St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Vestry Meeting Minutes
February 15, 2023


The vestry met in Serson Hall at 6:30 pm. Fr. Tom opened the meeting with having the current and new vestry members introduce themselves to each other. A short Bible study and prayer followed.

Members Present: Fr. Tom: Rector, Rich Shea: Junior Warden, Steve Carnell: Senior Warden,  Nora Broszeit, Tom Connolly, Ken Eastlack, Sue Cilluffo: Treasurer, Peter Lund, Judy Martin, Linda Lantinen, and Lee Barron. 

Minutes: A motion was made and seconded to accept the January 19 vestry meeting minutes. The motion was unanimously approved. A motion was made and seconded to accept the January 29 Annual Meeting minutes. The motion was unanimously approved.

Nora Broszeit: Fr. Tom and the vestry thanked Nora for all the dedication and bookkeeping she has done for St. Paul’s this past year. 
The vestry will recognize Nora’s commitment with a gift donation to a charity of her choice.

Reports from Fr. Tom:
1.  Vestry Officers: Fr. Tom reported on the positions of the vestry. The Rector appoints the Senior Warden, Steve Carnell, who will be the Rector advisor and second in position to the Rector at St. Paul’s.
The Junior Warden, Rich Shea, is elected by the vestry and will serve as the people’s warden and will oversee property and grounds of St. Paul’s.
The Treasurer, Sue Cilluffo, oversees the financial interest of St. Paul’s.
The Vestry Clerk, Nora Broszeit, will see that the documents of St. Paul’s are properly followed and maintained.       

2.  Delegates for Convention: Convention in Punta Gorda, FL will be held October 6 & 7.
It was moved to accept Lee Barron, Rich Shea, Judy Martin, and alternate Steve Carnell as alternate delegates to the convention.

3.  Check Signers: Sue reported she contacted Truist on how to update the signers for St. Paul’s checks. Sue will find this out February 17.
Sue asked the question on how to approve online invoices. She will meet with Fr. Tom to decide on a protocol on how to proceed in the future.

4. Book Sales: Lee reported the book sales from January to February 11 made $4527. 
A discussion was held on what to do with the profit of the sales. Steve made a motion to appropriate this season’s profits to Outreach, that the vestry (St. Paul’s), as approved at the November 2022 meeting will pay for the shelving, that if someone would like to donate to St. Paul’s for the intention to help fund the book sale project that they may do so. Peter seconded the motion. A vestry vote was made, one opposed, motion passed.



5.  Goals and Aspirations for 2023: 
• Fr. Tom handed to the vestry a book on planning sabbaticals. He discussed how this would be a renewal for the congregation as well as the pastor. This would be a 3–4-month sabbatical. A team of 5-6 St. Paul members will work on this event with Fr. Tom.
• Fr. Tom expressed tension between St. Paul’s and Holy Name congregation. There is a Letter of Understanding on file that needs to be updated. Steve is tasked to work on updating the agreement. It is stressed that a face-to-face meeting with Fr. Panel is needed to establish an understanding of consequences when an agreement is not followed. Fr. Tom said he will be calling the bishops office on this issue and will report to the vestry the results in March.
• Tom Connolly reported he and Tony Cilluffo are working on the sound system in church.
• Fr. Tom would like to see research done on a possible expansion of the north side of Serson Hall.
• Steve would like to focus on building the trust and integrity of the vestry to the members of St. Paul’s. Focusing on what it means to be on the vestry, what do they do as leaders, and encourage members to want to be on the vestry in the future of St. Paul’s.
• Peter said it is time for a photo directory. More research will be done on who will be the photographer and when this will happen.
• Fr. Tom stressed his opinion on switching to another bank besides Truist, and switch to another IT company instead of Parageeks this year.
• Tom Connolly highly suggested the vestry go to the website and fill out the “Profiles” section. This will enable members to have access to each other’s information in a safe mode St. Paul’s.
• Fr. Tom set Saturday, March 25 from 1-4:30 pm for the vestry retreat in Trinity Hall.
• Judy Martin reported for the past 3 weeks, St. Paul’s collected 189 pounds of food for Meals of Hope, on Sunday.

6. Financial Report: The latest financial report was not ready to be presented at this time.

7. March vestry meeting: Will be March 15 at 6:30 pm in the library.

8. Executive Session: 8:42 pm. The vestry met to discuss the budget for 2023.
Budget was unanimously approved and passed for 2023. 



Respectfully submitted,
Nora Broszeit, Clerk of Vestry Deborah Avery, Recording Secretary