Vestry Elections. Annual Meeting + Vestry Voting. How to Vote in the Parish Election. st. james church. annual meeting may 11, 2014

Transcription

1 st. james church Vestry Elections Annual Meeting + Vestry Voting annual meeting may 11, 2014 St. James Annual Meeting and Parish Election will be held at 10:15 a.m., between the 9:10 and 11:15 a.m. services on Sunday, May 11. All parishioners are invited and encouraged to attend. The Annual Meeting features brief reports from parish leadership as well as the completion of voting for the 2014 Vestry Election. Details about the election are described in this booklet, on bulletin boards throughout the church, and online at stjames.org/vestry2014. transitions of note Wolcott B. ( Dick ) Dunham completes his first two-year term as Warden and is eligible for re-election. Patricia Ranson completes her second three-year term as vestry member and is therefore ineligible for re-election. Holly Heston Rochell, Waddell Stillman, and Campbell Wharton complete their first three-year terms and are eligible for re-election. Having trouble keeping up with who s who? Flip to page 7 for a visual. election overview Four Vestry members will be elected, each for a three-year term. The Nominating Committee has nominated seven parishioners for consideration: Tristan Bultman, Sarah Marsh, Nancy Murray, Holly Heston Rochell, Waddell Stillman, Anne Strassner, and Campbell Wharton. Their profiles follow. eliminating runoff ballots The Vestry recommends that eligible voters adopt a resolution calling for the 2014 Vestry election to be decided by plurality vote. If the resolution is adopted this year, since there will be four vacancies on the Vestry, the four candidates receiving the highest number of votes would be elected. If the resolution is not adopted, each successful candidate would need to receive the vote of a majority of the qualified voters who cast valid ballots (the vote of more than half of the voters) and, if four candidates are not elected on the first ballot, a runoff would be held while the Annual Meeting continues. The number of runoff candidates would be twice the number of remaining unfilled vacancies, except that at least one name (with the lowest number of votes) is dropped. Runoff ballots are cast only by parishioners who attend the Annual Meeting in person. The Vestry believes that eliminating runoff ballots allows all eligible voters to have their votes counted in the election of all Vestry members. Adoption of this year s annual resolution requires the favorable vote of a majority of the votes cast on this resolution. How to Vote in the Parish Election who can vote All baptized parishioners of 18 years or older who have been in regular attendance at worship services at St. James and are contributors of record are encouraged to vote. Rules of eligibility will be enforced per the parish by-laws. how to vote by absentee ballot Any person eligible to vote may request an absentee ballot by writing to or telephoning Rosa Gentile, Administrative Assistant to the Rector, at , or by applying to her in person. Absentee voting will be structured to reveal the name of the voter, but the ballot itself will be unsigned. Absentee ballots must be received no later than the close of business (5:00 p.m.) on Wednesday, May 7, so that the eligibility of the voter may be confirmed. Parishioners who wish to vote in this manner must allow for the vagaries of the mail. It will not be possible to send or receive absentee ballots by fax or . how to vote in person Any person eligible to vote may do so in person at the church, 865 Madison Avenue, during the hours listed on p. 2.

2 When to Vote SATURDAY APRIL 26 5:30-6:30 p.m. Parish House reception area SUNDAY APRIL 27 8:30-9:10 a.m. Outside Sunderland Hall 10:15-11:15 a.m. Outside Sunderland Hall and in Donegan Hallway 12:15-1:00 p.m. Outside Sunderland Hall SUNDAY MAY 4 8:30-9:10 a.m. Outside Sunderland Hall 10:15-11:00 a.m. Outside Sunderland Hall and in Donegan Hallway 12:15-1:00 p.m. Outside Sunderland Hall 5:30-5:55 p.m. Narthex (Madison Avenue church entrance) 7:00-7:15 p.m. Narthex (Madison Avenue church entrance) THURSDAY MAY 8 9:00-10:00 a.m. Parish House reception area SUNDAY MAY 11 8:30-9:00 a.m. Sunderland Hall The Candidates For Warden WOLCOTT B. ( DICK ) DUNHAM, JR. age 70 Lawyer; Of Counsel, and former global co-chair, financial institutions group, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP Joan Findlay Dunham (spouse); Mary and James (adult children) At St. James : Senior Warden (since 2012). Chancellor; lay reader and chalice bearer; member, Partners-in-Mission Advisory Council; Co-Chair, Advance Gifts, For All the Saints Capital Campaign; Senior Warden; Junior Warden; Clerk of Vestry; Member of Vestry; Communications Committee; Bicentennial Committee; Discernment Committees; Planned Giving Committee; Lilly Program Committee; Chair, Long-Range Planning Committee; Chair, Audit Committee; Chair, Profile Committee; Search Committee for Rector and other clergy and staff search committees; Co-Chairman, Community Ministry Committee; Michel Fund Committee; First Fruits Committee; Nominating Committee; Worship Committee; Canvass Committee; Community Ministry Committee (and Adopt-a-Building subcommittee). Diocese of New York: Trustee of Diocese; Co-Chair, Adjustment Board; Co-Chair, Special Committee on Diocesan Budget Process and Assessment; Canons Committee; Ecclesiastical Trial Court; Legal Committee; Congregational Support Plan Implementation Committee; speaker with the Rev. Brenda G. Husson on parish governance at Doing Church. Servant of Justice award. Episcopal Charities of the Diocese of New York: Board of Directors, Secretary, recipient of Tribute Dinner Award. Union Theological Seminary: Chair, Board of Trustees; Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter: Director, Vice President; Dutchess Land Conservancy: Director; Terrafirma Risk Retention Group (non-profit insurer): Members Committee. { 2 } ST. JAMES CHURCH. 865 MADISON AVENUE. NEW YORK, NEW YORK

3 Parishioners of long standing and our newest members find at St. James a spiritual home that supports their journeys toward a deeper relationship with God through Christ a life at St. James where they worship, learn, connect, and serve. In numerous ways, members are drawn to lay ministries, bringing energy and talents to worship, music, teaching, and works of caring. Mission outreach has marked St. James since the early 19 th Century. We are called to be good stewards of all that God has given us as a parish and as individuals. Compared with most people in the world, we have much to be thankful for, and out of thanksgiving we are called to support St. James as generously as we are able. Our support must grow so that St. James ministries can grow. In small groups, at worship and in mission outreach, all of us are called to build our community and welcome the growing numbers of people who are drawn to St. James vibrant ministries. For Vestry Member TRISTAN BULTMAN age 32 Vice President, Edelman Arts Gallery At St. James : Currently - Friday Night Dinner Program volunteer, Youth Adviser, Usher, Greeter, Welcome Committee, Adult Christian Education Committee, St. Jamesian. Formerly - St. Jamesians Chair, St. Jamesians Committee, Stewardship Committee, PIM Shelter volunteer, PIM Osborne Association volunteer. Tristan is active in the New Orleans Musicians Clinic and Assistance Foundation, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Episcopal Relief & Development, the Osborne Association, St. Anna s Episcopal Church (New Orleans), Habitat for Humanity, the City Parks Foundation Summer Stage, and the St. James /MAPC Overnight Homeless Shelter. Most important to St. James is building a sustainable future to ensure all the ministries, community, opportunities and resources remain available to this generation of parishioners and many to come. The spirited and youth programs and homeless outreach, such as the Friday night dinner program and shelter, is the cornerstone of our community. Our mission ministries are vital locally, nationally and globally and must continue to be engaging. To do so, we must encourage the generosity of each parishioner while nurturing new members to enrich our ministries. It s important that we take steps now, large and small, to secure a bright future for all who come here to worship, and invest their participation in our mission. SARAH MARSH Architect and Interior Designer, MAAI Marsh Architects Leonard Marsh (spouse), D Arcy and Fletcher (children) At St. James : Primary Class Sunday School teacher ( ); Children & Family Ministries Committee ( ); Properties Committee Chair ( ) VESTRY ELECTIONS. STJAMES.ORG/VESTRY2014 { 3 }

4 Adjunst Instructor at the Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute, Baruch College; Adjust Studio Critic at the New York School of Interior Design; Board Member of the Charities Committee at the Associate of Real Estate Women, New York Chapter of CREW. The St. James community is a warm and vibrant collection of people from many walks of life, and I am very attached to the principles of caring and community that are held here. I believe that we as a body in faith should maintain core Christian ethics and show the love of God through our daily life and in interactions with each other and the world. Our strong parish body should continue to care for close neighbors in our lunch programs, to support the Diocesen and National Church, and reach out to our partner dioceses in Malawi and Haiti. NANCY MURRAY age 55 Senior Vice President of Communications, Louis Vuitton Americas Frank Murray (spouse) At St. James : Pastoral Committee, Chairman; Lay Visitors; Communications Committee; Usher. Diocese of New York: Board of Director, Episcopal Charities. Former Board of Director, Literacy Partners I believe our mission is to be sensitive to all needs near and far, from walking distance to thousands of miles away. Christ did not tell us to serve one aspect of the human spirit or to organize by priorities. Whether it is feeding the hungry, financially supporting the afflicted, celebrating the blessings, or dedicating our time to worship and learning, our church is a wonder of multi-faceted approaches and reaches into diverse groups. While it may be more productive to take a linear approach and focus on one need at a time, or even one group at a time, life does not give us that clean simple choice. At St James, our attention and our joy is to serve all in all walks of life, in all times of life and in all needs of life. HOLLY HESTON ROCHELL age 52 Stay at home mom Ridley and Charlie (children) At St. James : Currently - Vestry member; Children & Family Ministries, St. James ; Friday Dinner Program; Small Group Facilitator; Indaba Participant; Usher; Santiago traveler (2007) Volunteer at Nightingale and Windward Schools and the Evan B. Donaldson adoption institute; Colony Club ballroom dancing { 4 } ST. JAMES CHURCH. 865 MADISON AVENUE. NEW YORK, NEW YORK

5 In my eyes, the most pressing issue we at St. James face is the inablity to sustain ourselves without taking funds from our endowment. We have a large parish and should be able to balance all the wonderful things we do for our community and collect what we need each year from that parish to sustain us. Each household needs to give to their church first it s their household they are giving back to. WADDELL STILLMAN age 52 President, Historic Hudson Valley Kristina W. Stillman (spouse); Katie and Alex (children) At St. James : Waddell serves as the parish Treasurer and chairs the Budget Committee. Active at St. James for many years, Waddell has served on the steering committee of the For All the Saints Capital Campaign, as the chair of the Nominating and Pastoral Committees, and on the Music, Stewardship, and Personnel Committees. He has also been a speaker for The Way at St. James. Waddell is a trustee (and past board chair) of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society and a trustee of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He s also on the Management Committee of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area. I ve been a St. James parishioner 25 years, but until election as treasurer 3 years ago I hadn t appreciated how our struggles to grow in stewardship roll up into a parish budget. Each year that budget is stretched and squeezed, prayed for and paid for by parishioners, staff, and clergy. Pledgers in each of these categories are by turns generous and hopeful, and still we fall short of our collective potential. Our story in this era will be told partly by our ability to marshal resources for God s mission here. It s a privilege to help facilitate that work, and my love for this parish has deepened through this fiduciary form of ministry, which I d be honored to continue. ANNE L. STRASSNER age 58 Lawyer Sandy Feldman (spouse); Julia and Samuel (adult children) At St. James : Tuesday Lunch Program (Chair); Mission Committee (Chair); Lenten Mission Pilgrimage and Vision for Mission Committees; PIM-Children Albion volunteer; Pastoral apartment volunteer (past); Malawi, Santiago traveler. Past New York Common Pantry volunteer; Children s Storefront School; Grace Opportunity Project It should be our constant priority to create more meaningful connections among parishioners, as well as between parishioners and members of our local and wider communities. Mission activities advance both of these goals: they are a powerful way for parishioners to bond, and they help us to encounter, 2014 VESTRY ELECTIONS. STJAMES.ORG/VESTRY2014 { 5 }

6 listen to, respect and ideally help fellow New Yorkers and others. Mission disrupts our insularity and challenges assumptions that confine us. It changes people s hearts. This parish is blessed with many, many inspired mission leaders and volunteers, and there are certainly more people in the congregation who will have the satisfaction of discovering themselves in those roles. CAMPBELL WHARTON age 35 Associate Publisher At St. James : Vestry member, 2011-present; Vestry liaison to St. Jamesians, Communications and Pastoral Committees; Capital Campaign steering committee; Chair, St. Jamesians Committee; Music Committee; Youth advisor; Friday Night Dinner Program volunteer; Canterbury Choir member; Greeter; Member of the Bicentennial Task Force; The Way (facilitator and speaker); participated in St. James pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela in 2010 and the Holy Land in 2013, and mission trips to Gulf Coast, Mississippi, New Orleans, and Staten Island. Diocese of New York: Delegate, Diocesan Convention 2009, National/International Church: Vestry member, St. Jude s Anglican Church, Sydney, Australia Initiated and hosted seven Young Adult All-Episcopal City Wide Trivia Night Fundraisers. It has been a privilege to serve as your Vestry member for the past three years. One of the wonderful things about being on the Vestry is fruitful interaction with parishioners. It is clear everyone loves St. James deeply and offers their gifts in so many ways. While our city offers many things that consume our time, St. James always provides stability (the clergy and staff are with us in good times and bad) and a place to listen. Listening enables us to hear and discern the voice of God, and then live it out in service. With continued careful financial planning, combined with an increased level of stewardship, we can sustain St. James, ensure funds for future generations, and aim to have our doors open seven days a week so everyone can experience this amazing place. { 6 } ST. JAMES CHURCH. 865 MADISON AVENUE. NEW YORK, NEW YORK

7 Vestry Who s Who WHO IS CURRENTLY ON THE VESTRY? The Vestry consists of the Rector, two Wardens, and twelve Vestry members. On May 11, the parish will elect one Warden for a two-year term and four Vestry members, each for a three-year term. david andryc paul bitler katharine fleming fraser hunter, jr. stephanie loomis patricia ranson warden wolcott dunham holly h. rochell gordon smith lisa smith waddell stillman george j. wade campbell wharton warden sam hutcheson WHAT WILL THE VESTRY LOOK LIKE ON MAY 11? Four members have terms ending May 2014.? david andryc paul bitler katharine fleming fraser hunter, jr. stephanie loomis OPEN warden sam hutcheson??? OPEN gordon smith lisa smith OPEN george j. wade OPEN WHO WILL BE ELECTED TO SERVE? Four will be elected from these seven. warden wolcott dunham (to be elected) tristan bultman sarah marsh nancy murray holly h. rochell waddell stillman anne strassner campbell wharton VISIT STJAMES.ORG/VESTRY2014 TO LEARN ABOUT INCUMBENTS AND NOMINEES VESTRY ELECTIONS. STJAMES.ORG/VESTRY2014 { 7 }

8 Your church. Your leaders. Your call. It s said that good design goes unnoticed. That principle of artistry informs much of what we do at St. James, from our liturgy to our leadership. Whenever you enter this sanctuary whether to worship, serve, or enjoy time with friends we hope nothing distracts you from your relationship with God in Christ. It takes a lot of work to be invisible. The St. James Vestry, our elected governing body, is comprised of parishioners who represent a broad spectrum of our community and are responsible for the temporal affairs of the parish. Their work often goes unnoticed, but each member has a passion for, investment in, and commitment to our life together in faith. So when you come to worship, you can focus on what s really important. Place your Vestry vote now! See inside for details... st. james church 865 madison avenue new york, ny Important 2014 Vestry Election Information