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Policies and Procedures of the Vestry

of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

  1. INTRODUCTION

This document seeks to spell out those policies and procedures adopted by the Vestry of St. Paul’s Church in Syracuse that are of on-going importance in the governance of the parish church, and that build upon the foundations of that governance provided in the “Bylaws of St. Paul’s Church” (revised ed. 2015). All such policies and procedures are consonant with the Bylaws but reside here in this special document for a) ease of reference, and b) ease of amending them (cf. Section IXbelow).

This document was originally created in November 2012, and all subsequent additions should have an approval date. The most recent revision date appears at the end of the document or in the footers.

  1. ELABORATIONS ON STANDING COMMITTEES (Cf. Bylaws ART. VII)
  1. Nominations (and Development) Committee
  1. Committee Membership and Purview: Bylaw provisions for constituting the Nominations Committee and governing its purview can be found in ART. IV, section 2 (cf. ART. V, section 7) and in ART. VII, sections 1, 2, 3, and 7. Vestry action on 12/13/2011 further specifies that the “nominating (recommending) process must begin in September of each year.”
  1. Though the Rector is an ex officio member of all committees, by long-standing practice and Vestry approval the Rector does not participate on this committee.
  1. Committee Procedures:The Committee’s primary job is to determine what vacancies need to be filled on the Vestry (including wardens) at the Annual Meeting, gather recommendations for filling those vacancies, determine the eligibility of such persons (see #d. below), make its own determination as to the best candidates, and provide a slate of nominees (with alternates if desired) for election at the Annual Meeting.
  1. Interested parties may self-recommend if they wish, and the Committee is empowered to recruit recommendations (or eventual nominees) if it finds that to be necessary.
  1. Recommendations may be made with or without the knowledge and approval of those being recommended, but such persons must be made aware and approve if their names are to go forward to the Annual Meeting as nominees.
  1. The Committee should report its progress to the Vestry, but it is empowered to act (bring nominations forward) without Rector or Vestry approval.
  1. Eligibility requirements and terms of office for potential Vestry membership (including wardens) are found in the Bylaws in ART. IV, section 1 (cf. ART. I, section 2 & 3), 2, 3, and 4.
  1. Building and Grounds Committee (cf. Bylaws ART. VII, sections 1-4, 6, & 9)
  1. Introduction: The Building and Grounds Committee is charged with supervising all projects involving construction, maintenance and repairs undertaken in the church, the parish house buildings, and the outside grounds. What follows here are procedures put in place for proposing, approving, and implementing such projects. (Vestry approval 10/13/2015.)
  1. All requests or recommendations for projects involving construction, maintenance and repairs of the buildings and grounds, no matter what the source, shall be presented to the Committee for consideration. Included are changes and additions to the fixed appointments and utilities within these buildings and grounds. Excluded are emergency repairs (e.g. plumbing, heating, alarm system) which may be covered by maintenance contracts and may be implemented immediately by the Building Manager.
  1. All requests or recommendations for projects shall be discussed by the Committee, and a cost-estimate submitted or obtained. The project shall be implemented only upon the approval/recommendation of the Committee, depending on its merits and the church’s ability and willingness to finance it as confirmed by the Finance Committee.
  1. All requests and recommendations for projects costing more than $2,000 shall also be submitted to the Vestry for approval or denial.
  1. The supplier or contractor shall be chosen by the Committee for all projects not to be done by the Building Manager. One of the Wardens shall sign the contract or proposal, and either the Committee Chair, the Building Manager, or a Warden shall then notify the contractor or supplier to implement the project.
  1. OTHER COMMITTEES AND PROGRAMS

INTRODUCTION: Bylaws Article VII, Section 8 gives the Vestry the right to establish other committees (i.e., other than the ones established in the Bylaws themselves; namely the Buildings and Grounds, the Finance, and the Nominations committees), teams and groups “with such powers and responsibilities as determined by the Vestry.” Though not explicitly stated in those Bylaws, the Vestry also has the right to create and fund program entities. The following programs and teams were established by the Vestry starting in 2009-10 and are currently up and running:

  1. Embracing Our Future: This organizational plan for the diverse ministries of St. Paul’s Church was approved by the Vestry in Fall 2009, and implemented on into the next year. The final text of the plan was approved in November 2009, and can be found under separate cover. The fourfold structure of the plan (Leadership, Worship, Formation, Community) led eventually to the creation of four “ministry teams” (with the fourth – the Executive Ministry Team – added to the other three by action of the Vestry in August 2010). A fifth team, the Mission and Service Team, was added in October 2014.These teams, and the Vestry’s responsibility for them, are outlined below:
  1. The Five Ministry Teams:
  1. In each of the following four cases the Vestry shall annually appoint the chair or convener of the team who shall be responsible for regular reports to the Vestry, and for bringing any team-based proposals needing Vestry approval to the Vestry. There shall otherwise be no conditions set on team membership (except to include relevant staff members as ex officio members) and no term limits set on either the chair or the members.
  1. The Worship Ministry Team shall, in consultation with the Rector and other relevant staff, help, plan, implement and oversee all issues related to both regular and special worshipservices or liturgies held at the church.
  1. The Christian Formation Ministry Team shall, in consultation with the Rector and otherrelevant staff, help plan, implement, and oversee all Christian education (children, youth, adult) activities of the church.
  1. The Community/Fellowship Ministry Team shall, in consultation with the Rector and other relevant staff, help plan, implement, and oversee all activities related to internal community matters (e.g., fellowship/hospitality, community-building, internal communications, etc.) and external community relations (e.g., hospitality/welcoming, public relations, etc.).
  1. The Mission and Service Team shall, in consultation with the Rector and relevant staff help plan, implement, and oversee all activities related to the ministry of mission and service as we reach out from our faith community to serve others and care for God’s creation. (Added and approved 10/14/2014)
  1. The membership of the Executive Ministry Team is comprised entirely of the following ex officio members: the Rector, the senior and junior wardens, and the chairs/conveners of the other four ministry teams.It is convened by the Rector.
  1. The Executive Ministry Team shall 1) provide a degree of oversight and evaluation of all programs and processes, 2) coordinate the efforts of the several teams as need be, 3) initiate programs and processes that do not easily fall to any one of the other teams, and 4) engage in strategic planning on a church-wide basis.
  1. By action of the Vestry in May 2011, all other groups/committees (e.g. Altar Guild, Women’s Retreat, Office Volunteers, First Fridays) have been listed as associated with one or another of the teams described above – a linkage of content and function rather than organization and structure.
  1. The St. Paul’s Sunday School: The original version of this educational/formation program was established by the Vestry in May 2010, and funding for its staff position (Sunday School Coordinator) was approved in September of that same year.The reports and proposals relevant to these actions, and the initial conditions set on this program’s future, should be attached to the Minutes of those Vestry meetings. (Revised 9/15/15.)
  1. Friends of the Arts at SPC (approved September 2014):
  2. Introduction:Friends of the Arts at SPC exists to raise and manage a special fund handled separately from the annual budget, and to maintain a special administrative committee reporting to and dependent on Vestry approvals to help stimulate, subsidize (if necessary), and oversee approved artistic presentations (largely, but not limited to, music and the performing arts) at St. Paul’s Church by outside persons/groups using/renting our spaces.
  3. Relation to Church Mission: For various reasons (historic, architectural, location, liturgical style, congregational interests, etc.) our church has a special affinity and attraction for/to the arts – both as integral to worship and liturgy, and as free-standing (“secular”) performances. By opening our doors to approved outside presentations we invite the larger community into our home, help feed their souls by tapping into a larger Beauty and invoking the Holy Spirit, and send them out refreshed and renewed. By doing and saying so, we understand that the Word reaches out to others in transformative and mysterious ways, and is not limited to those artistic expressions that are explicitly religious.
  4. Relation to Friends of Music: Friends of Music will continue to operate for internal church needs, and 1) it will seek to integrate its expenditures into the regular budget even as 2) it will be free to raise any special funds for extraordinary needs from its own internal sources.
  5. Revenue and Expenditures: Friends of the Arts will be funded by special donations from persons both inside and outside the church, and appeals for such donations will make clear that monies raised will only be used to offset costs to the church for hosting these outside artistic presentations. Any rental fees collected will go directly into the church’s income stream, and not into the fund. Expenditures from this fund will normally be used only to pay actual costs to the church for these presentations (as recommended regularly to the Vestry for its approval), and be made up of anywhere from total to partial to no costs for a given event. (That is, it will subsidize any costs not covered by rental fees.)
  6. Development and Administration of Fund:Subject toVestry approvals an ad hoc arts-administration group is set up to manage fund-raising, the fund itself (perhaps as a separate 501-C3 entity), application processing and approvals, negotiating and assigning rental fees (if any), and recommending expenditures. This group will include (minimally and ex officio) the rector, the events manager (if there be one), and one warden; beyond that it will have at least two other members – ideally but not necessarily with special interests and/or abilities germane to this effort. This group will then organize itself and decide how it will function to accomplish its purposes.
  7. Events Manager: Though this program does not necessitate a church-staffed events manager, it affirms and recommends having some one person helping to coordinate the church’s relationship to outside groups wishing to use our spaces for these reasons. Such coordination means inviting groups we would deem relevant to consider our venue, following up with those groups that show an interest, coordinating any application processing, helping to ensure that proper church preparations/arrangements are in place for coming events, checking with the church calendar, and overseeing (or arranging for such oversight) the events themselves.
  1. Partnership with InterFaith Works of Central New York
  1. St. Paul’s Church entered into a special partnership with InterFaith Works as of April 14,2015. Details reside in filed paperwork.

IV.RECTOR/VESTRY RELATIONSHIPS

  1. Introduction: Many of the matters that would serve as foundational to the relationship of the Rector to the Parish and Vestry (e.g., search and hire, compensation packages, letters of agreement, sabbatical arrangements, etc.) are addressed in Diocesan policies and procedures (e.g., the “Clergy and Vestry Resources” page on the Diocesan website) and church canons(cf. “Canons of the Vestry of SPC” – see Appendix below);those policies and procedureswould need to be consulted in pursuing them.
  1. Mutual Ministry Review (MMR): One important piece in the on-going health of the church and its relationship with the Rector is an annual review – both of the work of the Rector specifically and of the church more generally (especially its Vestry and leadership groups). These kinds of procedures are encouraged by the Diocese, but not required. Models and templates are offered, but the establishing of local policies and procedures is left to the individual churches. St. Paul’s Churchhas adopted the following set of procedures for this annual review:
  1. When and Where: The MMR at SPC will be conducted by the Vestry annually at a time and place to be determined, and will be done ideally in one extended, dedicated meeting (e.g., a day-long meeting in a retreat-like setting). The Rector, in consultation with the wardens, is responsible forensuring that this review takes place and that theseguidelines

are followed.

  1. How: The MMR shall direct itself – minimally --to the following three issues/questions:
  1. The Vestry needs first to understandwhere we have been and what we have been trying to do before it can either assess that or move forward. In that spirit there needs initially to be some reminder, clarification, discussion and agreement about what we have (or should have) been doing over the last year – a discussion which might best take place by focusing on some written document(s) from that year such as last year’s MMR report (and/or other similar statements or records). Having this clarification and agreement now allows us better to assess how we are doing in the next step which follows below.
  1. The heart of the MMR is to assess how we have been doing by encouraging andcelebrating our successes to date and identifying our weaknesses.Therefore, and in a manner to be decided, the Vestry shall address itself to the following questions: a) What things are working well for us and keeping us on track? and b) What are theareas we need to strengthen and/or rethink going forward?The responses to these questions will help establish where we find ourselves at the moment.

c.While both exercises above are looking primarily at the recent and current situation,this one looks ahead to answer the question, Where do we go from here? Again, in amanner to be determined the Vestry shall discuss and identify those ministries and missions, goals and expectations that should now focus our work into the next year.Affirming what is ongoing and amending it with new efforts “to embrace our future,”the specific goals and objectives to be pursued into the near future need to be clearly identified, and responsibilities for implementation clearly assigned.

  1. Follow-up: The written/recorded results of an MMR should be kept and consulted on through the year to help ensure that the objectives indicated there are integrated into the Rector and Vestry’s work, and that next year’s MMR has this to help guide its work.
  1. Staff Performance Review: Though not directly related to either the Vestry’s work or the relationship of the Vestry to the Rector, we use this section as an opportunity to establish a routine set of procedures to be followed by the Rector in the annual performance review of the paid staff; namely that: Starting no earlier than April 1 and ending no later than July 1,the Rector willinitiate and carry out performance reviews of these staff persons in the spring of each year by a) requesting written reviews of that person’s work from the person him/herself and the chair of that team/committee whose purview is most closely associated to the staff person’s work, b) holding a private discussion of the findings with that staff person, and c) making known to the staff person the final results of the review. In such procedures, the Rector may call on others to provide input and/or 3rd-party participation if need be.
  1. Rector Performance Review: (Approved 7/9/13)

A performance review of the Rector shall take place at least every two years at a mutually agreed upon time sometime between April 1st and July 1st. The wardens shall initiate the review, form a Review Committee (of the wardens plus one or two other parishioners), and set both the time-frame and the procedures to be followed – informing the Rector of these matters as they come into being. (The Rector may have suggestions, but all procedures here and below lie within the purview of the Review Committee.) What follows here are some recommended elements for the subsequent procedures:

  1. The Committee gathers feedback/responses by both in-person interviews and written responses to a “feedback form” created for this purpose. (Possible models reside in office records attached to previous performance reviews.) People brought into this process minimally include paid staff and selected lay leadership (including the Committee members themselves), but – at the Committee’s discretion -- others may be asked to participate. It is important to promise all respondents complete confidentiality and non-attribution for information passed on.
  1. With responses in hand the Committee shall collate and distill all responses, seeking patterns in the responses along both quantitative and qualitative measures, and around the kinds of questions posed in interviews and/or on feedback forms. This analysis and interpretation of the responses will form the basis for any reports subsequently made.
  1. Findings and recommendations relevant to the purposes of the review should be shared with the Rector either before or after a final report is drafted, but there should be a discussion of these findings (strengths, weakness, areas needing improvement) before a final report is completed, signed and filed. (The final report should be signed by Committee members and the Rector -- not to ensure agreement to the report but to ensure that these parties have all seen and discussed the findings and the recommendations, and that there is plan in the works for addressing the recommendations.) The Rector is welcome to respond more formally to these findings (i.e., in written form to also be filed) at any point in these final processes.
  1. This final report is to be kept confidential to the parties mentioned above (#3) and filed in church offices for possible later retrieval. The Committee is then responsible for making a special report to the Vestry - minimally indicating that this review has taken place, but also respecting confidences established for the final report itself. This Vestry report is offered for the Vestry’s information, but not for its action.
  1. BUILDING USE POLICY AND PROCEDURES; OUTSIDE GROUPS (approved 9/10/13)

INTRODUCTION:The Rector’s canonical prerogatives notwithstanding, this policy governs procedures for approving and making contractual agreements of/with groups/events using/renting Church spaces. It is understood that the Rector signs all contractual agreements so is thereby automatically a part of these processes.