Vestry Elections
FROM THE RECTOR
How might I serve God more fully? I hope you ask yourself that question every day, and I hope that, every once in a while, you share that question and the conversation that follows with other people you trust. What would your spouse say? How might a friend encourage you? What new possibility could a spiritual director see in you? This Sunday, we will host our annual Ministry Fair at 10:00 a.m. on the lawn at St. Paul’s, and the various ministries on display will offer ways that you might give a bit more of your time and talent to serve God. Ask the various volunteers why they give their time to a particular ministry. Listen for things that remind you of your own interests. See if God is calling you to try out something new.
This Sunday is also when nominations for vestry open. Like serving on the altar guild, singing in the choir, and volunteering with children’s ministries, being on the vestry is a ministry. Those who serve on the vestry do so as part of their service to God and this parish. Not everyone is called to serve on the vestry. Some people do not want to be bothered with budgets and personnel decisions. Some people do not want to take part in the annual giving campaign or help formulate a strategic plan. But our vestry cannot fulfill its responsibility if it is made up of only accountants, lawyers, and human resource officers. We need artists, teachers, and farmers, too. Whatever your particular gifts, we might need you.
If you think you might be called to serve on the vestry, share that inclination with someone. Ask a current vestry member what the meetings are really like. Ask a friend whether they think you would enjoy it. Telling someone that you are thinking about running for vestry may feel a little strange—kind of like nominating yourself for an honor or award—but the call to vestry service is one that we discern not on our own but as part of a community. Sharing that first spark of possibility with someone else allows them to hear us and help us listen for the Holy Spirit. What gifts and talents might we possess that a friend or family member could draw out and identify as particular assets for the vestry? What hesitations and anxieties might they help us name more clearly in order that we might hold them up to God in prayer?
After prayerful discernment, if you feel called to serve, nominate yourself or ask someone to nominate you. You can download the nomination form here. Every canonically qualified nominee, which essentially means a confirmed adult communicant who comes to church and makes a pledge, will appear on the ballot. We will publish the list of nominees in mid-November, and the election will take place the week of December 5.
Like last year, we will use a ranked-choice or “instant-runoff” ballot to eliminate the need for multiple rounds of voting. You will rank all of the nominees in order of your preference, and we will use those rankings to cycle through multiple rounds of voting without the need for additional ballots. Unlike last year, however, we will have in-person voting stations in church on December 5 to help you complete your ballot. Qualified electors who cannot come to church in person will be able to vote electronically from home. We will announce the results of the election on December 12, and the four individuals who are selected will be presented for official election at the Annual Meeting on January 23.
I have the privilege of working alongside whoever is selected by the parish. When I was newly ordained, I watched my boss and mentor model a deep faith and trust in the election process. He taught me how to be confident that the congregation would choose good, faithful people who would bring their very best to serve God and our church as members of the vestry. In my experience, that has always been the case. We need dedicated, talented, faithful leaders to serve, and we have plenty of them in our church, but we need them to offer themselves for this ministry. Will you?
Yours Faithfully,
Evan