Each month the Saint Gabriel Wardens and Vestry meet to “take the pulse” of Saint Gabriel in terms of various measurements, including financial, programmatic, and spiritual. We look at hard data such as our income and expenses for the past month and year to date. We might look at recent trends in attendance and compare, for example, this year’s Easter versus last year’s. We also look forward to what is coming up on the calendar, how ministries are functioning, and what the vestry needs to pay attention to.
We are off to a good start this year, and for that we are grateful.
I put to the vestry several goals for 2024 that are very achievable. We want to reconvene three ministry areas – Congregational Care, Pathways (New Member and Evangelism), and Finance. To do that we have new leaders in place to help provide direction and support.
Congregational Care supports parish “inreach” – helping us become a community where no one need stand alone.
Pathways directs our attention outward, such that we communicate the good news of God’s grace and the good news of Saint Gabriel as a vibrant Christian community where people can meet Jesus.
Our Finance Committee plays a vital role in assisting the vestry with such needs as ensuring that an annual audit is conducted, setting the budget for the next year, reviewing our insurance and operational investments (in contrast with the Endowment Committee which oversees our church’s long-term endowment investments), and reviewing the month-to-month financial health of the congregation.
We have excellent people who serve already in these areas and talented vestry liaisons with whom to share ministry, but we continue seeking new folks who are interested in making a contribution. This is where you come in. If you have a particular interest in serving on any of the above teams, please let either Barry Meigs or me know. We would be happy to have an initial discussion and put you in touch with others.
Another goal that we are working toward is celebrating the parish’s 65th Birthday in September 2025. While a long way off, we’d like to have a fun gathering around the time of the patronal feast. If you would like to be on a team to plan for this event, please let Barry Meigs know. Barry has graciously agreed to chair the event planning team.
And then the final area that we discussed this past Tuesday is Stewardship. Dan McClean served as our stewardship chair in 2023 and led us through a successful campaign “Make Some Noise.” We’re still enjoying hearing those coins drop in the offering plate and practicing our “microtithing”! However, Dan shared with us his intention to step down from the vestry due to health considerations, and so while we are disappointed that he will no longer be our stewardship chair, we are grateful for his contributions while serving on the vestry.
If you have an interest in learning about our vision for stewardship as a ministry of the church, please let me know and I would be happy to speak with you about this. It is an exciting (yes, truly!) ministry area that is really about relationships and enjoying seeing the fruit of people’s generosity and gratitude expressed through stepping up. It is about faith, not guilt, and it is about having some fun and feeling good about what the church does and stands for.
I hope these are some helpful reflections on what is going on with your vestry. Again, if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please contact a member of the Saint Gabriel vestry.
Every blessing in Christ Jesus,
Fr. Chris