EPISCOPAL DIOCESE of WESTERN MICHIGAN

St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church/ Northport, Michigan

47th Annual Meeting

January 20, 2019

Agenda:

1. Call to Order 2. Opening Prayer 3. Appointment of Secretary for Annual Meeting (Secretary will take

attendance) 4. Voting Requirements 5. Approval of Agenda 6. Approval of 2017 Annual Meeting Minutes 7. Treasurer’s Report for 2018 8. Parish Budget for 2019 9. Nomination and Election of Vestry Members 10. Co-Senior Wardens Reports 11. Report of Rector Search Committee 12. Report of Audit Committee 13. Additional Committee Reports:

a. Fellowship and Volunteers b. Buildings and Grounds c. Music d. Altar Guild

14. Congregation Comments 15. Closing Prayer

16. Adjournment

VOTING REQUIREMENTS:

St. Christopher’s Bylaws and our Diocesan Canons require that in order to vote during a parish meeting, each person must: be at least 16 years of age, have their baptism duly recorded in that parish, have been a regular worshipper in that parish for at least six months immediately preceding the meeting, and have been a bona fide contributor to the financial support of the parish for the six months immediately preceding the meeting. Several of our parishioners meet these requirements with the exception that they have not formally transferred their memberships from other parishes to St. Christopher’s. These people consider St. Christopher’s their home parish and our vestry has agreed that such persons will not be prohibited from voting at this meeting.

ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES for St. Christopher’s Episcopal

Church

JANUARY 21, 2018

Senior Warden Janet Dickerson called the meeting to order at 9:40 a.m. with an opening prayer for guidance and mission. Mary Fleishman was appointed Secretary for the meeting.

Attendance was taken. The following people were present: Janet Dickerson, Charles Dickerson, Peg Deal, Thomas Guback, Janie Neuharth, Robert Neuharth, Rea Kutilek, John Kutilek, Joy Ham, James Ham, Irene Nelson, David Nelson, Denise McCallum, John McCallum, Margie Beers, Michael Fleishman, and Mary Fleishman.

Janet Dickerson reviewed the membership requirements for voting at the annual meeting from our parish bylaws.

Janie Neuharth moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Jim Ham. Motion carried.

Janie Neuharth moved to approve the minutes of the 2017 Annual Meeting. Tom Guback and Joy Ham seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Mike Fleishman presented the Treasurer’s Report and noted that St. Christopher’s continues to have ample resources to operate during 2018, even though the parish gave a $30,000 donation to Leelanau Christian Neighbors for its building fund, made possible by an earlier bequest from Jan Hunt. Other major gifts were the continued support of the LCN annual fundraiser and the Verdier Circle of Friends, in the amount of $5,000 each. The 2018 budget reflects an increase in pledged income and includes hourly increases for supply clergy, secretarial services and the organist. The budget assumes we will continue to have supply clergy throughout 2018. Please refer to the 2017 Treasurer’s Report for details. Tom Guback moved to approve the budget, seconded by Jim Ham. Motion passed.

Nomination and Election of Vestry Members: There was a nomination from the floor to elect Chuck Dickerson to the Vestry. With Chuck’s acceptance, he was unanimously elected to a three year term, ending in 2021. Janet Dickerson will leave the Vestry, having ended her term. Other members who will continue

through 2018 are Carol Isphording and Marilyn Zimmerman. Margie Beers and Moonyeen Fitch will continue through 2020.

Janet Dickerson suggested we delay our nomination of delegates to the Diocesan Convention and Traverse Deanery until later this year.

Questions were raised regarding the search process and Janet Dickerson stated we would continue to look for a permanent clergy person. That morning, both she and Rev. Tom Guback commended the congregation for their enthusiasm in keeping St. Christopher’s alive and attracting new members.

Once again, Janet Dickerson was applauded for her work as Senior Warden.

Rev. Tom Guback closed with a prayer and Janet Dickerson adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Fleishman

Acting Secretary

ELECTION OF VESTRY MEMBERS:

Chuck Dickerson is the only current vestry member who does not need to stand for election during this meeting as his term does not end until 2021.

Vestry members Marilyn Zimmerman, Carol Isphording, and Ed Ruffley have completed their terms but have agreed to extend their service for one year if nominated and elected.

Jill Foerster has agreed to complete the term of current vestry member Margie Beers, which ends in January, 2020.

John Husken has agreed to stand for election for a regular three year term (ending in 2022).

Report of Co-Senior Warden Carol Isphording:

St. Christopher’s New Year began on January 21, 2018, following an abbreviated Eucharist service. The Annual Meeting was conducted by Janet Dickerson in the absence of Co-Senior Wardens, Marilyn Zimmerman and Carol Isphording. Minutes of the 2017 Annual Meeting were accepted as was the slate of Wardens and Vestry: Co-Senior Wardens, Marilyn Zimmerman and Carol Isphording; Junior Warden, Margie Beers; Vestry members, Ed Ruffley, Moonyeen Fitch, and Chuck Dickerson.

The dedicated, but fewer in number winter congregates, continued to attend Sunday services and volunteer to assume whatever tasks were presented, especially setting up and clearing the altar. As long as Father Thomas Guback could navigate his driveway and M-22, he conducted Sunday Eucharist. We are more than grateful for his commitment to serve our Parish.

Ash Wednesday and Lent arrived early this year, on February 14. Forward Movement sent an invitation from the Good Book Club to the Church as a Whole to join in daily readings of the Gospel according to St. Luke, followed by the Book of Acts. St. Christopher’s provided written schedules of those readings to all parishioners. Also, during Lent, in conjunction with the other Northport Churches, St. Christopher’s chaired a Soup Supper in St. Gertrude’s Parish Hall. Members provided a variety of soups, breads, and desserts for approximately 45 attendees from Northport and surrounding communities.

Palm Sunday, March 25th, offered the congregation the opportunity to participate in the service by reading assigned roles of the Gospel. It was a wonderful way to make the Gospel come alive. Easter Sunday followed on April 1st, with Father Tom again leading the congregation in a joyous Eucharist.

The caring, loving expression of the Holy Spirit from the Parishioners of St. Christopher’s to all who enter the doors is unparalleled in my lifetime membership in the Episcopal Church. It is a gift from God to be a part of the St. Christopher experience.

Report of Co-Senior Warden, Marilyn Zimmerman:

I am grateful and honored to have served as Co-Senior Warden with Carol Isphording this past year.

When I took up my post as Summer Senior Warden in May, my main concern was making sure we would be able to offer a Sunday Worship Service at St. Christopher’s. To my knowledge, barring cancellation due to snowstorms, St. Christopher’s had never failed to provide a Sunday Eucharist Service for its parishioners and visitors. But knowing that our regular supply priest, Father Guback, would be attending to his wife, Sylvia, as her illness progressed, he suggested we prepare to lead Morning Prayer should the need arise. With that in mind, in May, Janet Dickerson, Carol Isphording, Jill Foerster, and I met for coffee and conversation with the new Canon for the Northern Region of our Diocese, the Reverend Canon Anne Hallmark. (During the 2017 Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan, the attending delegates voted to reorganize from five deaneries to three regions, each region with its own Canon.) It was our hope that along with receiving Ann’s assistance preparing the Morning Prayer Order of Service, we might get to know her a bit and acquaint her with the history, hopes, and needs of our little parish. The four of us spent an informative, relaxing, and encouraging couple of hours with Anne and came away inspired and refreshed by our time with her.

During the next two months, as Father Tom Guback attended to Sylvia during the last stages of her illness, Father Jim McLean, Reverend Mary Frens, Canon Hallmark, and ELCA Pastors Ruth Overdier and Robert Anderson stepped in to celebrate our Sunday Eucharist. On three Sundays, when no celebrant was available, our parish read Morning Prayer together. Father Guback officiated at a Requiem Mass for Sylvia in mid-September

and in October, he returned to our altar and has continued supplying on most Sundays since. We have welcomed his wise, consistent and devoted service to our parish and remain grateful that he has once again returned to us as supply priest while we continue our search for a new rector.

Also in May, Vestry Member Moonyeen Fitch and her husband Roger announced that they would be relocating to Arizona. After a parish party for the Fitches at the Leland Lodge, complete with stories, a tribute by the choir, many laughs, and a few tears, the remaining five vestry members gathered and discussed how we would continue to guide St. Christopher’s.

Besides managing the details of our Sunday worship service the vestry spent the summer updating our Parish Directory, organizing our sacristy cabinets and drawers, clearing out and organizing parish records and files, promoting and participating in Leelanau Christian Neighbors’ annual fund raiser, negotiating with the finance committee of St. Gertrude’s after they requested an increase in our monthly rent, arranging for the preparation and printing of our Sunday bulletins, repairing and repainting our Northport signage, researching and purchasing a new portable microphone for use during Sunday services, arranging the details for the baptism of the grandchild of parishioners John and Denise McCallum, preparing a poster-sized card and attending Bethany Lutheran’s 100th anniversary celebration, participating in Northport’s Baccalaureate Service, revisiting the parish Mission Statement (still ongoing), updating the personal property inventory of the parish (also still ongoing) and working to keep the parish and potential visitors informed about our parish through weekly printed announcements, our website, and advertisements in the Leelanau Enterprise. The five remaining members of our vestry, plus Treasurer Mike Fleishman, with the support of so many members of our parish was the definition of a working board during 2018.

Throughout my term as Summer Senior Warden, I was continually impressed by the loving kindness the people of this parish showed one another as we worked, grieved, celebrated, and came together to worship, to drink coffee, to dine, and to share stories, memories, and life together. The effort so many of you gave to keep the light of our little (but mighty) community of faith glowing, inspired me and demonstrated for me what quiet, focused spirituality can do.

Rector Search Committee

Ed Ruffley, Chair

A new rector for St. Christopher's remains elusive as our search enters the fifth year. The Diocese has told us that eighteen parishes, including St. Christopher's, are in need of new rectors, full or part-time. There remains a shortage of priests to fill these openings. The Diocese is making an effort to identify and train candidates for the priesthood, but it is not clear how or when this effort will benefit parishes like ours. Although our efforts have not achieved results, we continue to pray and to search. We have seen Bishop Hougland several times during the past year and we have continued to give voice to our need for a rector. The Bishop recently appointed the Rev. Canon C. Anne Hallmark as Canon Missioner for the northern region of our Diocese, which includes St. Christopher's. As Canon Missioner, she serves to assist parishes with development and transitions. In the short time since her appointment, she has exhibited a high level of energy and has made a number of useful suggestions to aid in our rector search. We have continued to advertise our rector position and to reach out to find candidates in a number of ways. We contacted every Episcopal priest on the supply priest list of the diocese in an effort to create a network of retired priests who may know of a recently retired or soon-to-be-retired priest who may be a likely candidate. We also circulated an ad for our rector position at the November Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan. We obtained names from the retirement announcements in The Living Church and contacted priests who were connected to the mid-west region to find out if they might be interested in a part-time rector position. To date, these efforts have not achieved results. Although disappointed, we are not discouraged. We will keep on 'keeping-on' with the help of Diocesan friends and the various volunteers who keep our parish vibrant. A final note: our rector search committee has lost several members during the past year. We are in need of at least two volunteers to serve on the committee. If you are interested, please contact Carol Isphording, Marilyn Zimmerman, or Ed Ruffley.

Additional Committee Reports:

AUDIT COMMITTEE CERTIFICATE:

June 29, 2018

The Vestry of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, 701 North Warren PO Box 98 Northport, MI 49670-0098 Subject: Review of the Financial Records for the Calendar Year 2017

Dear St. Christopher's Vestry Members:

We have performed a review of the financial records of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church (“the Church”) for the calendar year 2017. This financial review was performed in general accordance with the “Audit Guidelines for Congregations” as outlined in the “Manual of Business Methods in Church Affairs”. The financial statements of the Church are prepared in accordance with the principles adopted by the Episcopal Church and approved by its General Convention, except as noted.

The financial statements are prepared using the cash basis of accounting. As a result, capital expenditures are expensed as acquired and not depreciated over the useful life of the asset. Donated services are not reflected in the financial statements. Financial statement formats reflect the report formats of Quickbooks accounting software and do not strictly conform to the financial reporting formats for a non-profit organization such as a church, which would include a statement of assets and liabilities, and the related statement of cash receipts and expenditures, and changes in fund balances.

Based on our review, and taking into account our comments above, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the accompanying financial information does not provide a fair view of the financial position of St. Christopher’s Episcopal

Church as of December 31, 2017, and its cash flows for the twelve months then ended, utilizing the cash basis method of accounting.

Edward Ruffley Chairman, Audit Committee

Junior Warden/Fellowship and Volunteers

Margie Beers

Fellowship and Volunteers Events for 2018: + January 2018 - A Children’s Read and Learn Basket was added in the Fellowship Hall. Materials placed in the basket have been donated by St. Christopher’s church members, and will be maintained with ongoing donations from the congregation throughout the year. + January 2018 - St. Christopher’s and St. Gertrude’s church members volunteered flowers for the altar throughout the year. A sign-up board was placed in the Fellowship Hall. Flowers were donated personally arranged and either brought to the church by members, or purchased and delivered by Forget Me Not Flowers in Suttons Bay. + March 22, 2018 - St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church hosted this year’s fourth Lenten Soup Supper. Soups were prepared for the evening meal by our church members, along with a selection of breads and cookies. + April 30, 2018 - St. Christopher’s Vestry hosted a Farewell Dinner for church members, Roger and Moonyeen Fitch who were relocating to Phoenix, Arizona. A dinner buffet was held at The Leland Lodge, beginning at 5:30 p.m. for welcoming, appetizers and beverages. + July 8, 2018 - St. Christopher’s Vestry hosted a brunch for Reverend Canon Anne Hallmark and her spouse at The Riverside Inn in Leland, after Reverend Canon Hallmark had officiated at the Sunday Church Service. A discussion with the Vestry followed the brunch. + August 19, 2018 - Carol and Richard Isphording hosted a Parish

Summer Gathering at their Northport Home following the regular Sunday Service. The casual event was greatly enjoyed by our seasonal and year-round church members. + October 7, 2018 - Church members from St. Christopher’s Church participated in the C.R.O.P. Hunger Walk 2018. Donations to end hunger in the U.S. and around the world were raised for the community-sponsored event and shared locally with Leelanau Christian Neighbors, and Church World Service, Elkhart Indiana (cwsglobal.org). + December, 1, 2018. St. Christopher’s church participated in The Giving Tree sponsored by Northport Public School, Corrine Wetherbee, Advisor, by donating and wrapping gifts for the children of one Northport family. All eleven gift tags with specific items of need, were selected by our church members on December 1, 2018. The gifts were delivered to the school on December 12, 2018, and gratefully acknowledged in a letter received from the National Honor Society, Northport High School. + December 3, 2018 -The annual St. Nicholas Day Dinner was attended by twenty church members at The Leland Lodge. The event began at 5:30 p.m. with welcoming beverages and appetizers, followed by a buffet dinner and dessert. Father Tom Guback led the group in prayer. No cost for the room rental was incurred, but donated by The Leland Lodge for our special holiday event.

Buildings and Grounds

Chuck Dickerson

New doors continue to be a problem each Sunday. Silicon lubrication helps but does not last week to week. New doors do not "lock back" and require use of felt covered stones to hold them open. St Christopher's lost their flag pole holder during the new siding construction. A new holder was constructed and installed but will take some continued use to easily remove the flag. Alter light "aiming" and brightness have been corrected with the installation of LED bulbs but the harshness of the light may take some "getting used to". Perhaps St Gertrude's will install dimmers.

St Christopher's wireless microphone developed problems and needed replacement and upgrading. St Gertrude's system has also been upgraded. Snow and ice removal continues to be a problem for St Gertrude's, however they are attempting to correct it by organizing "shovel brigade" that is to have sidewalks clear by 8am. We can help them by spreading salt before our service. Please advise me of any building or grounds problems that you observe so that your Vestry may correct them.

Music Coordinator

Jim Ham

We were greatly saddened by the death on July 15 of our choir founder Sylvia Linde-Guback. Sylvia organized the choir in 2001, arranged for the acquisition of our vestments, hymnals, and music, selected all our hymns and anthems, coached and led us, and sang with her beautiful soprano voice. We miss her very much. It has been my privilege to select the hymns and anthems since Sylvia’s retirement in 2007. I use as a guide “The Episcopal Musician’s Handbook”. It offers a list of hymns for each Sunday which are related to the scripture for that day, and warns me if I am about to repeat a hymn we have sung recently. I publish the hymn and anthem selections two months in advance. The anthems are drawn from a file near the organ console, or from the Hymnal and its supplement, “Wonder Love and Praise”. I have recently inventoried all our sheet music on a spreadsheet. The music we use regularly is in the two-drawer file cabinet next to the organ console. Since our entire collection will not fit in this cabinet, the remainder is in a file storage box kept in the church storage room. The spreadsheet indicates the location of all our music, and shows the composer or arranger, the number of pages in each piece, the number of copies, and the service event for which the music is especially suited. The spreadsheet can be sorted by any of the headings. Our organist Bill Cook leads us in practice each Sunday before the service, and sings with us. We prefer to sing “a capella” (without accompaniment).

The choir is few in number and we have to be flexible in our anthem choices to match the music with the available voices. We are eager to see our numbers grow. If you have a desire to sing with us, please join us! We are extremely fortunate to have the services of Fr. James Serrick, S.J., who built the organ and has maintained and tuned it over the years. Fr. Serrick is now retired and lives at the Columbiere Center near Clarksville. He visits Villa Marquette in Omena several times a year. During these visits he services the organ, and I assist him. We are seeking an organ technician who can take over our work when we are unable to continue to do what is required.

Altar Guild

Janie Neuharth

Our current Altar Guild members are Jill Foerster, Margie Beers, Joy Ham, Janet Dickerson, Marilyn Zimmerman, Janie Neuharth, and our newest member, Susan Husken. These ladies worked to ready (and clear) the altar and pulpit for our Sunday Eucharist, Holy Week services, and the Requiem Mass for Sylvia Linde-Guback last July. They also ordered the necessary supplies for all our services, washed and ironed our linens, and polished our silver. This year, the Altar Guild ordered a purple burse and veil for the altar from Almay to use during Advent and Lent. Thanks so much to all these ladies for their devotion and hard work for our parish!