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!
