The Vestry

The Vestry is the legal representative of the parish with regard to all matters pertaining to its corporate property. The presiding officer of the Vestry is the Rector. The basic responsibilities of the Vestry are to help define and articulate the mission of the congregation, to support the church’s mission by word and deed, to select the rector, to ensure effective organization and planning, and to manage resources and finances.

There are nine members of the St. A’s Vestry. Each member is elected to a three-year term. Terms are staggered so that each year we elect three new Vestry members at our Annual Parish Meeting.

What is your Vestry working on?

For a full account of all that your Vestry undertakes, all of the minutes of Vestry meetings are available on this web page. Minutes are added after the Vestry has approved them (generally a month after each meeting date).

The Vestry’s work is guided by prayer. Every meeting begins with prayer and a meditation and concludes with a sending prayer.

Please pray for your Rector (Rev. Jenny), Mark, Bryan, Sue, Grant, Ron C., Elaine, Patti, Maureen, & Brad (Vestry), Treasurer (Nanette), and Clerk (Frank)

Mission

We are being informed in our mission efforts by the resources of the Diocesan “College of Congregational Development.” Rev. Jenny has participated in both programs provided by the college and has brought back materials for us to use.

The central model we are using (Gather-Transform-Send) is described by the college as follows:

“The primary task of a Christian congregation can be described this way: The unique purpose and work of a congregation is to gather those called by God into Christ’s body, the Church—a community of transformation of mind, heart, and action—and to send these same people into the world both to be and to act as God’s loving and transforming presence.”

The second part of this model (that was presented also at the Annual meeting is the four arena of transformation: Prayer and Worship (which sits at the center), Study and Learning, Action, and Life in Community.

At the Vestry’s retreat we looked carefully at our valued ministries in each of these arena as well as hopes for the future.

Systems and Connections

As we grow and our ministries expand, this has been a valuable time to look at the systems in place that support our efforts. Using the information from the Annual Meeting and our Annual Report, we asked crucial questions:

Are we organized in a way that supports and sustains the valued ministries of our church?

Where are our ministries connected? How can the connections provide for more coherence and impact in the four arena?

As we also see in our Annual Report, there is an amazing amount of activity happening at St. A’s. The Vestry will be looking at ways we can better coordinate and support these efforts.

Finances

Following a very successful pledge campaign in October, we continue to focus on our fiduciary responsibility for the wise stewardship of the resources provided. This includes both “pledge and plate offerings” and our endowment and other gift funds. In 2025 we anticipate developing our planned giving capacities to better ensure the long-term health of our invested resources that we rely on for both operational large expenses.

Voice

The Vestry can’t do its work without your voice, prayers, and wisdom. We look forward to more ways to share both formal (like Sunday Forums) and informal (our regular conversations with one another) as we all work together as the beloved community here on Whidbey Island.