2023 Annual Meeting Minutes
Emmanuel Church
Dublin, NH 03444
(Draft) Minutes of the 2023 Annual Meeting
Sunday, September 3, 2023
The 135th Annual Meeting of Emmanuel Church was held in the church sanctuary on Sunday, September 3, 2023 following the last of the seasonal 9:00 am worship services. The meeting began at 10:17 am with a Welcome and Call to Order by Senior Warden Bill Raymond.
Rev. Jamie Hamilton offered an opening prayer.
In Attendance (Total: 29)
Bill Raymond (Senior Warden), Yank Brame (Jr. Warden), Kathy Miner (Treasurer), Ann Conway (Secretary), and the following members of the Managing Committee:
Ted Pearre (Buildings & Grounds / Landscaping), Amy Manley (Service Ministry), Bob Englund (Music), Anne Marie Irwin (Outreach), Martha Raymond (Rectory/Coffee Hour Coordinator), and Rev. Jamie Hamilton (visiting Priest). Cynthia Chace (Altar Guild), Christine Clinton Catlin (Finance Committee Chair),
Our Summer Priests-in-charge Very Rev. Gideon Pollach (July) and Rev. Abby VanderBrug (August) were unable to attend.
Members of the congregation present included:
Liz Tong, Dita Englund, David Allen, Rebecca Smith-Allen, Ellen Bernard, Ed Bernard, Win Raynor, Joan Raynor, Susie Catlin, Connie R. Catlin, Tyler Madden, Sally Collier, Ellen Avery, Phil Miner, David Irwin, Jack Sands, Deborah Roberts, Anna Ritchie, and Sharon L. MacCartney.
It was moved / seconded/ unanimously approved to dispense with the reading of the (draft) Minutes of the August 28, 2022 Annual Meeting, which were then approved as distributed.
FINANCIAL REPORT:
Treasurer Kathy Miner presented the Emmanuel Church Proposed Budget with 2023 Actual P & L figures as of 8/31/23 (see attached). It appears we will not have to pull from Investment Funds to meet expenses this year. Vanguard investments continue to do well.
It was noted that there is no line item for a capital depreciation schedule, a topic to consider going forward. As is our custom, the Budget is normally passed by the Managing Committee prior to the Annual Meeting. This year, when completed, it will be passed by a ZOOM Managing Committee Meeting in September.
Kathy was thanked for her extraordinary dedication and time devoted to being Emmanuel’s Treasurer. There are many tasks she performs throughout the year, much appreciated by all.
Bill then reported on the current Capital Campaign “Venerate Emmanuel.” The response has been very heartening to date. Though the $150,000 goal set by Campaign Chair Cynthia Chace is an aggressive number, pledges to date have come in at $58,945.46, including some gifts of stock (now sold).
OUTREACH DISTRIBUTION REPORT:
Anne-Marie Irwin presented a proposed list of Charitable Outreach from Emmanuel Church for 2024, with a total Outreach proposal of $2,500 (attached). The list of recipients is not very different from last year’s list, with the exception of adding a voluntary 1% Seminary Support ($150) in honor of our new August Priest-in-charge Rev. Abby Vanderbrug in place of a similar gift honoring past August Priest-in-charge Rev. John Branson.
Anne-Marie asked for questions regarding the current organizations we support, or suggestions for new agencies to be considered. It was then moved / seconded/ and unanimously agreed to accept the proposed Outreach for 2024 as presented.
COMMITTEE REPORTS (Highlights):
Complete Committee Annual Reports may be obtained from Secretary Ann Conway ( [email protected]) on request.
Committee Chairs were thanked for their service.
1. ALTAR GUILD (Ann Conway for Cynthia Chace):
Current Altar Guild Servers Cynthia Chace, Bill Raymond, and Ann Conway would be delighted to welcome new Altar Guild members to our ranks. (Note: for 2024 interest was expressed by returning AG members Louisa Birch and Martha Raymond, and new AG Trainee members David Irwin and Ellen Bernard – hurrah!)
The church will be buttoned-up for the season on Saturday, September 9th, time TBA.
2. BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS (Ted Pearre):
A HUGE debt of gratitude to Ted and Wendy Pearre for their loving, faithful, dedicated service to Emmanuel’s Grounds and Buildings maintenance!
Ted reported that:
Dublin School students will continue to perform their community service by helping with Fall and Spring grounds work at Emmanuel.
Research is continuing on improving our failing parking lot / paving situation, with estimates for this work coming in this fall. Discussions are underway with Dublin School regarding their participation in the cost of this project, with specifics TBD.
3.SERVICE MINISTRY SCHEDULING (Amy Manley):
Thanks to Amy for stepping up to take on the scheduling of volunteers for our eleven Sunday services this summer. A total of 88 service ministries were filled by 36 individuals representing 28 families. Thanks to Kathy Miner and Anna Ritchie for their help in setting up the “Uber Board”, and to Ellen Avery who sent out the E-Pistle each Monday reminding the congregation of available opportunities and who had signed up for what.
4. MUSIC (Bob Englund):
Our 150-year-old organ continues to work magnificently. The congregation sings well.
We continue to have a great relationship with our guest artists and Walden School, who add so much to our worship services with the beautiful music they provide.
The Monadnock Music harp and flute concert, which took place at Emmanuel June 29th, was very well attended by 119 people, many of whom had never been to Emmanuel before. (Perhaps another concert next summer?) Many thanks to Bob for all his efforts, and to organ student Graham Ormerod who assisted with service music again this summer.
5.COFFEE HOUR (Martha Raymond):
The theme of Coffee Hour this summer was to KEEP IT SIMPLE, the idea being that more people might volunteer to help host Coffee Hour if the expectations and responsibilities were not so demanding, including being physically challenging with table set-up/ coffee pot moving / clean up duties, and providing lots of fancy food. (Martha buys the coffee and other needed supplies ahead of time.)
Coffee, decaf, lemonade, simple baked goods / crackers and cheese/ and fruit were provided by the Raymonds, with assistance from several others throughout the season. Response from the congregation for a plea for some special comestibles for the Bishop’s visit was very successful.
6.RECTORY (Martha Raymond):
Not much to report, other than having to replace the elderly, failing refrigerator. The Rectory will be closed for the season early in September.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE (Ellen Avery):
On behalf of the Nominating Committee (consisting of the immediate past Senior Warden Ellen Avery plus two members of the congregation, Michael Carter and Liz Tong), Ellen moved that the following Slate of Officers for Emmanuel Church be
re-elected for the 2024 year:
Senior Warden – Bill Raymond
Junior Warden – Yank Brame
Treasurer – Kathy Miner
Secretary – Ann Conway
The motion passed unanimously.
Ellen suggested that we consider a succession plan as most of the current Officers have served many years in their positions. The Nominating Committee will meet to discuss further.
WEBSITE UPDATE / COMMUNICATIONS (Ellen Avery):
Ellen is the current keeper of the website, and with Bill has been exploring ways to improve it. By a show of hands it was evident that most present at this meeting had been on the website at least once this summer.
Ellen also produces the E-Pistle, our weekly summer newsletter, which is proving to be an invaluable tool for communication within the Emmanuel community. She will continue to send out E-Pistles sporadically during our off-season when there is news to report.
PRIESTS – IN – CHARGE REPORTS (Bill Raymond):
Bill read the Annual reports submitted by our July Priest-in-charge Very Rev. Gideon Pollach, and our new August Priest-in-charge, Rev. Abby VanderBrug (attached).
We look forward to seeing them both, with their families, next summer when they return during their respective months as Emmanuel’s Priests-in-Charge.
SENIOR WARDEN’S REPORT (Bill Raymond):
(attached) Highlights:
It was delightful welcoming past Priests-in-Charge Rev. Cathy George and Rev. Jamie Hamilton to be with us, preaching and celebrating Eucharist for Opening and Closing Sundays, respectively.
Very Rev Gideon Pollach continues to bring great energy to Emmanuel Church during his 5 week stay. Many thanks to the Search Committee who “found” Rev. Abby Vander Brug, and was well received. Attendance was up slightly, with more families attending in July than August.
The new roof project is complete with much thanks to Ted Pearre, and to the Managing Committee in voting to fund this project. The new roof was blessed by Bishop Rob Hirschfield when he visited Emmanuel on August 27, 2023.
Though the response to the “Venerating Emmanuel” campaign has been heart-warming, there is still room for more pledges. All are invited to send in their pledges.
Abundant thanks to all of the Committee heads, and all those who serve Emmanuel Church in so many ways.
There being no Old or New Business to transact, the 135th Annual Meeting of Emmanuel Church was adjourned at 11:05am.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann W. Conway, Secretary
Emmanuel Church 2024
Opening Sunday – June 30, 2024
Closing Sunday – September 1, 2024
