Vestry view – June 2025

Many thanks to all who made the Annual Meeting a huge success. I would like to give my heartfelt gratitude to the outgoing vestry members that dedicated three years of service to CECC.  Carolyn Carpenter, LaVondra Dobbs, Chad Penton, and Ray Rabidoux have given us the gifts of wisdom, strategy, hospitality, commitment to outreach and internal programs, dedication to CES and of course to CECC, and I could go on.  Thank you to Carolyn Carpenter, who has served for two years as our trusted Junior Warden, all while continuing dedicated service on Missions and Ministries sharing her wonderful gift of hospitality and warmth.  LaVondra Dobbs concludes three years in a variety of roles as Missions and Ministries chair, Family Reach Alliance liaison, Rally Day chair extraordinaire, and Recording Secretary.  Chad Penton is concluding three years of dedicated service as Christ Episcopal School liaison for two years, and member of the Administration, Stewardship, and Buildings and Grounds committees.  Ray Rabidoux has spent the last three years sharing his wisdom, strategic thinking and energy as the Administration committee chair, rep to the Finance committee as well as Stewardship chair and mentor.  I am so thankful and grateful for you all.  You made a fantastic team and I have been honored to serve with you all.
Annual Meeting:
 

 

Now for some vestry updates:
Congratulations to our new vestry members; Joe Campbell, Lorraine Chotin, Lila Daniel, and (not so new to the vestry) Ray Rabidoux.  We thank you for answering the call to serve our parish home.  All are assigned to committees and other roles as highlighted below.
The Vestry is led by the rector, Fr. Seth.  There are five officers, Senior Warden (Laura Williams), Junior Warden (Susan Atkins), Secretary (Lorraine Chotin), Treasurer (Bobby Coxe), and Chancellor (Mark Mercante).
The Vestry is divided into three committees: Buildings and Grounds, Administration, and Missions and Ministries.
  • The Buildings and Grounds committee is co-chaired by Bert Duvic and Ted White.  Dianne Allen-Pierce is also a member of the committee.  Buildings and Grounds handle everything that their name implies.  They deal with air conditioners, rotting wood, painting, etc.
  • The Administration committee is led by Ray Rabidoux.  Joe Campbell is also a member of the committee.  The Administration committee handles the Stewardship campaign (this year chaired by Chandra Gordon), as well as representation on the Finance Committee.  They also take care of any emergent business issues.
  • The Missions and Ministries committee is led by Nancy Wagner.  The committee is also comprised of Lorraine Chotin, Lila Daniel, Mike Andrepont, and Kathy Dobie.  This committee coordinates and helps to publicize all of the ministries at CECC, as well as the organization of Rally Day (chaired by LaVondra Dobbs).  Rally Day helps provide information about all of the ministries that you may wish to explore.  Mike Andrepont is the vestry’s liaison to CES.  In addition to the M&M committee, is the Outreach Ministries committee.  This ministry focuses on outreach into the community.  The Northshore Food Bank, Just Love Your Neighbor, and the Family Reach Alliance fall under the Outreach Ministries banner.  Outreach Ministries is chaired by Neil Kantner.
In addition to the committees above and representing the church’s investment in the Christwood corporation, Vestry members have the responsibility of electing new directors to the Christwood Board. These directors oversee the operations of Christwood on the members/church’s behalf.  The annual member’s meeting was held on June 11th, at Christwood, at which time, renewing board members and new board members were voted on and approved.  Renewing board members are Charles “Charlie” Goodyear, Brigadier General Michael Cushman, USAF, retired, and James H “Jimmie” Rogers.  Newly elected board members are Gordon Atkins, Dr. Thom Franklin, John Graham, Fran Phares, and Skip Skoggin.  We are all grateful for the new and renewed board member’s willingness to serve this important ministry.
Lastly, the Vestry is dedicated to serving you and CECC.  Vestry members attend a monthly meeting, as well as serving on a variety of projects and committees.  I am so grateful to be a part of this dedicated team.
1) Buildings and Grounds
Along with ongoing maintenance issues, removal of dead trees, etc, the committee has been involved with the upcoming plans as spelled out in the potential capital campaign.
The capital campaign consultant has been actively collecting feedback from parishioners regarding priorities and general health of the parish.  Fr. Seth, Bobby Coxe, and myself meet weekly with the consultant to assess next steps.
 2)  Life Within Our “Walls”
The Summer Breakfast series, once again coordinated by Carolyn Carpenter, started on June 8th and will continue throughout July.  The breakfasts provide a great opportunity for fellowship between the morning services.  The groups participating in the breakfasts are (in calendar order) are: the Vestry, Anne Butts and Christwood Friends, the Youth Group, the Lay Pastoral Ministry team, Gratitude Gals, the “Chapel Regulars”, Daughters of the King, and the Brotherhood of St. Andrews.  Many thanks to all of the ministries, as well as to the groups of friends, that provide the breakfasts.  We truly are a blessed community.
 We had a wonderful Feast of the Pentecost, with breakfast, baptisms, and bubbly.  Many thanks to all the volunteers and to all who came to celebrate this very special day in the church calendar.
Planning for Rally Day, a day to showcase our missions and ministries, has begun.  Mark your calendars for September 7th.  More details to come.
3) Community at Large
CEEP is back and is scheduled from July 7th to July 18th.  Many thanks to the hard-working steering committee, lead by Peggy Castle.  Volunteers are also needed.  Please contact the church office to help.
Also, Vacation Bible Study, spearheaded by Olivia Moss and Lila Daniel, will be held on July 28th to July 31st.  It is currently sold out and volunteers are needed.  Please contact the church office to help.
On June 16th, Neil Kantner, LaVondra Dobbs, and Susan Atkins visited the Family Reach Alliance headquarters and presented tool kits to be gifted to each family as they are housed.  This was a wonderful idea generated by Neil and funded by the Endowment Board.  This worthwhile ministry remains a top priority. Thank you to all involved.
Last, but not least, is a Save the Date for a new ministry that the church, along with CES and Christwood will be supporting on September 19th-20th.  The ministry is called Feed My Starving Children.  Our task will be to package food for delivery to children in nations such as Haiti.  This is not a small effort.  There will be trucks of food to package for shipment.  What a wonderful opportunity for our church, school, and retirement community to work together for children of the world! More info will be forthcoming.
If you wish to provide some feedback, please feel free to reach out to me at laurawilliamspmp@gmail.com .
Blessings,
Laura Williams
Senior Warden

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Vestry View – Late Summer 2024
Welcome to the late-summer edition of the Vestry View!  Summers are supposed to be quiet, right?  This one has been everything but quiet and in very good ways.  Let’s take a look at what has been going on:
1) Buildings and Grounds
We continue to deal with ongoing maintenance issues, from rotting wood to temperamental kitchen appliances.  Just imagine the maintenance you may have as a homeowner, and multiply that by the size of our campus.
The church property facility master planning committee, hereby known as the Parish Property Task Force (PPTF) continues to meet with “design and use” experts (Andrew McIver, the McMath team, Michael Hunley) to begin the ground work for a master plan.  There has been some preliminary work done towards solving the parking issue, by the clearing of some undergrowth on our properties to better understand the increased potential for parking spaces.
2)  Life Within Our “Walls”
Our Newcomer’s Committee, led by Carolyn Carpenter, organized a Newcomer’s social in June, graciously hosted by Father Seth and Amy Donald.  There was a wonderful turnout that enjoyed warm hospitality and fellowship.
The Summer Breakfast series, concluding on August 25th, has provided additional opportunities for fellowship between the morning services.  Many thanks to all of the ministries, as well as to the groups of friends, that provided the breakfasts.  We truly are a blessed community.
In June, the Endowment Board met the $30k challenge goal.  The importance of the Endowment Fund is not to be underestimated. Many thanks to all of you that helped meet that objective.
Planning for Rally Day, a day to showcase our missions and ministries, has begun.  Mark your calendars for September 15th with more details to come.
3)  Community at Large
On July 28-August 4th, CECC was blessed to host a family through the Family Reach Alliance (formerly known as Family Promise).  At least 50 volunteers helped with hosting and logistics.  Many thanks to LaVondra Dobbs and Bert Duvic, along with the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, for their dedication and support to this ministry and to all of the volunteers that showered the family with love.
Also, Vacation Bible Study was held on July 29th to August 2nd.  VBS was sold out! I had the opportunity to see the VBS in action and was quite envious of their experience.  Many thanks to the host of volunteers and the coordinators, Olivia Moss and Lila Daniel, for creating such a warm and welcoming environment.
Last, but not least, I thought you may want to know more about the structure of the Vestry.  The Vestry is led by the rector, Fr. Seth.  There are five officers, Senior Warden (Laura Williams), Junior Warden (Carolyn Carpenter), Secretary (LaVondra Dobbs), Treasurer (Bobby Coxe), and Chancellor (Mark Mercante).
The Vestry is divided into three committees: Buildings and Grounds, Administration, and Missions and Ministries.
  • The Buildings and Grounds committee is led by Bert Duvic. Other members on the committee are Dianne Allen-Pierce and Chad Penton.  Buildings and Grounds handle everything that their name implies.  They deal with air conditioners, rotting wood, painting, etc.
  • The Administration committee is led by Ray Rabidoux. Other members of the committee are Susan Atkins and Ted White.  The Administration committee handles the Stewardship campaign (this year chaired by Chandra Gordon), as well as representation on the Finance Committee.  They also take care of any emergent ‘business-type’ issues.
  • The Missions and Ministries committee is led by Nancy Wagner. The committee is also comprised of Carolyn Carpenter, LaVondra Dobbs, Mike Andrepont, and Kathy Dobie.  This committee coordinates and helps to publicize all of the ministries at CECC, as well as the organization of Rally Day (chaired by LaVondra Dobbs).  Rally Day helps provide information about all of the ministries that you may wish to explore.  Mike Andrepont is the vestry’s liaison to CES.  In addition to the M&M committee, is the Mission Commission ministry.  This ministry focuses on outreach into the community.  The Northshore Food Bank, Just Love Your Neighbor, and the Family Reach Alliance fall under the Mission Commission banner.  Mission Commission is chaired by Neil Kantner.
The Vestry is dedicated to serving you and CECC.  Vestry members attend a monthly meeting, as well as serving on a variety of projects and committees.  In July, the Northshore Deanery’s vestries all came to CECC for a day long retreat, affording us an opportunity to talk with other vestry members, to share lessons learned, and to explore projects which may benefit from collaboration.  I am so grateful to be a part of this dedicated team.
If you wish to provide some feedback, please feel free to reach out to me at laurawilliamspmp@gmail.com .
Blessings,
Laura Williams
Senior Warden
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Vestry View Late Spring 2024
Welcome to the inaugural Vestry View! Some of the info in this release will also be found in the annual report to be issued at the Annual Meeting on May 19th, immediately after the 10am service. I hope you all will join the clergy, vestry and staff for this annual event. We will have cake and beverages to celebrate Pentecost and the completion of another wonderful year. You will be provided with updates from the clergy, committees, etc.
The Vestry View will be issued periodically, via a link in eNews, and will focus on the following categories of information:
· Buildings and Grounds
· Life Within Our “Walls”
· Community at Large
1) Buildings and Grounds
I hereby declare 2023-2024 as “the year of reckoning” for a beautiful, but aging campus. Our properties have presented us with a fair set of challenges over the past year. Many of those challenges were unbudgeted emergent work. Bert Duvic, the Buildings and Grounds chair, has done a masterful job in juggling contractors, quotes, etc. while ‘getting’ to explain everything to the Finance Committee and the vestry. Some little factoids to keep in mind are that we have six buildings to maintain (not counting the ECC) and that our “new” church was completed in 1967. We have 14 air conditioning units, the oldest of which is 36. We have a bell tower, which offers a wonderful selection of drainage “opportunities”. We lack parking and we face the beautiful reality that we need more nursery space. And I could go on. The bottom line is that we are doing our best to mitigate maintenance issues and protect our buildings. A constant challenge remains in finding the funds for the emergent, unbudgeted work.
A church property facility master planning committee has been formed to better understand how to maximize the utilization of our campus and to develop a long-term plan. The committee is comprised of Bert Duvic, Carolyn Carpenter, Fr. Seth, and myself. The committee has met with “design and use” experts (Andrew McIver, the McMath team, Michael Hunley) to begin the ground work for a master plan. More to come on that!
2) Life Within Our “Walls”
Attendance continues to be strong. Don’t you all just love seeing and hearing the little ones in church? It warms my heart to see all of the families worshipping together. CECC continues to buck the national trend of shrinking membership. We’ve had some babies baptized
recently and look forward to several baptisms at Pentecost. We are so blessed to have clergy that are so genuinely welcoming and so grounded in faith. All truly are welcomed.
Our Newcomer’s Committee, led by Carolyn Carpenter, hosted a Newcomers brunch on May 5th which attracted a nice crowd of newcomers and old-timers as well. Thanks to Mike, Jamie, and Ella Andrepont for providing breakfast tacos and to the newcomers committee for all of the other goodies. Newcomers were also introduced to all of the volunteer opportunities. Volunteering is a great way to meet people and to build community while providing a service.
Keep your eyes open for the start of the summer breakfast series in early June. Details will come out soon.
The Endowment Board, led by Ray Rabidoux, is comprised of an all-star team that has done an amazing job this year. Please remember the current challenge goal of raising $30K by June 1st, to be eligible for a matching $30K from an anonymous and generous estate. This is a wonderful opportunity to build for the future. Please prayerfully consider this.
The Emergency Prep Committee met on May 9th, to ensure measures are in place in the event of a hurricane. We hope and pray that this plan will remain on the shelf.
3) Community at Large
Please mark your calendars for the week of July 28-August 4th as Family Promise will be back. This is a much needed and very rewarding ministry with every volunteer stepping away with a renewed commitment to the importance of this project. Many thanks to LaVondra Dobbs and Bert Duvic, along with the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, for their dedication and support to the Family Promise ministry. More volunteer information will be available as we get closer.
Also, Vacation Bible Study will be from July 29th to August 2nd. I popped by a few times last year and the kids were having a great time. At one point they were building the Tower of Babel. It made me want to be more than a few decades younger so that I could play too! Contact Olivia at children@christchurchcovington.com to hold your spot.
Third Sunday has their final concert of the season on May 19th at 5pm. Don’t miss it!
Blessings,
Laura Williams
Senior Warden