Empty Tomb- © 2005 Tim Jutsum
CHRIST CHURCH EASTER 2018
Rochester, NY The SONG vol. 3 issue 4
EVENTS
EVENTS and ANNOUNCEMENTS in This Issue
Capital Campaign Kickoff
Bishop Prince Singh
Lecture audio and video
Third Sunday Lecture Series and Compline
Latest Sunday Bulletin and Audio of the 11:00 am Eucharist
(when you click on an image below it will become full size and you can scroll through the pages)
Vestry Minutes
GRANTS UPDATE
The Care Team
ANNUAL MEETING- January 28th, 2018
text of agenda
Candlelight Concert Schedule 2017-2018
Capital Campaign Kickoff
Third Sunday Lectures and Compline
Bishop Prince Singh
Vestry Minutes, March 2018
Vestry Minutes March 20, 2018
- Visit from Jessica Tower, Capital Campaign Consultant
Jessica Tower was welcomed to the meeting. She has been a professional fundraiser for fifteen years. Coincidentally, she has previous connections to the Father’s House, and to the Eastman School. She offered an overview of how she hopes to approach her work at Christ Church. She will begin with a Listening Tour, as she becomes acquainted with the community. She will be officially introduced at both services on April 15. She will also be available at coffee hour that day. She will meet with the church staff. She wants them to know that she is available to them. She will supply monthly reports to the Vestry. To sum up, if the Capital Campaign team could be said to be a car moving through traffic, concentrating on looking at the car right ahead, Jessica will be helping by providing the bigger picture of reaching the final destination. The Capital Campaign at Christ Church is an endeavor which she looks forward to embracing with passion and enthusiasm.
2. Visit from Padraic Collins-Bohrer
Paddy asked the Vestry for a letter of support from the Vestry, to be part of the final step toward ordination to the priesthood. This letter, to be written by Ruth, in ink, and signed by the Vestry, will be sent to Carolyn McConnell at Diocesan HQ, in time for Paddy’s meeting with the Commission on Ministry on Saturday, April 28.
Paddy also gave us an update on his new assignments. Since February 21, he has been at the Church of the Ascension. He has entered into the preaching rotation. His fellow deacon there is Christ Church alumnus Lucy Alonzo. He is also working full time as a chaplain at Strong Hospital. This includes a learning component. He works in the Burn, ICU, Medical Trauma, and Psychiatric Units. He considers his participation in this ministry to be an honor.
Paddy is beginning to have discussions with the Bishop about work opportunities after ordination. The Vestry thanked Paddy for his faithful response to a calling from God which, though rewarding, involves difficult and trying challenges.
3. Rector’s Time
Ruth and the Executive Committee have decided it best for her to take a three month leave of absence, beginning right after Easter Sunday. She is fighting a very serious disease, and she must have time to rest, without stress, to give her the best chance to get better. The Vestry commended her determination to work as long as she has, in spite of being very ill. Fr. Steven Metcalfe and Fr. Bruce Griffith will be among the supply priests subbing for her in her absence.
4. Warden’s Report:
Deb said 3 people have agreed to act as liaisons to help while Ruth is gone: Deb will be liaison to ROCO; Kyle will be liaison to the Eastman; and, Norm Geil will be liaison to the Father’s House.
5. Capital Campaign Committee:
Joe announced that there is now a Capital Campaign tab on the CC website. It features a thermometer, synopsis of projects, and a donate button. Thanks to Colin Soleim for designing the site.
6. Discussion of Safety and Security Meeting Report:
Kyle reported that many big, difficult issues were brought to the forefront at this meeting held on Feb. 28, which was a forum for concerns about safety in the church; especially, in the light of the many tragic mass killings which have happened across the country. There have been incidents at Christ Church which, although “handled”, have revealed the need for professional guidance. We want everyone to be safe, and to take all necessary measures to ensure that.
A committee of volunteers from the Safety and Security Meeting has formed and will send back recommendations concerning all of these issues. Meg will act as liaison to the Committee, whose members will be Joe and Vicki McCutchon, Spencer and Hope McGuckin, Pru Kirkpatrick, Lois Jones, and Jonathan Falk.
7. Proposal for Garden from ROCO:
The Vestry discussed ROCO’s art project for June-October. It is a concrete tree with LED leaves that change color. One possible location was the center circle, but the Vestry decided the lawn adjacent to ROCO where the other installations have been was a better location for the tree as well.
8. Deb reported that the Sunday evening pre-compline talk by Cynthia Houck on March 18 was well attended. Cynthia encouraged her listeners to join her in supporting a building which in this day and age cannot be rebuilt.
Respectfully submitted by David C. Jutsum, clerk of the Vestry.
Grants Update
WE GOT GRANTS!
GRANT UPDATE- December 19, 2017
The Christ Church grant team is thrilled to announce that the church was granted a New York State historical preservation grant for just over $106,000. The grant team applied for these funds to fix the six clerestory windows, which have damaged sills, frames, and panes, and therefore have let water into the building, which is partially responsible for the piece of the ceiling that fell from the North Aisle a couple of years ago. (The other element responsible was the roof on that aisle, which has already been repaired.) This work will be scheduled for Summer 2020. The grant team was inspired by the successful application by Ron Vukman to get a similar grant from NYS in 2009. It is rare to get a second grant in such a short time, and the grant team is grateful to everyone who helped by supplying us with information, especially Stephen Kennedy and Norm Geil. We are also so grateful for our partners Meal & More and The Father’s House, whose leadership wrote supporting letters to us, and to those in the community who also wrote letters supporting our application.
Deb VanderBilt is also especially grateful to Val Jutsum, who happened to be at home within reach of her phone at the moment before Deb hit the “Submit” button on the grant website. Val and Deb claimed the verse “where 2 or 3 are gathered” and prayed for a successful outcome. : ) Thanks to the whole grant team: Deb VanderBilt, Tom Foster, Meg Mackey, Peg Britt, and Hugh Kierig.
This brings our grant total for repair work to $148,000. These grant funds will go a long way toward helping the church pay for repair of the Lawn St. wall and the Nave repair and repainting projects.
Below is the original posting about our Grant process and hopes. I left it in to underline how wonderfully these prayers were answered.-ed.
old news
[The grant-writing team (Deb VanderBilt, Tom Foster, Meg Mackey, Peg Britt, and Hugh Kierig) has finished this year’s round of applications. In general, grants are available in the historic preservation category; in other words, we have to specify a building project and the grant will go toward repairs. Here’s an update on where we are with our grants.
In January, we applied for a grant from Sacred Sites (a part of the New York Conservancy Trust) for $50,000 for our buckling wall on Lawn Street. We received $25,000, which the grant administrator told us is typically the upper limit of what they award. We must match that grant 50-50 (no problem, since the wall repairs will cost at least $130K).
In May, we applied for two grants for the wall as well: to the Rochester Community Foundation Grant for $25,000 and to the Partners for Sacred Places for an unspecified amount (the first step is a “letter of intent”). We should hear from RCF in October, and we already heard we did not make the first cut from Partners for Sacred Places.
In July, we applied to New York State for a Historic Preservation Grant. Because our church is in a zip code that is characterized by high poverty, if we get this grant it will be a 75/25 match (we pay 25%). We applied for the grant for clerestory window repair, since the criterion for the grant is urgency. Water infiltration caused part of the ceiling under these leaky windows to fall down, so we believe we have a good case that window repairs are urgent. The application was for about $120,000, and we will hear in January about whether or not we receive it.
We also applied in May for a Congregational Development Grant from the Diocese. This grant can be used for our deficit, so it is very different from the historic preservation grants. If we get it, we are eligible to be on a 5-year cycle of grant renewal, but it will be less each year as we work toward sustainability. To apply for the grant, the team worked on a plan of action to “develop” our congregation: communicating better about what we do to the community and other ways of growing our congregation. We applied for $35,000 and we will hear in September or October from the diocese if we get the grant. They can say no, give the full amount we asked for, or give a lesser amount based on the total they have to allocate within the diocese.
It’s because of this final grant that Ruth, Deb, and Joe were required to attend the College for Congregational Development, to learn tools that will help us grow Christ Church both “inside,” in what we do to develop spiritual lives and fellowship in our church, and outside, in what we do to live out our mission and attract others to work with us on that mission.]
It’s also in connection with the Diocesan grant that you took the survey about what attracted you to Christ Church and why you stay. Here are the results of that survey (except the comments, which even though anonymous we are treating as confidential:
Member Survey: 63 responses
Question 1: What caused you to visit Christ Church for a church service (other than Compline) the first time? (Click all that apply)
I was looking for a faith community 50.00% 26
Heard about it from someone I know 46.15% 24
Found it through the website 13.46% 7
Was in the neighborhood and was curious 13.46% 7
Attended Compline, then came to a service 7.69% 4
Read about it in the newspaper 1.92% 1
Found it via Facebook 1.92% 1
Attended Jazz Festival then came to a service 0.00% 0
Question 2: What was it about Christ Church that caused you to attend regularly or become a member? (Click all that apply.)
The music 70.4% 43
The preaching 63.9% 39
The Christ Church community 59.0% 36
The way the service is conducted (the liturgy) 57.3% 35
The physical space (Sanctuary) 47.5% 29
The outreach initiatives of Christ Church 34.4% 21
Question 3: If you had to pick a PRIMARY reason why you attend Christ Church regularly or are a member, what would you pick?
The music 26.6% 16
The Christ Church community 26.6% 16
The liturgy 20% 12
The preaching 18.3% 11
*Question 3 responses by those at CC 8 or fewer years:
The preaching 31% 9
The Christ Church community 24.1% 7
The music 20.6% 6
The liturgy 17.2% 5