A Message from

Your Bishop’s Committee

         Bruce Clift, Clerk

The St. Philip’s Bishop’s Committee held a special meeting on September 19. It was special because we had four visitors from the diocese: Assisting Bishop Sylvestre Romero; Ann Wright, President of the Standing Committee; Rev. Britt Olson, Canon for Evangelism and Congregational Development and our new contact with the Church Deployment Office; and Edy Unthank, our new DIEM representative. Following an opening prayer from Bishop Romero and introductions, Julie Levy led us in a meditation on a passage from Luke regarding the transformation of the apostles from frightened fishermen to people who changed the world.

Bob O’Brien reported that the church was in sound financial shape, especially for the end of a summer. He presented a proposal from our bookkeeper, Marcus Granger-Jones, to use PowerChurch software for check writing and maybe eventually electronic banking. The proposal was accepted by the committee.

Tod Connor reported that the Transitions Committee is busy tallying results from the congregational survey. Meetings will follow to analyze and summarize results. Their goal is to write the church profile by October 15. He will bring the analysis and profile to the next meeting of the Bishop’s Committee. The idea was discussed of contacting ex-members in person or with the survey – not with the idea of bringing them back, but just to learn why they left. Rev. Britt liked this idea, and also suggested that Tod create a PowerPoint presentation of the results.

Tod then told us that our homeless program, ISSP, was on the verge of stopping for lack of funds. The program costs $13K/month, for the shuttle, a driver, insurance, and a full-time employee. The program actually lost its funding a couple of years ago, but an angel has kept it going almost single-handedly. However, this person is not able to continue this forever.

Gene Pearson discussed the upcoming stewardship campaign. The theme this year will be “Imagine,” with a focus on inviting people to tithe. There will be visits to all members of the church this year. A kickoff dinner was set for Sunday, October 9 from 5pm to 8pm. Ann suggested including an Evensong service. It was decided not to have a potluck, but rather provide a simple dinner of soup and bread. Child care will be provided.

Bill DeRouchey reported that the roof repair party was a huge success. Four teams contributed 100 person-hours tearing up the roof, throwing trash down, collecting it, piling it onto trucks, and driving it to the dump. They removed 500 pounds of trash, and fully repaired (not patched) a 3’ x 12’ section of roof with 30-year shingles. All of this was done for the amazingly low cost of $500.

The committee was very impressed and extremely grateful to all who contributed to this effort!

Three of nine upstairs units are now rented, for a total 2005 income of $3800. Bill has spent $1500 of that so far on improvements. The Luque family has donated 2600 sq. ft. of new carpet — enough for the entire upstairs. The Blue Room also has an almost-new carpet, donated by Susan Seaburg, and laid for only $175.

Barbara Lyon reported that a water leak behind the office will be repaired this week. Lucy Gowan suggested that we ask the water department for a credit on our bill. Their policy is to refund the difference between this year’s and last year’s usage, once they are shown that the leak has been fixed.

Bob O’Brien said that he has been working on the application for parish status. We will need approvals from three committees and the Diocesan Convention. Ann Wright suggested waiting until the new pastor was in place to start the process, since we should be focusing on our search now. No doubt our new rector will love to be the person to take us through that important transition. The committee agreed that this was a good idea. Rev. Britt, coming recently from a different diocese, asked us why this move was important. The answer was that it is a sign of independence, a celebration of growth, and a recognition that we are already acting as an independent parish. Also, the fact that we are ready for such a move should be an additional attraction to pastoral candidates.

Francis Honey told us that he enjoyed the diocesan search meeting that he attended. It was interesting to see the parallels with our own process. There were 104 delegates present. He said it was very nice to feel a part of a larger whole.

Susan Seaburg presented a proposal to extend the recent joint review that was conducted with Rev. Barry into a Pastoral Advisory Committee, whose primary purpose would be to help Barry. Rev. Britt thought such a process is great to help a person adapt to a new environment. Ann said that she continues to be involved with such a committee after 13 years. Important features of the process are confidentiality, support, and no side-taking. Bruce commended the review committee for turning the review into such a positive experience and a valuable ongoing process. The proposal was accepted by the committee.

Julie Levy reported that the Harvest Fair is moving along well. We will need a person to take over fundraising, as she will be out of the country for many months, and Nancy Jackson is moving out of state soon.

Rev. Bill Kelly reminded everybody that the Diocesan Convention was coming soon, on October 29. Since it is in our deanery (in Watsonville), we should all think about helping and/or attending.