One of the many privileges of serving as your rector is the opportunity to work with the faithful vestry members you elect. Year in and year out, you have wisely chosen leaders who care deeply about God, about St. Andrew’s, and about our community and who are committed to working collaboratively together. This year’s vestry is no exception.
Our February vestry retreat consisted of a Friday night session at a local restaurant, where the recently retired class of vestry leadership joined current vestry members for dinner. Retired members shared insights and advice, and afterward we did some team-building exercises. Saturday morning we met in the sanctuary for spiritual retreat time. We read Bible passages telling of the ways God calls spiritual leaders, provides us with companions in our ministries, and equips us with spiritual gifts. We talked about how those stories resonate in our lives and our work here at St. Andrew’s, and then we celebrated Holy Eucharist together. On Saturday afternoon we conducted our annual Mutual Ministry Review, an assessment of how we are doing as the parish leadership team and where we can make improvements. Based on the Mutual Ministry Review, we then set three specific goals for our work together in 2023. Below, I’m sharing the three overarching vestry goals for 2023; and also three collects that members wrote together during our retreat.
Please continue to hold each individual vestry member and our shared ministry in your prayers. And please mark your calendars now for the next quarterly congregational meeting, on Sunday, March 12 immediately following the 10:30 service. The agenda will include updates on our finances and our building, among other things.
Please join me in giving thanks for our dedicated vestry members.
Every blessing. –Anne
Collects written by 2023 vestry
Holy and eternal God, we ask that you help us remain available to your presence so that we may manifest your goodness as we work to build your kingdom in our own hearts, in our church family, in our communities, and in our world. We pray this through Jesus Christ, the living son, Amen.
O God who IS, who led Moses out of Egypt, you call us and equip us with a variety of gifts. May we use them for the common good to serve St. Andrew’s, our communities, the world, and you. Through your empowering Spirit, we pray. Amen.
Father Almighty, we ask for your nurture and guidance so that we may lift the burden of others and further love, peace, and respect for all people. Through Jesus’s teachings, we pray. Amen.
2023 Vestry goals
- Continue to nurture children and young families by creating/supporting ministries such as Vacation Bible School, Children’s Chapel, and Intergenerational Dinner Events
- , including announcements, articles, quarterly parish meetings, and a ministries fair.enhanced/increased communicationDeepen parishioner awareness and understanding of parish ministries and vestry responsibilities through
- Serve as wise and careful stewards by increasing vestry knowledge of and engagement with parish finances through careful monitoring of revenues/expenses, especially in our liaison areas; by actively monitoring the work of the Sacred Direction task force; and by making an informed decision about the best use of our building for the future of St. Andrew’s.
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