Acknowledging Transitions in our Common Life: Thanks to parishioners who are completing their assignments:
Senior Warden:Ken Barrett
Vestry:Kate Bishop, Matt Reilly
Nominating Committee:Marcia Williams
Church School Teachers:Christina DeSoto, Carleigh Ervin
Food Pantry:Kate Ford
Discernment Committee:
Tom Beecher, Barbara Boschert, Kate Bishop, Dave Balian, Pauline Cashman, Ralph Davison, Debby Ehret, Carleigh Ervin, Allee Gray, Susan Mullens, Marcia Williams
Eucharistic Ministers:Cindel Lamothe, Pat Kriensky
- The meeting was adjourned and the Eucharist service continued.
Respectfully submitted by Heather Hesse-Stromberg,
Clerk of St. George’s Vestry
Nominating Committee Report
The proposed slate of officers and other elected leaders to be presented at the Annual Meeting on January 15, 2012, is as follows:
Senior Warden: Robert Palmer (2012)
Junior Warden: Charlie Smith (2012)
Treasurer: George Dow (2012)
Vestry: Nancy Merrill (2014), Susan Mullens (2014), Brenda Ervin (2014)
Continuing Vestry members: Barbara Boschert (2013), Frank Jillson (2013), Allee Gray (2013); Daryl McKay (2012), Brian Wilson (2012), Liz Reisz (2012)
Delegates to the Diocesan Convention 2012:
Marcia Williams (2013), Shelley Fitzgerald (2013), Dan Summers (2013)
Continuing delegates: Holly Sargeant (2012), Ralph Davison (2012), Mary Anne Smith (2012)
Alternates to the Diocesan Convention 2012: Dick Balkite (2012), Susan Balkite (2012), Ann O? Sullivan (2012), Cynthia Hayes (2012), Jane Sweeney-Beecher (2012)
Nominating Committee: Karen Gilroy (2014), Kate Bishop (2014), Peter Blanchard (2014)
Continuing Nominating Committee members: Eric Hopkins (2012), Julie McKay (2013), Peter Yauch (2013)
Respectfully submitted,
St. George’s Church Nominating Committee
Julie McKay, Chair
Brenda Ervin, Mark Ford, Jane Sweeney-Beecher, Eric Hopkins, Peter Yauch
The Report of the Rector
What a joy it is to look back on the past year and see how much we’ve done together. If you’ve ever stood over your handiwork after completing a project, you know the satisfaction and pleasure that come from working toward a goal that means a lot to you. This past year, the first full year in which I have been blessed to serve as your rector, we have done a lot of good work as a community.
There have been many exciting changes that have occurred at St. George’s since I sat down to write this report last year. Much of those changes have been in the way we worship together, and in our spiritual formation program. The process by which those changes came to pass began early in the year, when a group comprising regular attenders of all three previously-held services and people who had experience with spiritual formation for both children and adults was called together. After gathering information in a wide variety of ways, from both surveys and focus groups, the group presented recommendations to the vestry, and these changes went into place in September.
Among the changes to the spiritual formation program was a new church school format, under the direction of Julie McKay and Cindy Perkins. Children and youth take an in-depth look at the spiritual lessons through a variety of activities, from performing arts to photography, even through cooking! The fruits of these efforts are shared monthly at intergenerational worship services, which have enjoyed an enthusiastic reception.
Numerous spiritual formation programs for adults have also been offered over the past year. Topics included a spiritual approach to questions about money, living intentionally during the season of Advent, and a comparative reading of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. We look forward to more offerings in the months to come.
Our church has also expanded its pastoral ministries. Last year I mentioned the possibility of beginning a Stephen Ministry here at St. George’s, which would raise up members to walk with those in our parish and beyond who are going through periods of struggle. Your vestry has officially enrolled us to be a Stephen Ministry Parish, and I’m pleased to report that the Reverend Sudie Blanchard and Lori Pesciotta will be traveling to California in February to be trained as Stephen Ministry Leaders, and will begin training Stephen Ministers for our community in September of 2012.
St. George’s continues to make efforts to be as welcoming to children and families as possible. In support of these goals, a session of Safe Church training was held in June, offering an updated course that those who attended agreed was very useful. Another new ministry that has sprung from within our community is a support group for families that have been formed through adoption. The group meets regularly, and also has created a presence on Facebook.
Over the past year, you have also shown how truly you long to be known for your service to others. We have just concluded a stewardship campaign, during which we asked members to step up their pledges so that we as a parish might do God’s work in the community. Our goal is to reach a 10% tithe on our pledged income in gifts back to those in need, and in 2011 we were already very close. Roughly $18,000 was given out through the annual budget, the rector’s discretionary fund and special Easter and Christmas offerings – about 8% of our pledge income. A group of parishioners has been formed to help guide us in the year ahead, in order to find organizations local, regional and global that will not merely receive our money but also partner with us in shared ministry.
Indeed, the gifts of this parish have not been in treasure alone. So many of you have stepped forward to serve those in need with your time and effort. You have done so in support of the youth group’s clothing drive for Seeds of Hope, collecting donated garments to assist those in search of work. You have done so as members of the prison ministry, visiting those at the Cumberland County Jail. This manner of work will continue in 2012.
The same group who will be guiding our monetary giving have also met with local officials about helping children on the free and reduced school lunch program, so that we might provide assistance during school breaks and summer vacation. As part of the spiritual formation program, our children will be making fleece blankets for the Linus Project, which will be distributed to other children who are the victims of illness or trauma, and will be making dried soups to sell in support of the York Food Pantry.
As we approach the year ahead, there is much to look forward to. Some of these things are the growth from seeds planted this past year. Rain prevented us from beginning our Easter Vigil service at Harbor beach as planned, but we are hopeful for more cooperative weather this time around, which will, I think bring a deeper appreciation of the experience of Holy Week.
One other expectation that bears mentioning is the addition of an evening worship service to the week. What this service will look like, what form our worship will take, and even when it will happen are all questions that are yet to be settled, but I look forward to joining you in prayerful discernment as we seek the best answers.
At the conclusion of our first full year together, I am so full of gratitude. Gratitude to have been called to be your rector. Gratitude for this vibrant community, which raises up leaders and finds new ways to minister to the world. And gratitude for the love and blessings of God, poured out upon us in the seasons past and in the seasons yet to come.
Thanks be to God!
Average Sunday Attendance (ASA)
2006 / 2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011Sundays (Including Nursing Homes) / 207 / 195 / 186 / 168 / 126 / *138
Sundays (Not including Nursing Homes) / ? / 168 / 155 / 141 / 113 / *129
Christmas / 496 / 393 / 326 / 278 / 350 / 333
Easter / 461 / 489 / 411 / 381 / 286 / 349
* Christmas attendance is NOT included in the ASA for 2011
Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) by Seasons
(With EV Visits/Without EV Visits)
2006 / 2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 2011ASA Jan-May / 209 / 216 / 204/177 / 189/161 / 142/125 / 147/136
ASA June-August / 137 / 154 / 129/101 / 125/98 / 99/88 / 103/96
ASA June-August 9:00 / 40
ASA Fall / 1269 / 193 / 201/163 / 176/148 / 126/117 / 2155/145
1 2006 Fall ASA includes Christmas attendance.
2 2011 Fall ASA does NOT include Christmas attendance.
Fall ASA by Service Time
2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 / 20117:45 / 49 / 46 / 44
8:00 / 46 / *47
9:00 / 67 / 65 / 55
10:15 / 75 / *90
11:00 / 55 / 49 / 43
Nursing Homes / 30 / 29 / 10 / 10
*Christmas attendance is NOT included.
Respectfully submitted,
The Reverend Calvin F. Lyons Sanborn
The Deacons’ Reports—The Rev. Sudie Blanchard
This has been a remarkable year. It has been a year of listening, careful listening. As the year began, the work I had been doing for more than two years as your Pastoral Associate ended. That was hard. In my personal life, I was also grieving my mother’s recent death, so I took a few months off, just to rest and reflect a bit on what God might want me to do next. I explored several possibilities for employment, but nothing seemed just right.
In early April, as a result of all that listening and reflecting—and because of a series of what I call “God-incidences”—I updated a proposal I had written in 2008 for a paid chaplain position at York Hospital, adding the 2½ years of experience as Pastoral Associate at St. George’s to my list of accomplishments, and mailed it off to Jud [Knox] for his consideration. Next thing I knew, I was interviewing with several team leaders at the hospital. By the end of April, I had been hired!
I began work as York Hospital’s first part-time paid chaplain in early May. After more than six months on the job, I can say that it’s a good fit, both for me and for York Hospital. I spend 12 hours a week at York Hospital, visiting patients and providing care to patient families and hospital staff as needed. I am also available 24/7 for any emergencies that may arise. Since May, I have seen nearly 1000 patients!
I find chaplaincy work both challenging and fulfilling. As I move from room to room, I never know what sort of situation may greet me—and because of the rapid turnover in patients, I may only meet once with a patient. One moment I may be called on to say a prayer of thanks for a new healthy baby, the next moment, there may be an anxious patient heading to surgery, who needs my calm, compassionate presence. As an inter-faith chaplain, I need to be prepared to meet each person where they are in their faith journey—that requires careful listening. I need to be ready to meet people of any faith tradition, too. This has certainly forced me to rely on God’s strength, wisdom and guidance rather than my own, and to trust that God walks with me into each room and will give me the words I need. I have not been disappointed.
Here at the church, I have been working with a group of around 20 parishioners as we explore various opportunities for mission. We have begun a ministry with Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Center. We are one of several churches who provide soup to feed folks who come to the In A Pinch Essentials Pantry on Tuesdays. We plan to do this several times a year. Some of us are exploring ways of helping York school kids who get free school lunches get lunch during school vacations. We’ve also made recommendations to the Vestry as to how to distribute money in the church’s budget designated for Mission, as well as the organizations to receive special Christmas and Easter offerings.