I want to share some of the items that Vestry has been discussing the past few months.

Pepper Memorial Garden - a parishioner suggested that we honor Dave and Katy Pepper for all their years of involvement at St. Michaels. They were a vibrant, generous and significant part of our community through Youth group, altar guild, Vestry, pastoral care, Christmas baskets. The idea of a memorial garden, with a bench and a plaque, was born and a group of parishioners donated the funds. The installation is nearly completed, outside the community room. If you’ve seen it, you may have asked, “why is the bench green?” The bench is “Pepper green”, a nod to the Pepper company’s color and its early association with Marshall Fields. Trees and plantings are in and we are waiting for the plaque. A date for dedication is to be determined.

Mother Lisa’s position and the house on Hillside

Mother Lisa’s departure was a huge loss to all of us and many have had to pick up additional responsibilities. Unfortunately, given our current budget, there are no plans to hire another curate or assistant in the foreseeable future. With that in mind, the Vestry has been discussing the future of the Hillside house. Do we keep it, rent it, sell it? The house needs maintenance and we have decided that spending money on an empty house is not financially wise. If we rent it, we would need to pay real estate taxes and hire a management company. Realtors have advised us that now would be a good time to sell this property, given the current real estate market. After lengthy discussion, the Vestry voted and we have decided to move forward with selling this property. Next, we need to get Diocese approval to sell it and we will need to have a parish wide meeting to vote on this. The preliminary plan is to put the proceeds into a designated fund that would be invested and could only be used with vestry approval.

Buildings and Grounds

The committee has been meeting, after a Covid hiatus, to identify and prioritize maintenance and improvement projects in the church properties, including the Rectory and the Sturtz House. The Sturtz House will be getting a new AC this year. The Rectory and church replaced AC units last year. The Rectory needs kitchen and bathroom updating after over thirty years. Kitchen cabinets will not close and the galley design is not conducive to multiple cooks. The appliances were replaced recently when the stove became inoperable. The committee plans to have inspections of these properties, so that potential issues can be identified and a multi year plan can be made. In the meantime, quotes for the kitchen have been obtained. Funds would come out of designated building funds, would not impact the operating budget, and will need to be voted on by the Vestry.

A lot to digest, more to come.

If you want more information, the Vestry minutes are online and of course, any of us can be reached by email or phone.

Thanks for your confidence in us as we work to best balance the many financial needs of our church, which includes our assets, the needs of our parishioners and those who depend upon our support.

Ann Kimes

Senior Warden