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Summer 2010
Dates to Remember
Sunday services at 9:00 am during June, July, and August. During Father David's vacation, our own Lay Preachers will officiate at Morning Prayer. June 20: Lay Preacher, Peg Williams
June 27: Lay Preacher, Skip Lee
Bible Study Wednesdays cancelled during summer.
Mass in the Grass
June 12 at 6:00 pm
Followed by dessert in the Parish Hall
July 10 at 6:00 pm
Followed by dessert in the Parish Hall
August 14 at 6:00 pm
Followed by a Hawaiian Luau!
Ladies Bunco Night
June 19
Call Debbie D for more information
Fr David and Elizabeth on Vacation
June 19-27
Fr. David & Elizabeth will be away from June 19 thru June
27th enjoying the Lee mansion in North Carolina! (Not
Robert E… the other famous Lee) For those two Sundays we
will have morning prayer and our own Lay Preachers will
officiate.
Tommy Emmanuel Video—July 30
We will be showing a video of the amazing guitarist that
Fr. David saw in Nashville. We will begin the evening with
a pot-luck dinner at 5:30 followed by the video. Drinks
provided. This is a must-see. Tommy will be performing
September 18 & 19 at the Park West Theater in Chicago.
Here’s your chance for a sneak preview of this unique musician. Tommy Emmanuel Website
Vestry
The Vestry is a small group of people elected to administer
the policies of the Annual Meeting and to direct the various
areas of ministry in the Church. All members are welcome
to attend Vestry meetings and are invited to give voice
to their ideas or concerns and to join in any discussions that
may ensue. Vestry Meetings are at 6 pm this summer on the
third Thursday of each month: June 17 — July 15 — August 19
EXPENSES DON’T TAKE A VACATION ---
KEEP YOUR PLEDGES CURRENT
The Great Lawn Mystery
There appears to have been a great deal of puzzlement in
the congregation concerning the mowing of the lawn. Just
who is supposed to do it? Originally we paid a service several
hundred dollars a year to mow the lawn. It was decided
to raise money to buy a lawn mower but only if there were
volunteers to run it. Amazingly there are a number of people
in the congregation who just love to mow lawns and they
signed up for the task. However, the one who loves to mow
the most is the one who has easiest access to the task: Fr.
David! As a result, Genarro Zamarippa only got to do it
twice last year and others not at all. Our back-up, of course,
is our Sexton, Roger Walls, who also likes to do it but has
to be last in line. He only got to do it 4 times last year.
This year Genarro and Alex Delgado have gotten the
jump on Fr. David each week so that he has only gotten to
do it once and Roger hasn’t gotten to do it at all! For those
of you who haven’t had a chance you probably would have
to get here Thursday to beat Genarro and Alex or enter
into a treaty with them!
Parking Lot Issues
Our parking areas have been long
neglected and are in dire need of resealing.
Labor has been donated but we
need about $600 worth of materials.
Plans are underway for a fund-raising
effort. See Brooke Cochran to volunteer
or you may designate a donation to
this cause.
The good news is that the City will be
paving the alley in the near future. Surveyors
have been hard at work this
month preparing for this event. It
would be wonderful to have the quality of our parking areas
match the quality of the newly paved alley.
Friends of Grace Church
Businesses who help and support us in various ways:
STERLING COMMERCIAL ROOFING
2704 North Locust
815-626-7744
Call Kevin Froeter today for all your roofing needs
Twin City Café
A Family Restaurant
23 East 3rd Street
Sterling, Illinois
Schilling Funeral Home
Our Family Serving Your Family
702 1st Avenue
Sterling, Illinois
Grummert’s Hardware
424 Locust Street
Sterling, Illinois
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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
There have been questions raised over the past few
months about the decision making process at Grace
Church. Some have not liked decisions the Vestry has
made and demanded that the Rector override them which
is not really possible. Others have thought that I make decisions
arbitrarily and capriciously without listening to the
people. So what is the story?
Many decision are made beyond the boundaries of the
Parish through the Constitution, Canons and policy of the
Episcopal Church. For example, we can decide to paint
Grace House or put a new roof on the Rectory but we are
not allowed to sell or mortgage any of the property as it is
all held in trust for the Episcopalians of tomorrow. Only
the Standing Committee of the Diocese can permit the
sale or mortgaging of property.
How the property is used on a day to day basis is the
sole responsibility of the Rector under the Canons. But
there are overlapping areas of authority and responsibility,
however. The Rector has the right to start a day care center
and hire people to staff it but he has no right to spend a
dime of Church funds to do it. That part of the process is
the sole responsibility of The Annual Meeting and it’s representatives,
The Vestry.
One of the decisions made by The Annual Meeting is to
retain the services of a musician. The policy is set by The
Annual Meeting via the Budget process but who gets to be
the musician is the responsibility of the Rector. Each priest
has his own style in administering his or her responsibility.
In my case, I take a lot of input and look for consensus but
don’t always find it. For example, when a solution to our
music problems presented itself last year the Vestry discussed
it for about 3 months. When 3 people expressed
negative concerns over the issue I presented those concerns
to ‘elders’ of the parish and to two other priests so
that the best advice could be obtained. But when all is said
and done, I still had to make the final decision weighing all
the advice at my disposal. Other Priests simply make the
decisions with no input because that is their job.
The job of the Vestry is to administer the policies of The
Annual Meeting and act in their behalf between meetings
acting in accordance with the Constitution, Canons and the
Parish’s own by-laws making sure income is up to that budgeted
and that commissioners stay within their budgets.
Each member of the vestry is responsible for an area of
ministry within the congregation in partnership with the Rector.
That ‘commissioner’ has the right to spend money’s authorized
by the budget in his or her area of ministry limited
only by cash-flow concerns.
When unforeseen events come upon us the Vestry may
amend the budget or find other means to meet the demands
of the moment. In our case, we have some unrestricted memorial
funds that they have the authority to manage and use.
The Vestry has chosen to create a sub-committee to oversee
the investment of these funds but there needs to be a policy
decision made concerning these funds. While they were
given with no restrictions there are people who insist that we
should only spend the interest and not touch the capital.
Others, just as vehemently take the opposite view saying that
those funds were given to be used for unexpected needs. By
default, the latter is the current policy. In the face of continuing
disagreement on the subject, it would be advisable for the
Annual Meeting to make a policy resolution once and for all.
So, there are constantly decisions to be made, and various
ways are provided to make those decision but whenever a
decision is made there will always be people who didn’t get it
their way. In churches that do not have the procedures, policies
and Canons that we do, i.e., places that use
“Congregational Polity” such unhappiness often results in
great turmoil, even division an schism. We should be thankful
for the wisdom and guidance of our founding fathers that
has allowed us the ways and means to minimize such discord.
The genius is that though we do not follow congregational
polity we are quite democratic and though we are of
Episcopal polity, we are not autocratic. I guess only an Anglican
could understand that!
—FR. DAVID+
Prayer Closet
For Healing:
Jon, Merideth, Bea, Sandi,
Melinda, Lynn, David, Chad, Glenn,
Arlene, Roger, Laurell, Jeremiah, Margaret,
Bill.
For the homebound:
Helen, Miriam,
Kathy, Shirley and June.
For Employment:
John, William, Jodi, David, Arturo,
Robert, Andrew Rommee, Steve, Troy, Melissa, Tiffany,
Danny, Jeremy, Jeremy and Don.
For Special Needs:
Jim, Gary, Harold, Mary, Marge, Keith,
Jen, Justin, Pat, Carol, Tom, John, Rachel, Virginia, Christy,
Sue, Jeff, Kathy and Olivia.
For the Departed:
Donald Wilhite, Clara Louise Behrens,
James David Price, Gordon Wasson, Raymond Duerst,
Margaret Loovas, Charles Smith, Elizabeth Kontos.
For members of the Armed Forces:
Greg, Matt, Raymond,
Jamie, Alex, Ryan, Tommy, David, Rich, Robert, Larry,
Chris, John, Don, Julie, Roger, Eric, Marcus, Andy, Mike,
Jennifer, Jaunte and the 102nd MP Company.
Happy Birthday!
(June) Ray Espinoza, Sr., Donna Wilhite,
Heidi Ripley, Barbara Young,
John Goddard, Laura Kessler, Luke
Duerst, Sally Schuneman
(July) Susan Lee, Mark Shearburn,
John Robert Lee, Beth Cochran,
Paige Ripley, Daniel Ripley, Debbie
Duerst, Doris Dillon, Skip Lee, David Williams, Katie Lee.
(August) Molly Dillon McGee, John Nitz, Mary Russell, Voigt
Smith, Sr., Mike Shull, Sarah Walls, Roger Russell, Suzi
Dillon-McDonnel, Victoria Packer, Ralph Romanelli.
Happy Anniversary
(June) Roger and Mary Russell, Ted and Marge Kontos, Jodie
Reaver and Patrick Dillon.
(July) Gregg and Heidi Ripley.
(August) LuAnn and Paul Petrulakis
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