Vestry met in Serson Hall with a call to order at 6:30 p.m. There was a quorum. Fr Tom read a prayer from All Saints Sunday.

Members Present: Fr. Tom Thoeni, Rector; Diane Augustas, Sr. Warden; Julio Albino, Jr. Warden; Paul Nelson, Jeannie Smith, and Rose Porembo. Mary Lou Dogoloff and Jack LaRose were absent. Tom Connolly and Murray Smith passed away in July and August 2025.

Raising Visibility: Fr Tom has been building a new website for St Paul’s. It will be finished by St Monica’s administrative assistant and website builder Laura Stamper. Diane Augustas launched a Facebook page for St Paul’s bringing attention and visability to our church. RenewalWorks is a program introduced at the recent diocesan convention. Vestry will discuss implementing the 14 week instruction costing $500. to elevate parish goals, vision and community. This a program we could initiate in January 2026. After discussing Blessing of the Animals Fr Tom decided to have a one day Farmers’ Market booth where he would bless animals on an advertised date in January or February.

Outreach Efforts: A permit from the county and twenty-one volunteering parishioners have secured a Trunk & Treat event organized by Diane A. Diane has invited Shadowlawn Elementary and the Girl Scout troop which meets at St Paul’s to come out on a Saturday before Halloween at 4pm. Jack LaRose and Steve Augustas will provide free hot dogs and drinks in the courtyard for the expected 125 children and families members. Rose Porembo prepared a report of Outreach funds for vestry to review covering donations given to our community in the form of bookbags and gift cards and money. Judy Martin, the Outreach team leader, put in a suggestion for a Christmas Angel Tree to be set up in the narthex with gift suggestions cards for the parishioners to take and return with a wrapped gift to be given to an organization for the needy.

Small Groups: Fr Tom with a committee including Steve Carnell are designing for St Paul’s a culture of inclusion for every member of the congregation. Ideally every member of our church will be involved in some kind of small group which welcomes newcomers and edifies the unity of church family throughout the year. 

Stewardship: A recent sermon focused on enhancing and growing stewardship. Parishioners were asked to increase their pledge to support the works and needs of the church.

Treasurers Report: Rose Porembo supplied budget hand out reports for August and September along with a the quarterly budget. Discussion followed regarding finding more ways to cut expenses while planning for unexpected costs ex: building and grounds expenses. Fr Tom will speak with Mike Booher, the diocesan CFO, for advice.

It is Fr Tom’s Mission in Ministry to support the treasurer in how our budget specifically details the church finances. A motion was made by Paul Nelson that a parishioner must write to the Executive committee to request specific financial information. The vestry agreed. An amendment to that motion was made by Jeannie Smith and seconded by Diane Augustas that when the treasurer is asked personally to give specific answers she can say “per vestry resolution” this person must request in writing the information from the Executive committee. This motion was passed by acclamation.

Executive Session Motion: Diane Augustas reported to the clerk of the vestry a motion from the Executive session held 8/18/25. “Motion: Was made by Rose, seconded by Jeannie and approved by all Vestry members in attendance to give Fr Tom a 1% increase to his base salary retroactive to July 1, 2025 with the stipulation that further discussion regarding future compensation will take place for the 2026 budget.” 

Best Practices: Staff/Lay Leaders/Ministries Document. A six page document was completed in October. It is a total reference of St Paul’s leadership, what ministries are active, the business contacts such as banking are listed and the renters who use the facilities. A lay leader is currently interviewing maintenance companies to compare the cost of cleaning our buildings on a routine schedule.

Land Development: Collier County is pleased to move forward with site plans. Fr Tom and Lang Lowery will meet again in December or January. The timeline to be finished with this project is 2027. 

Hearing Assistance: Paul Nelson has been looking into other churches and a Temple who use a wifi system for hearing assistance for hearing aid users. The cost would be about $4,000. He is going to interview the installer of this system in the weeks to come. 

Other Business: East Naples Church Plant. Bishop Doug Scharf announced that a new church will be started in the eastern area of Collier County.

Sabbatical Funding for Fr Tom has been denied by Lily endowment. The endowment gives grants to priests in the Episcopal church.

St Pauls Church will be celebrating its 55 anniversary. Plans will be made to celebrate when Bishop Scharf visits St Paul’s next March.

All Saints Day will be celebrated with naming the parishioners who have passed recently. Candles will be given to those in attendance to light their candle from the pascal candle and leave the lit candles in the baptismal font filled with sand in the transept of the church during the service.

A motion was made by Diane and seconded by Rose to spend $200. to hire day labor to fix rebar in the areas of the church property for Farmers Market. Peter Lund included in the motion $300. to buy a fire extinguisher for grease fires. It will be used at the market near vendors who cook and kept in the Trinity Hall kitchen other days of the year.

Fr Tom closed the meeting with a prayer at 8:10 p.m.

The next vestry meeting will be December 15, 2025 

Respectfully Submitted, 

Charlene Connolly, 

Recording Secretary and Clerk