Here are some highlights from the May Vestry meeting:

• After several months’ discussion of how we might pay our deacon, The Rev. Linda Vosburgh, some kind of honorarium for all her good work, we unanimously decided to give Linda $1,000 (net, after calculating the amount to be withheld for taxes) for 2010. The money will come from the Lodge Fund, one of the funds on the Balance Sheet (i.e., not from the Operating Budget). The Lodges were former members of St. Ambrose, very active in the parish and in the diocese, and left a generous gift to St. Ambrose in their will a number of years ago.
• John Taylor will be heading up our participation in the July 4th parade in Superior. We will have a float again, and anyone who wants to decorate, sing on the float, or walk alongside of it during the parade is welcome to do so. Be listening for related announcements in church this month.
• The Vestry will be joining members of the Transformation Learning Community group (the group that meets as a follow-up to the March parish retreat) for a session on “Giving and Receiving Feedback” on Saturday, June 12. We agreed that developing/growing in this skill will serve us well as Vestry members and in our lives, generally. Julia Munson, who leads the TLC group, will also be leading this session.
• Paul Austin, Senior Warden, has been looking into whether it would be a good idea to have solar panels on the church. Brad Hall has offered to evaluate the church’s utility bills to determine the amount of money that we spend on gas versus the amount that we spend on electricity, as this will help determine if it is a cost-effective decision.
• Randy HIckernell, Junior Warden, is in the process of determining whether or not it might be a good idea to have an energy audit done by Xcel Energy.
• We still have a budget deficit for the year (a little over $14,000 as of the end of April), with pledges being behind YTD by almost $7,000. (The anticipated deficit, YTD, was about $6,500.) According to our bookkeeper, Jill Jenkins, it looks like these numbers could be better once we have the final May figures.
• I reported that the cost of my health insurance premiums will actually be going down 4.6% for the next year. This is, as you probably know, unheard of! So dance a happiness jig with all of us on the Vestry.
• Paul Austin recently put together evaluation committees for Peter Munson and Heather Melton, and those reviews happened on May 16 and May 23, respectively. My thanks to Paul and to everyone who served on those committees. Paul will be writing up a summary of these evaluations, which will be presented to the Vestry in the near future.

Please direct any questions or comments you have about life at St. Ambrose to any member of the Vestry or staff. Also, there will be a “feedback forum” on Sunday, June 13, at 9:30 a.m. in Friendship Hall, so this will be another great opportunity to be part of the ongoing dialogue. The Vestry wishes you a fun and safe summer!

Peter+