Agenda - stthomasvancouver.ca€¦ · Web viewfor the Annual meeting of the Vestry of the Parish of St. Thomas’, Vancouver. to be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019 at Southview

The Parish of

St. Thomas, Vancouver

Annual Report from 2018 activities

for the Meeting of the Vestry to be held on February 24, 2019 at Southview Terrace.

And the draft Minutes of the Vestry meeting held on

February 25, 2018

The Reverend Michael Batten, Rector The Reverend Ron Wickens, Honorary Assistant Priest

Rector’s Warden, Colin Ensworth Peoples’ Warden, Surya GummadiPeople’s Warden, Jayne Fenrich

2

ContentsAgenda.............................................................................................................................................3Minutes of Vestry Meeting of St. Thomas Anglican Church..........................................................5Reports...........................................................................................................................................10

Rector’s Report..........................................................................................................................10Report of the Wardens to the Vestry of St. Thomas’ Vancouver for 2018...............................13Administration and Finance Committee....................................................................................15Counters, Greeters, Sides-persons.............................................................................................16WebMaster’s Report..................................................................................................................182018 Bazaar...............................................................................................................................20Report for the Choir and Music Director...................................................................................21Guitar Group..............................................................................................................................22St. Thomas Columbarium Care and Management Committee Report......................................22Accessibility Committee............................................................................................................23Worship Committee...................................................................................................................24Outreach Steering Committee....................................................................................................25

Royal Arch Report.................................................................................................................26Metro Vancouver Alliance....................................................................................................26

Altar guild..................................................................................................................................27Scouts.........................................................................................................................................27Church Worship Bulletin Production........................................................................................28Envelope Secretary....................................................................................................................29St. Thomas Anglican Church Women.......................................................................................30Church School...........................................................................................................................30Youth Ministry...........................................................................................................................30

St. Thomas Financial Statements and Reports..............................................................................31Treasurer’s Report.....................................................................................................................31Comparative Financial Statement (Receipts)............................................................................32Comparative Financial Statement (Disbursements)..................................................................33Financial Statement-2018-Summary.........................................................................................34Other Funds - Comparative Financial Statement.......................................................................35

Presentation of the 2019 Budget....................................................................................................36Report of the Nominations Committee for Parish Council Election.............................................37

2018 Annual ReportsParish of St. Thomas’, Vancouver

3

Agendafor the Annual meeting of the Vestry of the Parish of St. Thomas’, Vancouverto be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019 at Southview Terrace, Vancouver.

1. Opening Prayer: Michael Batten2. Review of the Canons for voting members. Introduction of the record of the roll-call.3. Agreement on the Agenda

a. Additions to the Agenda.4. Adoption of the Minutes of the 2018 Vestry Meeting held on February 25, 2018.5. Business Arising from the 2018 Vestry Meeting.6. Presentation of the 2018 Reports:7. (Items “a” through “i” are reviewed and then received with one ballot.)

a. Rectorb. Wardensc. Administration and Finance Committeed. Counters, Greeters, Sides-personse. 2018 Bazaarf. Web Master Reportg. Choirh. Guitar Groupi. Columbarium committeej. Accessibility Committeek. Worship Committeel. Outreach

i. Outreach Steering committeeii. Metro Vancouver Alliance

iii. Royal Arch Masonic Homem. Altar guildn. Scoutso. Bulletinp. Envelope Secretaryq. Anglican church Womenr. Youth Ministrys. St.. Thomas Financial: Presented by Susan Chortyk

i. Treasurer’s Reportii. Comparative Financial Statement (Receipts)

iii. Comparative Financial Statement (Disbursements)iv. Financial Statement- Summaryv. Comparative Financial Statement (Other accounts and funds spent on

Outreach)8. Presentation of the 2019 Budget9. Standing Items for the annual Vestry meeting:

a. Appointment of the Rector’s Wardenb. Report of the Nominations Committee for Parish Council Election


4

c. Election of Parish Officers (if necessary)d. Motion to appoint the Parish Officers to be the Parish Trusteese. Motion to appoint the Directors of the St. Thomas Columbarium and Management

Committee10. Housekeeping Motions:

a. Motion that the Signing Officers of the Parish be any two of the Treasurer, wardens and chair of the Administration and Finance Committee

b. Motion that Parish Council be authorized to appoint the Financial Examiner (or Auditor) for 2019.

c. Affirm by vote the Rector’s list of Lay Administrators to be recommended to the Archbishop.

d. Motion that at least 50% of the Christmas offering go to outreach.e. Motions of thanks.

11. Motion to Adjourn12. Closing Prayer and Grace.


5

Minutes of Vestry Meeting of St. Thomas Anglican Church Held on February 25, 2018

at St. Thomas’ Church, 2444 East 41st Avenue, Vancouver.

Present:

1. Recorders of the proceedings: Moved by Mike Roberts and seconded by Jayne Fenrich that Cheryl Tobias and Lorie Chortyk be appointed as recorders of the proceedings. Carried

2. Agenda: Correction: Susan Chortyk should be referred to as the “Treasurer” rather than the “Treasure”. Moved by Jayne Fenrich and seconded by Kristine Lewis that the agenda be approved. Carried

3. Approval of Vestry Minutes: a. Moved by Barbara Warner and seconded by Carreen Adams that the minutes of

the regular vestry meeting held February 26, 2017 be approved as circulated. Carried.

b. Moved by Jayne Fenrich and seconded by Jeannine Anstee that the minutes of the Special Vestry meeting held on March 19, 2017 be approved as circulated. Carried.

4. Business Arising: None5. Accessibility Project Presentation:

a. Susan Chortyk provided an update.i. We had to undertake a tendering and bidding proces in order to be eligible

for grant money. We have conducted this process and Artisan Construction was the contractor selected. They were the lowest bidder at $750,000. A value evaluation process is ongoing. The purpose of this process is to determine whether there are any aspects of the project that could reasonably be cut back to reduce the cost.

ii. The capital campaign yielded commitments of over $450,000. Since we realized that the project cost is much higher than originally expected, several people have increased their pledges. We have made an application to Diocesan Council for funding and expect a decision in March.

iii. Our contractor has advised that the City of Vancouver is waiting for mechanical drawings before issuing our permits, which we hope will happen in April.

iv. Meetings have been taking place with First Lutheran Church to iron out details about how things will work when we share space with them during the renovations. We plan to start worshipping with First Lutheran on April 8, 2018. Cleanup of St. Thomas will take place in late March and early April, anticipating that construction will begin at the end of April.


6

b. Susan Chortyk and other members of the Accessibility Committee responded to questions:

i. The items considered cost reductions include: finishings generally, the kind of storage space, the hand dryers and other items in the bathrooms, whether to enlarge the kitchen. The items which we need but which have incurred significant extra expense include: venting equipment in the kitchen which is necessary to obtain a Class 4 licence to permit us to cook and serve food; upgrading the electrical system to 600 amps and install a transformer to provide enough power to operate both the elevator and other equipment at the same time; bringing existing systems up to code; grey and black water systems. The contractor has been doing his best to keep the costs under control.

ii. The applicable regulations do not require a refuge area in case of fire for a building the size of ours. The Rick Hansen Foundation has advised of several products to facilitate exit from the building by those who need assistance to do so if there is a fire. Those options will be considered.

c. Jayne Fenrich expressed thanks on behalf the parish to all those who have been working so hard on the accessibility project.

6. Presentation of 2017 Reports:

Corrections to the Vestry Reports for 2017:

i. P.27- the second paragraph, after the first three sentences, should read: “In 2017 we did not have full representation for a synod. St. Thomas is entitled to have two delegates to synod and up to three alternates. We continue to look for St. Thomas members to fill these roles.” to remove the – removing the sentence referring to the New Member Ministry“;

ii. P.31 – Jayne Fenrich should not be mentioned twice in the list of counters;iii. There is no New Ministry report, contrary to the indication in the Table of

Contents and Wardens’ Report.

Moved by Kristine Lewis and seconded by Carreen Adams that the 2017 reports as outlined in the agenda from “a” to “s”, inclusive, be adopted as corrected. Carried.

7. Financial Reports:

Susan Chortyk presented the 2017 Financial Statements. She noted that:

a. Our envelope offerings were significantly higher than in 2016 (about 5.5% over budget). Festival offerings in total were about the same as in 2016 but particular offerings such as Christmas were different from 2016. This year 80% instead of 50% of the Christmas offering to the church went to charities so that these donations were at the same level as previous years.


7

b. Rental income has gone down as the Korean church left us during the year.c. Maintenance expenses were significantly higher than anticipated, because

unanticipated repairs to the furnace were required, snow removal was expensive due to the large snowfall last January and utility costs (particularly for heating) were higher than anticipated. Sundry expenses were higher than anticipated because we had more meetings where lunch was provided.

d. Disbursements were $11,000 more than receipts, but we had a healthy bank balance from the previous year.

e. Outreach was almost $22,000, which accounts for approximately 32% of the parish income.

f. Memorial Fund – we received $389,000 toward the accessibility project. About $75,000 has been spent on the accessibility project for items such as engineering fees. Some funds were also contributed in memory of certain individuals without being designated for accessibility. However, most of the balance of $374,000 is designated for the accessibility project.

Moved by Susan Chortyk and seconded by Erica Roberts that the Financial Statements for 2017 (Items 8(t)(i)-(iv) on the Agenda) be accepted. Carried.

8. Presentation of the 2018 Budget

Susan Chortyk presented the guideline budget for 2018 and highlighted the following:

a. This budget shows a significant increase in envelope and open offerings over 2017, hoping that our experience of higher offerings in 2017 will be repeated;

b. Our apportionment has been reduced significantly from $34,000 to $26,000 because the formula has been revised.

c. The rector’s stipend is calculated according to a new formula; the housing allowance is no longer separately shown but is rolled into the basic stipend.

d. There is a deficit projected of $4,090.

Susan and Mike Roberts responded to questions:

a. the amount budgeted for Youth Ministry is to cover activities for the Youth Group;

b. Susan explained that the deficit budget is the result of a conservative approach to our expenses and receipts. In past years parishioners have given generously to cover deficits.

c. our expenses when we are worshiping with First Lutheran are not known, but may be lower than when we are in our own building.

d. open offerings given when we are at First Lutheran will probably be going to First Lutheran because there is no way to know what came from St. Thomas parishioners unless it is at least put into an envelope.


8

Moved by Susan Chortyk and seconded by Marilyn Nordquist that the 2018 Guideline Budget be accepted. Carried.

Michael expressed thanks on behalf of the parish to Mike Roberts for his work over the past year on the maintenance of the parish buildings.

9. Motion to amend the St. Thomas Columbarium Bylaws

Moved by Colin Ensworth and seconded by Ron Wickens that section 23 of the St. Thomas Columbarium By-laws be changed and replaced by the following:

23 (a) Notwithstanding that a Certificate may have already been issued, no cremated remains of any individual shall be placed in the Columbarium unless and until the person requesting the same shall have provided to the satisfaction of the CMC and the Rector that they have the authority to do so and such person shall have entered into an agreement with the Parish permitting interment, agreeing to the terms of these By-laws and acknowledging that the Parish has the right to make reasonable or necessary amendments to these By-laws, in accordance with the By-laws, at any time and from time to time. The form of agreement may be in such form as the CMC may from time to time approve.

23(b) Each niche shall contain the remains of only one person.

Carried.

10. Standing Items:a. Appointment of Rector’s Warden

Michael Batten advised that Colin Ensworth will continue to serve as Rector’s Warden and expressed gratitude to both wardens, Colin Ensworth and Surya Gummadi, for their advice and many hours of work over the last year.

b. Report of the Nominating Committeei. Colin Ensworth advised that Andy Hattrick has kindly agreed to be a

Delegate to Synod rather than an Alternate as noted in the report of the Nominating Committee.

ii. Nominations were invited from the floor for any of the positions. None were made.

c. Election of Parish Officers: The persons on the nominations committee report were elected by acclamation.

d. Appointment of Parish Officers as Parish Trustees: Moved by Colin Ensworth and seconded by Pat Wickens that the members of parish Council be appointed as trustees of the parish. Carried.


9

e. Appointment of directors of St. Thomas Columbarium Care and Management Committee: Moved by Colin Ensworth and seconded by Erica Roberts that the Rev. Michael Batten, Susan Chortyk and Colin Ensworth be appointed as directors of the St. Thomas Columbarium Care and Management Committee. Carried.

11. Housekeeping Motions:a. Moved by Kristine Lewis and seconded John Green by that any two of the

treasurer, wardens and chair of the Administration and Finance Committee be authorized signing officers for the parish. Carried.

b. Moved by Susan Chortyk and seconded by Erica Roberts that Parish Council be authorized to appoint an auditor for 2018. Carried.

c. Moved by Susan Chortyk and seconded by Pat Wickens that at least half of the Christmas 2018 offerings be designated for outreach. Carried.

d. Moved by Ron Wickens and seconded by John Green that the following individuals be presented to the bishop as Eucharistic Minsters: Arlene Henry, Joy Stuart

e. Colin Ensworth moved, and John Green seconded, the following motions of thanks to:

i. Monica Hanna for auditing our financial statements;ii. Jayne Fenrich and Michael Batten for being our leads on the MVA Transit

Action Committee iii. All involved in organizing the lunch following this Vestry meeting;iv. Cheryl Tobias and Lorie Chortyk for taking minutes;v. John Green and Mike Roberts in preparing the hall for the meeting;

vi. Colin Ensworth for preparing and circulating the vestry reports;vii. Michael Batten for dealing with multiple challenges over the past year;

viii. Carreen Adams and Lorie Chortyk for transporting so many people to and from church services and parish events;

ix. Ron Wickens for his work as the honorary assistant.

Carried.

f. At 12:42 pm Susan Chortyk moved, and Kris Searle seconded, a motion to adjourn. Carried.


10

Reports

Rector’s ReportDear Friends in Christ,

We will always remember 2018 as the Year of Perpetual Renovation, when years of planning, preparation, and fundraising culminated in the Mother of All Work Parties as we cleaned half a century’s accumulated junk out of our church building and moved into temporary quarters at First Lutheran Church. Brent and his crew merrily set to work “with axes and hammers,” but unlike the Babylonian army, they promise to leave things in far better condition than they found them. In the meantime, our parish life has continued—thanks be to God for the faithful people of St Thomas’ who are not easily deterred from their commitment to Christ and to each other in community.

Christian Initiation & Formation

We began the year well by baptizing Eliezor Gahungu and Melissa van Uum on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This was a fully bilingual celebration, in French and English. The presiding celebrant apparently spoke with a pronounced English accent (no surprise there), but at least managed consistently to refer to our Blessed Lord as “our Saviour,” and not as “our Flavour.” A month later we began a three-month series of confirmation classes, with two children and four adults participating. It was a joy to present for candidates to the Bishop for Confirmation on April 21.

As well as confirmation classes, during Lent we offered a program developed by the Society of St John the Evangelist, “Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John.” At the end of the program, all four participants stood up in church on Sunday morning to give testimony to their relationship with Jesus.

In late May, we began a home-based Bible reading group using the Daily Office lectionary and meeting weekly for reflection and discussion. This was very well-received, but unfortunately was not able to continue in my absence through the autumn. The goal—and the challenge—continues to be a self-sustaining Bible-reading group that uses the knowledge and skills of the clergy as a resource, but which is not dependent upon the clergy for leadership and cohesion.

Stewardship

The practice of stewardship—managing our resources of time, skill, and money in the service of the gospel—is an important Christian discipline. You, the people of St Thomas’, are outstandingly generous stewards of your lives. Because of that generosity, we have been able to embark on a million-dollar building renovation while maintaining a full parish program. More people are beginning to step into leadership roles on Parish Council, in worship, and in parish life generally. This is a gradual process, as newer members of our community begin to see that St Thomas’ is a worthwhile place to invest both time and money. The Parish Council has identified Stewardship Development as a parish priority for the next three years, with an emphasis on celebrating your generosity and on learning more about the “why” and the “how” of stewardship, as opposed to the “how much.”


11


12

Outreach

At St Thomas’, we seem to use the word “outreach” in two ways: to refer to the financial support we give to other agencies and organizations both locally and globally in response to human need; and to the personal connections we seek to foster with people in our own neighbourhood who are not part of our worshiping community. The hard-working Outreach Committee co-ordinates both these tasks.

The Lenten Project gives us an opportunity each year to come together as a parish around a particular goal, and this year you once again exceeded our financial target as you raised over $5,000 to support the Canadian Network for International Surgery’s maternal health program in Tanzania. You also continue generously to support our neighbours and local Anglican ministries through the Christmas offering, as well as giving over $6,000 to the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund throughout the year.

We have continued to develop and foster relationships with our neighbours through our membership in the Metro Vancouver Alliance. St Thomas’ is very highly-regarded in this organization, and I believe that it is the best vehicle available to us for making and strengthening connections with our neighbours—well worth every dollar we give to it and every meeting or event we attend. However, our involvement in the MVA also poses a challenge to us. My primary role amongst you is to be a teacher of the faith, and I cannot do that effectively if I devote as much time to the MVA as I have in the past few years, no matter how worthwhile it is. I will be stepping away from active involvement in the MVA in 2019. As a parish, we will best realize the benefits of being part of the MVA if others come forward to take advantage of the many good things it offers.

Worship

The year began with a revitalized Worship Committee reviewing its purpose and processes. Education is part of the committee’s role, and in September we held the first “Worship-a-looza” event, a teaching session about the opening rite of the Eucharistic liturgy, and the various ways in which we can begin the service. Our experience of worshiping at First Lutheran has shown us different ways of doing things, and made us all (Rector included!) more open to change. Our time worshiping at Southview will give us further opportunity for experimentation and reflection, and we will explore the variety of liturgical choices available to us, using the model of “teach-experience-reflect.”

Beginning in September, a group of parishioners gathered once a month at the Synod Office for “Groundwork,” a course in using the different elements of worship to help welcome and incorporate newcomers into the life of the parish. Part of that group’s work is to design a service for a special occasion, and they have chosen to plan not one, but two services to celebrate our (eventual) return to our building and the re-opening of our renovated space.

Thanks & acknowledgements

The life of St Thomas’ happens because everybody does something: shows up for worship; prints the bulletin; leads the prayers; sings; opens the doors; makes the tea; visits the sick and shut-in; goes to an MVA event; counts the money; makes jam; goes to neighbourhood meetings; and much, much more. Without minimizing any of this great effort, I want to thank some people in particular who have supported and assisted my ministry in the parish. First, Colin Ensworth has served faithfully for five years Rector’s Warden, and I have relied on him greatly. As he


13

steps down from this role, I want to thank Colin for all his support and guidance over the past five years. John Green works closely with me week by week to prepare the Sunday bulletin and keeps track of the many details that go into its production. Joy Stuart co-ordinates the monthly Eucharist at Southview, a blessing to the residents there who are unable to get out to church. The Rev’d Ron Wickens has been a good and supportive friend, and has stepped in on many occasions to preach or preside, as well as taking the service at Southview on a number of occasions when I have been unable to do so. The Accessibility Project has required the hard work of many parishioners, and I want to acknowledge in particular the management skills of Susan Chortyk and Mike Roberts, who have ably coordinated the day-to-day details of this large project.

Finally, it does not seem as though five years has passed since I became your Rector on March 1, 2014. At the time, I was asked to make a commitment of at least five years to St Thomas’. Some of you may be wondering if that now means that “my time is up,” and I will be looking for an appointment elsewhere. Let me say that there is no other parish I would rather be than St Thomas’, and I am happy to remain your Rector for as long as you will have me.

In Christian love,

Michael


14

Report of the Wardens to the Vestry of St. Thomas’ Vancouver for 2018The two Peoples’ Wardens and the Rector’s Warden are pleased to provide this report to the Vestry of St. Thomas’ that summaries the work of the Parish Council and of the wardens in 2018. The items are in no particular order and the order is no reflection on the importance each item has in the ongoing life and ministry of St. Thomas’.

Our parish was richly blessed by the hospitality of First Lutheran Church from the second Sunday of Easter through to January 24, 2019. Not only were we welcomed into their building and congregation on Sunday mornings, but we were graciously permitted to conduct worship according to the rites of the Anglican Church of Canada on every other Sunday, alternating with the rites of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. This has made it possible for us to maintain our life as a Christian community while we had to leave our own building to permit the extensive renovations of the accessibility project (referred to elsewhere in the Vestry Report). In addition, First Lutheran accommodated our needs for meeting and office space and to hold weekly Eucharist services on Wednesday mornings at a price advantageous us. For all this, St. Thomas’ is extremely grateful to First Lutheran Church. St. Thomas’ looks forward to, when we are all ready, returning our relationship to as it was prior to the start of our renovations.

The Accessibility team, led by Susan Chortyk, has worked tirelessly to keep our renovations on time and on budget as best as can be expected. Susan’s report is contained elsewhere in this Vestry report. We noted early on in the planning, that we required a Project Manager. Susan has stepped into this role admirably. Arlene Henry has stepped in to dependably manage many of the design details of the project. Susan and Arlene are owed a debt of gratitude from the parish the depths of which defies words.

Parish Council engaged the Rev. Tasha Carruthers, Diocesan Coordinator of Parish Development, to assist the council to manage the workload it faced each month in its meetings. With Tasha’s help, Council was able to reformat its meeting agenda so that the required work is given the highest priority and other matters are managed within the time allotted. One notable outcome of the work with Tasha was an evening spent working on the parish goals, which in secular environments may be called its strategic plan. That work culminated in a parish meeting where the goals were presented and comments solicited. That plan is now being refined so that the needed resources and lead persons are identified with a report back timetable and built in evaluation. Needless to say, it was a reminder that running a church can be much like running a business. The difference being that the inputs and outputs are divinely inspired. Parish Council does not have sufficient personnel to achieve the goals without help from others in the congregation. Please pray about becoming involved in at least one of the four goals which are:

To Understand Anglican worship principles and apply these in ways that are personally meaningful.

To provide Pastoral care so that no one is missed (each person is able to provide pastoral care and eligible to receive pastoral care.


15

To strategically choose the persons/groups who use the St. Thomas buildings. To celebrate the generosity of parishioners and continue to encourage it.

We are grateful to the staff of the Synod office and the volunteers who provided great benefit to the parish this past year. The Diocesan Administration and Finance committee recommended to Diocesan Council that St. Thomas’, on the strength of the presentation made by Susan Chortyk and your generous donations to the Accessibility campaign, be afforded two loans to be used for our project. The amounts approved will permit the completion of the project but St. Thomas will have to have a concrete plan to repay the loans. We are also grateful that Diocesan staff made possible a matching grant of $500 so that St. Thomas, after completing the Groundworks program, could activate a plan to make our facility more appealing to new-comers and increasing the likelihood that they would want to return to the congregation and get involved in the work of the church. The Groundworks team (Michael Batten, Jayne Fenrich, Eli and Rosa Westinghouse, Joy Stuart and Peggy Upton) will also develop two services to mark our return to our facilities. One will be a community based service to which our wider community will be invited. The other will be a Eucharist to which our Archbishop, former clergy and parishioners and significant others will be invited to celebrate and thank God for our newly rejuvenated and accessible facility. All we need now is a date!

There are a number of projects that parishioners have voiced to the wardens that have been picked up for completion. The end date for these projects is “prior to our return”. Examples of these projects include:

Revision, rewrite and re-publish the Creation Windows brochure. Territorial or Land Acknowledgement.

Council approved three principles to guide the decisions that will have to be made when community groups, including other churches, approach us to make use of our space. The principles are:

1. We will honor our commitment to the community groups that regularly used the church, including the scouts, guides, Nisga’a dancers and the ESL group, prior to the start of the renovation.

2. Longer term rentals will be given priority to “one-off” or short term rentals. The wardens will work with Diocesan staff to determine an appropriate rental rate.

3. Partnerships with renters will not be determined primarily by shared values but there will be an expectation that renters will be actively involved with St. Thomas in community engagement programs.

Michael Batten has continued to act as our Privacy officer. In that capacity, Michael ensured that all persons required to complete the Diocesan Screening in Faith procedures were cleared for their work in our parish. In addition, in September as part of the policy, St. Thomas’ hosted the training workshop for dealing with allegations of sexual misconduct. All members of Parish Council and those working in ministries with vulnerable persons completed this training.


16

Council was very pleased that John Green was inducted into the Order of the Diocese of New Westminster. Many parishioners attended his induction ceremony and heard the long list of contributions John has made to St. Thomas’ and to the Diocese. Congratulations John and well done!

The wardens are indebted to the members of Parish Council for their hard work especially in this most challenging year marked by the highly unusual joint services with another faith group and the ongoing renovations.

We are assured that the renovations will be completed and we will have an occupancy permit. Your prayers are invited that the date these assurances are realized is soon.

Respectfully submitted,

Colin Ensworth, Rector’s Warden

Surya Gummadi, Peoples’ Warden

Jayne Fenrich, Peoples’ Warden.

Administration and Finance CommitteeThis committee oversees general maintenance and upkeep of the church, the rectory, contracts/agreements with outside groups, and financial matters which include budgeting for the coming year.

Just after Vestry last year, we proposed to Parish Council that the 2017 Christmas offering be split between 6 different outreach groups that included Sorrento Center, Mission to Seafarers, Council of the North, St Jude’s Anglican Home, L’Arche and the diocesan Care and Share program to support Father Matthew Johnson’s ministry in the Downtown Eastside. This year the total received was less than 2016 but Parish Council voted and agreed that we would still distribute the same amount as last year. Each group received $500.00 which we thank the parishioners for their offering.

We currently had 5 groups using our facilities on a weekly basis, Scouts (Saturdays), Girl Guides & Pathfinders (Wednesday), ESL group that is sponsored by the South Vancouver Neighborhood House (Tue & Fri), the Burundian Community Association (Sunday) and Kwhlii Gibaygum Nisga Dance Group. All these groups have continued throughout 2018 until we moved out of the building in April. We are hoping that some of these groups will return to our buildings after our renovation project is complete. We have had calls to rent the halls out to various other groups but due to scheduling conflicts, accessibility and liability insurance we were not able to fulfil any


17

other requests. We are hoping that we will be able to rent out our buildings after the renovation project.

The church also saw some minor and major repairs as well over the year, these included but not limited to the following: Landscaping at both the church and rectory, minor rectory repairs. We continue to have lawn cutting and snow removal done by outside contractors along with pest control services to prevent critters invading our space.

In regards to our financial picture this year, we have spent less in maintenance due to our renovation project. Our group also has maintained our rental rate sheet for both parishioners and non-parishioners for rentals, funerals, weddings and baptisms.

I would like to take this time to thank our Treasurer, Susan Chortyk who keeps Parish Council updated to our financial picture with monthly statements, updates us on Diocesan requirements, ensures that cheques are written in a timely manner and files all the necessary paperwork that is required by the government and helps create the yearly budget.

Thanks also to Ms. Monica Hanna who reviewed our financial statements this year.

Also, thanks to all the parishioners who have helped in anyway with maintenance and decision making this year to ensure that St Thomas is a welcoming and inviting church for all to enjoy.


Mike Roberts

Administration and Finance

Counters, Greeters, Sides-personsEvery Sunday and at special services, a team of dedicated parish volunteers quietly and efficiently carry out their duties to welcome parishioners and visitors to our parish.

Unless you are the first person to arrive at the church for a Sunday, you have undoubtedly met one or more of these conscientious individuals for they are normally on duty at 9:30AM, ready to greet you and Sunday guests and to hand out worship bulletins and other materials needed to participate in the worship for that day.

This years workload for Counters, Greeters and Sides has been somewhat altered due to the shared worship arrangements with the First Lutheran Church while St Thomas buildings are being made more accessible. These arrangements will change again as we move our Sunday worship to South View Heights and Terraces on East 58th avenue beginning on February 3rd.


18

The sides-persons distribute the bulletins, count worshipers and communicants, direct traffic during communion, gather up stray bulletins, and tidy up the pews following the service.

The counters take up the offering, count, record, and bank the weekly offerings.

Each of these groups presently serve on a five week cycle, which is useful spacing as several participants are involved in one or more of these ministries.

I would like to thank those who are engaged in these ministries in the past year.

Greeters: Alan Clutchey, Doreen Grundy, Doug and Meredith Young, Jean Wells, Jim Taylor, Margaret Smith, Mary Douglass, Molly Lee, Peggy Upton, and Thelma Stevens.

Sidespeople: Ada Jansen, Alan Clutchey, Doug Young, Mary Douglass, and Mary Rao, Peggy Upton, Sylvia Simmons, and Thelma Stevens.

Counters: Andy Hattrick, Arlene Henry, Carreen Adams, Colleen Neale, Doug Young, Jayne Fenrich, Jeannine Anstee, John Green, Mary Rao, and Surya Gummadi.

I would also like to acknowledge those who have participated in these ministries in the past, Chung Su, Dennis Yonge, Ross Smith, Kristine Lewis, Barbara Lewis, Peggy Upton, and Jackie Funnelle.

If YOU could help out with any of these ministries, more help is needed due to some people stepping down or unable to continue these ministries. Please contact John Green for more details. Your assistance is most welcome…

Please remember that more hands make work lighter.

Respectfully Submitted by John Green


19

WebMaster’s Report St Thomas has had an online presence since 2010. Our website serves as a way for new visitors to learn more about St Thomas’ as well as a place for parishioners to go for news and updates. We hope to update the website in the near future to modernize the site and improve the mobile experience.

About 41% of our visitors last year came from search engines and about 38% of our visits come from direct traffic likely from regular visitors.

Our most popular pages are our news section, contact information, calendar and gallery

Visits

Region Demographics


20


Joseph Gummadi and Divya Gummadi

Editor’s notes:

“Sessions” refers to the number of actual visits there have been to our website. For our report, it means that 1.5K different users accessed our website and the total number of their accesses is 1.9K.

“Bounce Rate” refers to the percentage of visits to the website in which the person looking at the website does not click on something to go further into our website than just the first page. Generally, a website wants to have a low bounce rate because that means that the users of the webpage are interested enough to do some digging. However, a higher bounce rate could also mean that all the important information is available on the home page.


1. Vancouver 46.17%

2. Burnaby 7.77%

3. Kingston 5.34%

4. Surrey 4.06%

5. Richmond 3.36%

21

2018 BazaarThe 2018 parish bazaar was once again a day of fun and fellowship and a lot of hard work! This year’s bazaar was more challenging logistically because we rented space at First Lutheran Church to hold the bazaar and figuring out how to best utilize the space took a fair bit of time and effort. We were delighted to have our friends at First Lutheran take the opportunity to run two booths at the bazaar to raise funds for their parish as well. We were also joined by the Pathfinders and their parents and leaders who sold Girl Guide cookies and crafts to raise funds for an upcoming trip. The success of the day is thanks to the hard work of so many people who contribute their time before, during and after the event. We had a great turnout once again, and even with the change in location, most of our “regulars” managed to track us down and came to shop and say hello.

We were once again visited by Diocesan Communications director, Randy Murray, who paid us a visit to take pictures for the Diocesan website. Our bazaar is developing quite a reputation across the Diocese for the quality of the items we sell and our excellent tea and goodies! Once again Sylvia Simmons, Meredith Young and their helpers put on an amazing tea that was most appreciated by the tired shoppers. It is always a great way for people to connect and renew acquaintances and make new friends.

Financially, the bazaar was an incredible success raising over $13,000 for general funds. It was our most successful bazaar financially. These funds enable the parish to continue the ministry of the church in our neighbourhood and further afield.

Thanks to all who helped with set up (which now takes two days) and clean up, ran booths, baked and served refreshments to our visitors, and to those who helped pack everything up Sunday afternoon. You have no idea how much that is appreciated! A special thanks to our treasurer Colleen Neale and her daughter Gillian who worked for hours after the bazaar counting all the money. Special thanks as well to Mike Roberts who set up the tables and supplied our wonderful Christmas music and the signs directing our visitors to the entrance and for updating our heavy sandwich board sign and hauling it from St. Thomas to First Lutheran and back again.

And, of course, a big thanks to everyone who came out to support our efforts.


Susan Chortyk


22

Report for the Choir and Music Director

We came into the year with some apprehension about keeping the choir together during the time of renovations to the church, together with considerable excitement about collaboration with the musicians at First Lutheran Church. Happily, our choir practices for most of the year took place at the home of Ron and Pat Wickens. We are so grateful for their warm hospitality, which has gone a long way in keeping our choir vibrant during this interim period.

Indeed, we did sing several anthems together with the First Lutheran Choir: on Palm Sunday (as has been our custom of many years); on Pentecost Sunday; All Saints Sunday; and on Christmas Eve. It was a joy to combine more often with our fellow choristers at FLC.

Jeanette Price (Director of Music at FLC) and I shared the responsibilities of musical leadership very amicably during our time together. We were both so happy to sit in the congregational pews on our “off-Sunday”, and sing! I am grateful also to Anne Johnson and Karl Maier from FLC, who provided instrumental accompaniment on the flute and trumpet for the service music most Sundays.

The St. Thomas’ Guitar Group has continued to enhance the musical life of our congregation, both in their independent musical leadership of worship services throughout the year, and in collaboration with the choir.

Before our church closed down for renovations in the spring, much time was spent in organizing and packing up the choir library and various shelves of music collected up over the years. Many thanks to Melissa VanUum, Mary Douglass, and Catherine Laub, for helping me with this important task.

I have continued to be a member of the Worship Committee and attended Joint Planning Committee meetings at the Lutheran Church. Playing at the monthly services at Royal Arch Masonic Home is ongoing, as a participant in St. Thomas’ ministry there. Last but not least, the choir had a lovely Potluck Dinner at the home on Ron and Pat Wickens at Epiphany - an annual event that we have come to appreciate more and more!

Respectfully submitted byRita Attrot, Organist and Choir Director(Editor’s note: Rita has been our Organist and Choir Director 20 years in September 2019)


23

Guitar GroupThe guitar group normally provides all the music for worship once a month at St. Thomas to augment the excellent organ and piano music provided by our music director Rita Attrot.

With our shared worship services with First Lutheran Church during 2018 there was not a need to fill in for Rita on a monthly basis for most of the year. However we did have the opportunity to play during communion on several occasions. Our time at First Lutheran Church has allowed us to develop relationships with their excellent musicians and we hope to be able to collaborate with them as time permits in the future.

Several of us have had a number of opportunities throughout the year to join the choir for anthems and we have had the pleasure of having some of the choir members from First Lutheran Church join as well. We are grateful to Rita for being willing to stay later on Sunday mornings to practice with us, including often coming in on Sundays when she is not responsible for the music just for the practice. As Rita enters her 20th year as our organist and choir director, we are so thankful for her talent and the prayerful way she works with the musicians in the parish. She has been such a blessing to this parish!


Lorie, Cheryl, Susan, Jayne, Julia, & Colin

St. Thomas Columbarium Care and Management Committee Report. As of May 19, 2015, St. Thomas’ has operated a small Columbarium in the narthex, in a quiet space that also has the St. Thomas’ Memorial Book.

Each year the committee files reports so that we remain in compliance with the policies of the BC Consumer Protection Branch. The financial report of the Columbarium is included in the annual financial reports filed in this Vestry Reports document.

The St. Thomas Columbarium brochure is available in print and on our website. This brochure explains the operation of the columbarium, how to make an application for a niche and the costs involved.

In October, the by-laws of the St. Thomas Columbarium were amended so that only one set of remains can be interred in one niche.

St. Thomas’s has one person’s remains in our columbarium. St. Thomas’ has received no applications for interment and no applications to hold a niche for future interment.


Members of the Columbarium Care and Management Committee.


24

Colin Ensworth, Susan Chortyk, Rev. Michael Batten


25

Accessibility CommitteeWhen the 2017 accessibility report for vestry was written, we all anticipated that we would be back in our church building with the renovations completed in the Fall of 2018. However, a number of major issues occurred with the construction which has resulted in serious delays in the time line. The good news is that our contractor assures us that the major issues should be behind us now and the last stages are progressing smoothly.

As is the case when you start opening up the walls of a 100+ year old building, unexpected, and usually unpleasant and costly, surprises are discovered. In our case, cracks in the foundation and walls were uncovered. It was also discovered that when the church hall was built in the 1950’s, the support beams were placed on the existing footings, which would not hold the additional weight of the new lift we were installing. The city also required new dual storm sewer pipes be installed. It was also determined that to ensure there was enough power to meet our current and future needs, an upgraded transformer was needed. The project was delayed from the first step when the company hired to remove the walls and tiles containing asbestos demolished several walls that should not have been taken down, resulting in the entire building, including the church being contaminated. These frustrating and costly events have sorely tried the patience of the members of the accessibility team and the rest of the parishioners.

When we reported last year, we indicated that funding options with the Diocese were being discussed and as has been previously reported, the Diocese provided us with a proposal that allowed us flexibility to repay monies lent to us. The Diocese gave us a $25,000 grant, as well as a $200,000 loan that is interest-free for the first five years with minimal repayments required starting in August 2019. In addition, the Diocese agreed to put forth our grant proposal to the Anglican Foundation as one of three proposals the Diocese is allowed to forward each year. We were fortunate to get a $15,000 grant (the maximum) from the Anglican Foundation. We were also successful in obtaining a $20,000 grant from the provincial government, although the money cannot be requested until the project is completed, which is not as useful as it might have been had we been able to access the money to pay for the construction as it was happening.

As a result of the increased costs, we requested an additional $500,000 loan from the Diocese and it was granted. We must however meet with the Diocese in the next few months with a plan as to how we plan to repay it.

Our parishioners have been generous beyond belief in their financial support of this project. The initial pledges were $457,000 and to the end of December, over $527,000 has been donated and donations continue to come in weekly. In addition, several parishioners have organized special fund raising events such as the wildly successful Pub Night organized by Jayne Fenrich, which raised well over $2,000.

We have also been incredibly blessed for the past ten months to worship at First Lutheran Church. They have been so generous in allowing us to celebrate the Anglican Rite every second 2018 Annual ReportsParish of St. Thomas’, Vancouver

26

week. Our initial arrangement with them was intended to last 4-5 months and they graciously extended that several times. Starting in February we will be worshiping at Southview Terrace, who have kindly offered their space to us at a minimal cost. We are hopeful that this arrangement will be short term in nature and we will soon be back in our building. Meanwhile our Outreach Committee and Parish Council is already exploring how our new and improved building can be used to serve our community.

We appreciate the patience and faithfulness of the congregation in accepting the delays, attending worship in new surroundings and continuing to give sacrificially to this project.

Susan Chortyk

On behalf of the Accessibility Committee

(Colin Ensworth, Arlene Henry, Lorie Chortyk, John Green, Pat Wickens, Mike Roberts, Michael Batten)

Worship CommitteeThe Worship Committee meets almost quarterly. The mandate of the committee is being updated for consideration by Parish Council. As a result of the feedback from the congregation from the October 2017 parish meeting, the committee planned the first of the “Worship-a-Looza” events. This event, held in October, considered the opening rite in the Anglican service of the Holy Eucharist. More “Worship-a-Looza” events are in the planning stages and we look forward to completing an examination of every aspect of Anglican worship. We cannot expect that, from the October 2017 meeting, every suggestion of a change to our worship will be implemented but we can expect to understand the reasons why Anglicans do what we do when we worship God.

St. Thomas’ Anglican rite worship was alternated with the Lutheran Rite from Easter 2, 2018 until January 24, 2019. This experience has been commented on elsewhere in these reports. Through this period, the Worship Committee was represented by John Green on the “Worshiping Together” committee that met bi-monthly to consider all aspects of our shared life together, including aspects of worship. Now that we have moved to worship alone, we will hold meetings in which we will consider what learning has been afforded us through our time at First Lutheran Church; it was a positive time and there are positive “take-aways”.

Our sincere thanks to those who have served on the committee during the past year, the readers, intercessors, lay administrators, gift bearers and the healing prayer team. We are also grateful to our Rector for his enthusiasm for worship, his devotion to making sure “churched” Anglicans and new worshipers have a meaningful worship experience at St. Thomas’ and his willingness to consider options.


Colin Ensworth on behalf of the committee

(John Green, Michael Batten, Rita Attrot, Joy Stuart)


27

Outreach Steering Committee2018 was the third year of operation for the Outreach Steering Committee. Its members are; Jayne Fenrich, Joy Stuart, Pat Wickens, Barbara Warner and Cheryl Tobias.

The job of the Outreach Steering Committee is to coordinate the parish’s outreach activities, but not to undertake all of those activities ourselves.

We do our best to be aware of the outreach activities by parish groups and individual members, and appreciate being notified so that we can remain up to date.

We provide leadership by finding out what kinds of activities our parishioners would like to undertake and by considering how to focus outreach activities to help us reach the goals expressed in our parish prayer (reaching out to our neighbourhood and building relationships with individuals and organizations)

We bring together groups of parishioners to work on outreach projects.

The Committee’s activities in 2018 included:

Coordinating an enthusiastic team of parishioners who worked on the Lenten Project to raise over $5,000 to support the Canadian Network for International Surgery (CNIS) in delivering a course in surgical skills for midwives in Tanga, Tanzania in June, 2018. The Lenten Project included education for the parish about the dangers and conditions that contribute to maternal mortality, especially in third world countries, and the importance of such basic surgical skills. As usual, our parishioners were generous in their support through direct contributions and the proceeds of a Multi-Cultural Dinner and Bake Sale. The CNIS chose the Outreach Committee the Volunteer of the Year, which was a great honour earned not only by the Outreach Committee but by the parish as a whole.

Coordinating the Christmas outreach program, with participation by First Lutheran. In all, nine hampers were provided and over $3,700 raised. The funds were distributed between Waverly School, South Vancouver Neighbourhood House and Collingwood Neighbourhood House to provide much needed food support and to help families in need to celebrate the season.

Preliminary planning for potential future outreach into our community once our upgraded premises become available.

Under Jayne’s able leadership, organizing the Pub Night which took place on November 7th, 2018. The event raised over $2,500 for the Accessibility project. While the event was not primarily aimed at the outside community, it provided a fellowship opportunity for both St. Thomas and First Lutheran members together and for parishioners to introduce friends and family to our community.

Also of note is that some members of the parish assisted with and participated in First Lutheran’s community barbecue in June, 2018.


Cheryl Tobias


28

Royal Arch ReportSt. Thomas continued the ministry of worship services for the residents of the Royal Arch Masonic Home. Dennis Yonge initiated this ministry well over 30 years ago. St. Thomas leads the service on the fourth Sunday of every month; churches of other denominations take turns leading services on the other Sundays. The services are typically attended by 15 to 30 residents.

During 2018, the ministry team consisted of Barbara Lewis, Rita Attrot, Carreen Adams, Margaret Smith, Julia Gray and Cheryl Tobias. We would welcome any other members of the parish who would like to share in this very rewarding ministry.


Cheryl Tobias

Metro Vancouver Alliance2018 was another busy year for the Metro Vancouver Alliance. The emphasis was on education and leadership training. There were Delegates Assemblies every three months to engage organizations and discuss issues.

There was a big transportation assembly held at First Lutheran church that was well attended by St. Thomas parishioners. In fact we had the best attendance from all of the organizations. Michael Batten, the co-chair of the Transportation Group, led the assembly.

There were two meetings with Carol James, the Finance Minister, and delegates representing many of the organizations. One meeting was just after she was elected as an MLA and the other was a discussion on the upcoming budget. Both of these meetings were instigated by Ms. James. This felt like a real success in that the government was listening to what the alliance was saying.

In the local South Vancouver Cluster, consisting of First Lutheran, St. Mary’s, South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, and Saint Thomas, we have been working on strengthening our relationships, encouraging new people to join, and the sidewalk project. In 2017, we had our first walk looking at the conditions of the some of the sidewalks in our area. In 2018, we had a second walk in the Champlain Heights area starting at Matheson and Arbor. This event was very well attended by the members of St. Thomas and included engineers from the city. Photo evidence was taken and a report was written. There was a second walk in the same neighbourhood in December to check which, if any, problems to the sidewalks had been fixed. We will be presenting this final report to the City in the coming month.


29

Sylvia and Meredith continue to lead the ESL Conversation Circles every week. We would like to thank First Lutheran church for enabling us to continue this important ministry by allowing us to use their building while renovations are going on at St. Thomas.

The MVA is one of the ways that we are able to go out into our community and make a difference. Thank you to all who have supported the work of the MVA this past year.

Respectfully,

Jayne Fenrich

Altar guildThe Altar Guild serves faithfully to prepare the altar for worship each Sunday and to decorate the church for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and other special festivals throughout the year. 2018 brought new experiences for the Altar Guild during our temporary relocation to First Lutheran Church as we adapted to alternating Lutheran and Anglican altar set-up but it was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about Lutheran worship and to work side by side with our counterparts at FLC. My thanks to the members of the Altar Guild who have served during the past year –Susan and Lorie Chortyk, Jackie Funnelle, Molly Lee, Barbara Lewis, Angeline Lim, Colleen Neale, and Meredith Young. My thanks to Mary Douglass, Colin Ensworth, Peter Fenrich, Ada Jansen and Sylvia Simmons for supplying bread for the Eucharist, with particular thanks to Sylvia who took on full responsibility on behalf of St. Thomas for this task during our time with First Lutheran. We are also grateful to Mike Roberts for his assistance in purchasing supplies, Pat Wickens for providing beautiful floral arrangements for special occasions (along with her assistant Ron!), to Sylvia Simmons for overseeing the flower chart and to all those who have offered their time to help Altar Guild members decorate the church for festivals.

Lorie Chortyk, Altar Guild President

ScoutsThe St. Thomas’ Scout troop has been meeting elsewhere during the period of the renovations to the facilities of St. Thomas’. The troop meets weekly on Saturday mornings, led by a group of dedicated parent volunteers. The troop has operated now for 14 years. The group has various other activities outside of our buildings including overnight camps including Camp Byng. We can count on the members to continue to help St. Thomas’ whenever asked. St. Thomas’ is very pleased to have this connection to our wider community.


30

Church Worship Bulletin ProductionOver the past year, I have continued to enjoy the task of preparing and producing the weekly Church Worship Bulletin albeit with some much appreciated coverage from others when Sharon and I have been off and away travelling and gallivanting about.

This has been a most unusual year wtheith a unique worship opportunity to share alternative worship services with our kind hosts at First Lutheran Church beginning in April 2018 through to the end of January 2019 using alternating Anglican and Lutheran worship rites. So every other week a full Anglican worship leaflet contained the all the liturgical details each week including the readings, hymns, psalms, announcements, and a list of responsibilities for the different aspects of that week’s service. On the Anglican Rite Sundays Iris Kong provided and added a two or four page “Bulletin Insert” with information of interest to the Lutheran members. On alternative Sundays there would be a full Lutheran bulletin prepared By Iris and Pastor Rebekah or Pastor Vida then I would enjoy an easier time with a short two or four page insert containing to matters of interest to our congregation.

Throughout the year we have averaged a weekly production of about one hundred and thirty copies of twelve or sixteen pages a week plus there were twelve large print copies also produced for those with visual challenges.

I would like to thank many people for their ongoing input and assistance in this weekly endeavor: The Reverend Michael Batten who provided input, and guidance while continuing to patiently

answer my never-ending litany of questions about how and why of what goes in the Bulletin and where. Thanks also to Rev Michael for printing the long format service leaflets.

Pastor Rebekah Swanson and Pastor Vida Jaugelis for their help and kindness. Iris Kong who is the Office Administrator for First Lutheran for her always cheerful help and

ideas. Rita Attrot and Lorie Chortyk for providing the hymn selections. Lorie Chortyk and Rev Michael Batten for the compilation and preparation of the worship

schedule. Mike Roberts for logistical support of the computer and the photocopier and for maintaining and

providing the lists of Birthdays, Anniversaries and the lists for the cycle of family prayers each week.

Mike Roberts and Carreen Adams and other sharp eyed helpers for their careful checking of the bulletins to reduce typos.

All those who provided input for the parish announcements shared throughout the year. To those whose contributions I have overlooked, my apologies. Special thanks are due to my dear wife Sharon who has allowed me time to pursue this ministry

and who lends a sympathetic ear and refreshments which are particularly welcome during those frustrating times when bulletins do not format quite as expected.

Respectfully submitted by John Green


31

St. Thomas Anglican Church WomenWe meet on the third Tuesday of the month at 1 PM at the home of Peggy Upton or Joy Stuart. On the forth Sunday of the month St. Thomas holds an Anglican Service at Royal Arch Masonic Home which is led by Cheryl Tobias or Barbara Lewis, Music by Rita Attrot and assistance by Carreen Adams or Margaret Smith. A donation was made, in memory of Beverly Graham to St. Thomas accessibility fund and ACW Place memorial roll.

Mary Douglass, our Sunshine Secretary, sends cards to our parishioners for special occasions (Easter, Christmas, Thinking of You, Mother’s and Father’s Day).

Children’s Hospital thanks Peggy Upton for finger puppets, dolls, baby hats & booties.

We have a baby shower in March for new baby items which go the ACW Place for the bales to the North. The bales contain good used sheets, towels, blankets along with Men’s, Women’s and Children’s gently used clothing. In November we collect wool socks, toques, gloves and cowls (scarves) for the Mission to Seafarers.

Each meeting we collect money from our members for the United Thank Offering and the Bloom Group (formerly St. James Community Social Services.

Carreen Adams, President

Church School2018 before Easter continued as it was in 2017. But beginning with Easter 2, our church school amalgamated with the church school from First Lutheran. This introduced many new ideas and re-introduced us to the children’s talk early on in the worship service. Our group has the same youth and leaders as we had in 2017. We are grateful to our two teachers and our assistants-their dependability is remarkable. Once again, the St. Thomas church school has operated without drawing on any financial contributions from the parish, other than photocopier supplies.

Respectfully submitted Kristine Lewis Church School Superintendent.

Youth MinistryThe youth group, led by Alex Blasius, continued to meet despite the church not being available. The group is assisted by a steering committee that is to meet quarterly. Youth activities in the monthly meetings are varied, focused on fun in a Christian context. There are two members who attend regularly and others who attend less frequently.


32

St. Thomas Financial Statements and Reports

Treasurer’s ReportAs is our usual practice, at our last Vestry meeting we adopted a deficit budget that showed we expected our expenses to exceed our income in 2018 by about $X.XX. In fact, because we were out of our building most of the year, our expenses for items such as routine maintenance, utilities and telephone were significantly lower than expected and we ended the year with an excess of income over expenses of over $X.XX.

Our envelope offerings were below budget. We had budgeted for envelope offerings of $X.XX and received about $X.XX. Our total festival offerings (Easter, Christmas, Lent and Thanksgiving) were slightly higher than last year, at over $X.XX.

As usual, parishioners have been extremely generous with their donations for outreach projects. We were able to provide Waverley School, Collingwood Neighbourhood House and South Vancouver Neighbourhood House with significant financial support at Christmas. We also used our Lenten offering to support the Canadian Network for International Surgery. Many parishioners also contribute to Quest, PWRDF, the Diocesan Care & Share program and other diocesan ministries and our foster children we support through World Vision. In total, over $25,000 was donated to these various projects.

This year marked the second year of our capital campaign to raise funds for the accessibility project. In 2017, we had contributions totalling almost $X.XX. In 2018, another $X.XX was donated and donations continue to come in on a monthly basis. Such generosity is incredible given the size of our parish.

This year has been a challenging year for the parish, with our renovations meaning that we have been out of our building for almost nine months. Nevertheless, parishioners have continued to be faithful in their attendance and in their financial giving, proving once again that the church is not a building (although having a building really helps!)

I would be happy to answer any questions anyone may have concerning the parish finances.


Susan Chortyk

Treasurer


33

Report of the Nominations Committee for Parish Council ElectionThe members of the Nominations Committee, appointed by Parish Council, are charged with the duty to recommend to the Vestry from the parish membership those persons who have the knowledge, skills and abilities and calling (ministry) to church administration. Please note that in 2019, there is a meeting of the Synod of the Diocese of New Westminster. Please also note that Parish Council determines the person to be nominated to be invested into the Order of the Diocese of New Westminster and this investiture happens next in 2020.

The Nominations Committee is pleased to nominate the following candidates for the 2019-2010 Parish Council and to be the trustees of the Parish. The Rector and Rector’s warden are appointments and therefore not included in the following list of nominees.

Position Title NamePeople’s Warden 1 Surya GummadiPeople’s Warden 2 Cheryl TobiasVestry Clerk Colin EnsworthTreasurer Susan ChortykDelegate to Synod 1 John GreenDelegate to Synod 2 Andy HattrickYouth Delegate to Synod Divya GummadiAlternate Delegate to Synod 1 Barbara WarnerAlternate Delegate to Synod 2Member at Large Chair of A&F Mike RobertsMember at Large Joy StuartMember at Large Denise PetchMember at Large Lorie Chortyk


Documents

Agenda - stthomasvancouver.ca€¦ · Web viewfor the Annual meeting of the Vestry of the Parish of St. Thomas’, Vancouver. to be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019 at Southview