CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Once again it is time to find new vestrymembers (4) and a new warden (1). The vestrymember term is 3 years and the warden serves for 2 years. The slate for the January election must be approved by the Vestry and posted in the January Bell. We have about a month to prepare the slate of nominees. If you are asked to serve by one of the Nominating Committee (Ted Boynton, Dave Hargrave, Tom Bardo, Kathy Horvath or Donna Leney) please consider a positive response. The Vestry meets each month on a Tuesday evening from 7:15 to about 9:00pm. If you are interested we have an information sheet on the Role of the Vestrymember which is available in the narthex or in on the table as you enter the Living Room, or talk to one of the current vestrymembers. Perhaps you know someone you think would be a good candidate, ask them to serve. Please pray on this, we need a few dedicated men and women to keep St. Paul's on a path to progress - won't you be one of them?
VIEW FROM THE VESTRY
At the November meeting the Vestry approved a recommendation from several parishioners, including the Property Committee, to remove the trees around the periphery of the church in the memorial garden as well as two of the trees in the center of the garden nearest the living room entrance. While we regretted having to make such a decision because it is a memorial garden, the potential and real damage to the building mandated that we take action. The trees are extremely overgrown. The branches brush against the siding and roof, shade the roof which ages the roof and there is concern that the roots have spread under the concrete slab on which the building is constructed. The Vestry is sensitive to the fact that it is a memorial garden and everyone that we could identify as a contributor to the garden was notified of the decision. We do not yet have a plan for the replanting that will be done in the spring. Bill Ess is the Chairperson of the Property Committee and Ellen O'Malley, who has graciously donated her skill and considerable talent with green things to the church for many years as she tended our gardens. These people will provide leadership for the replanting.
Progress in the renovation of the rectory is moving along. We need your continued time, talent and treasure to keep the project on track. Thank to all who have already contributed to the project, especially to Ward Caldbick for his many hours of hard work, and to Ward and Dianne for the great lunches.
The Parish profile is nearing completion. The last part of the profile will be based on the information we receive from you through the congregational questionnaire. If you have not yet completed the questionnaire please so as soon as possible. Contact Steve Anderson or the church secretary, Liz, if you have not yet received the questionnaire.
PLANNED GIVING
Wills and Gifts of Real Assets
In the last three issues we discussed Charitable Remainder Trusts, Pooled Income Funds and Life Insurance. In this issue we discuss wills and gifts of real property.
Perhaps the easiest and most common way of making a planned gift is through your will. Yet 50 to 70% of all church members die without one. Preparing a will is an act of love for your family and friends, a way of easing the pain of loss that follows death. It is also your final legacy.
If you die without a will, the State of New York will divide your assets among your spouse and children (regardless of their age); appoint an administrator that may cost the estate large fees; and appoint guardians, who may or may not have been your choice, for your minor children. The state makes no charitable contributions, and it will ensure that your estate pays as much tax as possible.
By making a will, you appoint your own administrator; you name the guardian of your minor children; you control the applicable taxes; you can create a family or charitable trust; and you can share your resources with your family, church, or other institution you choose.
A bequest to St. Paul’s can take the form of a specific amount of money, a percentage of an estate, a specific asset such as personal or real property, or a trust. The church can also be named as a contingent beneficiary in the event there are no surviving beneficiaries.
You may find yourself in a circumstance where you want to reduce estate taxes, or you may have a property that none of your children really want. They may live in another city, state, or country and not be interested in your home, vacation home, farm or condominium. The solution is a Charitable Life Estate Contract. You can deed your property or properties to St. Paul’s and retain the right to live on the property and/or receive income from the property for as long as you live. You receive an income tax deduction when the property is deeded to the church and avoid any capital gains taxes when making the transfer. Your estate taxes will also be reduced at the time of your death.
Gifts of tangible personal property such as jewelry, coins, works of art, automobiles, etc. may also be gifted to the church. You are responsible for setting an appraised value on the gift. Any gift over $5,000 must be independently appraised. For information on planned giving and estate planning, please contact The Episcopal Church Foundation at (800)-697-2858, or Father Leon at 632-8221.
VIEW FROM THE VESTRY: October 2008
At the September meeting the Vestry approved a plan designed by Ward Caldbick for renovating the rectory. This important decision will cost the parish a modest amount for a major renovation but save us significant amounts in the future. Ward has an article in this issue about the plans and progress.
Now that you heard the good news, we now have some bad news. There is a hole in the parking area behind the kitchen, hence the caution tape. The top of the septic tank has rotted out and we need to replace the tank. We have a bid for $1,500. We are awaiting a second bid on the job. After the tank is replaced we will need to blacktop over it. The Vestry voted to proceed with the project and we are trying to find money to cover the cost. St. Martha’s Guild donated $500. The Guild also donated $500 to have the parish hall floor stripped and waxed thank you St Martha’s Guild members.
The U2Charist had to be postponed until 2009 due to circumstances beyond our control.
The Discernment Committee has been busy and is now ready to distribute the congregational survey to each parishioner. Please complete the survey as soon as possible and return it. The survey is available on the church website (click here) and can be done on the internet. There are also print copies which will be distributed; we hope to have every member complete the survey. The information from the survey will guide the Discernment Committee in it's selection process. Make your opinion count. Surveys can be returned to the boxes provided in the church office or can be mailed back to the church. Questions? – contact Steve Anderson, Chairperson.
The Profile Committee has already submitted some information to Canon Victoria Duncan, Diocesan Deployment Office, for her to post on the internet, which is the place priests look for open positions. The Committee is working on a brochure which will be available in print or on the church website. Using the brochure as an overview, there will be links to more detailed information related to each area on the brochure. The work on the parish profile should be complete by the end of October.
Stewardship Sunday is October 19, 2008. Please read the mailing material over carefully as you prayerfully and thoughtfully consider your contribution as a faithful steward of St. Paul’s.
The Renovation of St. Paul’s Rectory
UPDATE:
The support from the parish has been incredible!!! Eighteen families have made donations that total over $5,000 and dozens more families have taken time from their busy schedules to come out and work: truly remarkable!!!
As of Sunday, November 2nd, the house and garage have been completely cleaned out and all of the carpets and pads have been removed. Both of the chimneys and the back steps have been rebuilt, and Tim George has installed the furnace (96 % energy efficient), and some new duct work.
We have installed 21 new energy efficient windows and new energy efficient front and back doors. We have started plastering and replacing window casings and moulding.
Peter and Christine Symons, Tim Pazda, and Dave O’Malley are doing a complete renovation of the kitchen, which includes new energy efficient appliances, new ceramic tile floor, rebuilding the cabinets and countertops, new hardware, and new lighting.
Brie Anne Crowther, Mary McCall, Tim Pazda and Peg Anderson are remodeling the bathroom. The old tiles and some of the fixtures have been torn out, and they plan to install new tiles around the bathtub, a new ceramic tile floor, new pedestal washbasin, new cabinets, and new hardware.
As always, ECW has been active. They have stripped wallpaper, washed down walls and cupboards, and done some plastering.
Our Senior Warden, Donna Leney, has worked diligently on projects too numerous to mention, with the help of Marje Hagberg, Jill Cory, and Kathy Horvath.
Ellen O’Malley has done the landscape design and provided leadership for several work parties in the yard. Dave O’Malley and the new property chairman for St. Paul’s, Bill Ess, have worked dozens of hours to help Ellen with this huge task. So far, the trees have been pruned away from the house and garage, the shrubs have been removed and the stumps have been ground out. The stone wall has been removed, and the gardens have been turned over and industrial strength rubber edging has been installed. Perhaps the most important project completed in the yard is the installation of new drainpipes and three dry wells to ensure proper drainage. Thank you so much to all of the members of St. Paul’s who took the time to come out and work in the yard. The work parties that Ellen lead included Dave O’Malley, Bill Ess, Jill Cory, Steve Anderson, Ron and Jean Stefanski, Ted Boynton, Eric Vetter, George Stege, Nancy Brundage, Dave Hargrave, Hobart Brown, Marc Ziegler, Don Pfeiffer, Dave Stafford, Marje Hagberg, Ward Caldbick, Kathy Horvath, Dan Ulatowski, and Peter Symons. I know I have forgotten quite a few names, so please contact me so I can add your name to the list.
Many of the parents brought their kids with them and made it a family event - - and the kids worked hard! We need their strength, energy, and enthusiasm!!!
Peter Symons and Hobart Brown have installed fifteen pairs of new shutters and repaired the aluminum siding, and Alan Lay has done some work on the roof to prevent further water damage to the dining room and third floor bedroom.
Your financial support has been heartwarming and essential to everything we have accomplished. For those who are able and haven’t done so yet, please make a donation. Make the check payable to “St. Paul’s Episcopal Church” and write “Rectory” on the memo line.
Planned Giving: Life Insurance
The last two issues of “St. Paul’s Bell” discussed charitable remainder trusts and pooled income funds as tools to plan your estate and make substantial gifts to the church. This issue will discuss some of the ways insurance policies can be used to achieve the same goals.
You may have an old life insurance policy that you no longer need. “Whole” or “universal” life policies have cash value that can be donated to the church. If the policy is paid-up, you will receive a tax deduction on the replacement cost of the paid-up policy at the time of the donation.
If the policy requires continued payment of premiums, the policy can be structured to allow you to take tax deductions for the premiums. The church would become the owner of the policy, you would be the insured, and the church would be the beneficiary. The church, as owner, would have to pay the premiums, and you would make payments to the church each year equal to the amount of the annual premiums.
There are many creative strategies you could use. For example, with your tax savings you could fund new insurance policies or invest in municipal bonds to increase your tax-free income.
Another strategy with a paid-up policy is to withdraw a smaller amount of the cash value so that you can keep the policy in force without making premium payments.
Another strategy is to combine policies. The policies on the market today are much more cost effective and flexible, so you may be able to combine the cash values of several smaller, older policies into one contemporary, larger, single premium, paid-up policy.
For more information on planned giving strategies, contact The Episcopal Church Foundation at (800)697-2858 or Father Leon at 632-8221.
ST PAUL’S AT A CROSSROADS
I have served on the Vestry since 2001 with the last five years as Warden. When Pastor Burrows retired I joyfully volunteered to serve two extra years as Warden to keep the church going until we found a new Rector. I was much relieved when we found Fr. Leon to help us through a transition period and into our future as a parish. It is that future for which I have grave concerns.
In January of 2008, for the first time since I have been associated with the parish, the Vestry had to adopt a deficit budget. In my mind this was a leap of faith – trusting that we could make up the deficit. Trusting that the people of St. Paul’s would rally behind our Interim Rector, as he guided us through this transition period, we went forward. Yet, our history nights and subsequent “maintenance to mission” programs were not well attended. Simple changes like wearing name tags, being more vigilant for newcomers, inviting friends or neighbors to come to church for Open House Sunday or any other Sunday, have not been embraced.
When our Vestry originally met with Fr. Leon, we told him that we were committed to grow our parish. Have our actions spoken otherwise? Are we committed to welcome new people into our parish church? For reasons currently unknown to me, very few members of our congregation appear to care all that much about this parish that I have grown to love; about this church that has provided a solid Christian foundation for so many, since 1942. How deeply do we care for our church? This is the question that we must ask, right now, if we are to continue --- if we are to progress from where we are – if we are to move forward into the bright future of possibilities that I believe God has planned for St. Paul’s. But the very serious question remains and needs to be asked. Will you work toward this goal, with God’s help, or will you step aside thinking that someone else can do what needs to be done right now, by you?
The church buildings need attention – a multitude of minor repairs that you would have attended to for your own home, have been neglected. Then there is the Rectory. The Vestry’s original plan to demolish the Rectory and add a parking for what we hoped would be our soon to be growing parish family needs to be revisited. Since our congregation is not growing, right now, and we simply cannot afford to demolish a building that holds certain equity for us, the church, we need to revisit last year’s plans for the Rectory.
How much do you care for your parish church? Our chicken barbecue fundraiser, which was planned for August, had to be postponed due to lack of support. Everyone is too busy, too involved in personal and career lives to attend to the future of our church. Have we forgotten that we are the church?
Our search for a permanent rector has begun. Who will we be able to attract to come if we ourselves are apathetic about the future of our parish? There is a shortage of priests in the church. If you were a priest looking at St. Paul’s, today, would you choose to accept a call to our parish? Our church buildings need to be spruced up. We need to offer a competitive financial package to a new Rector. We must also demonstrate real commitment to our church by our actions. In short, it is necessary for us to present a picture of hope and viability, not of pessimism and demise. I know that the people of St. Paul’s can do this if we search our hearts for where God’s business deserves to take precedence within each of us, and for the future of God’s loved ones, and ours.
What is the future of St. Paul’s? I see two choices at this crossroads. We can stay on our current path and let the parish slowly slide down a slippery slope. Then, like so many other Episcopal parishes in Western New York, we will be a church of chronic scarcity, hanging on with a part-time priest or perhaps a supply priest for a service on Sunday, with a small committed core of workers. But the other choice is still a possibility for us. The other choice, my choice, is to energize this parish family into action, to realize the abundance of God’s gifts for which we are responsible. SCARCITY OR ABUNDANCE? What are you willing to accept for your parish? What are you willing to do to see our parish grow in people and financial resources?
We live in a vibrant, growing community, “the place” to live in WNY. Can’t we make this parish grow? We can if each of us has the will and commitment to make it so. How will you answer the challenge? WHAT CAN I DO FOR MY CHURCH, NOT WHAT CAN MY CHURCH DO FOR ME?
Donna Leney, Senior Warden