“Summertime, and the livin' is easy.”

The slower pace of summer and the ease of schedules is what I look forward to most when school is out, daylight is longer, and the fireflies appear in my back yard. With the ease of summer upon us, the energy and activity at St. Luke’s is vibrant. New visitors arrive each Sunday and vacations are in full swing.

Your Vestry has also been in full swing, tasked with the work of the church and supporting the phenomenal clergy and staff of St. Luke’s. Here is a quick rundown of what happening at St. Luke’s:

• Nick reports a 50% increase in attendance with 150 people attending weekly!

• VBS is back in action thanks to Education Coordinator Courtney Jukuri and all of the volunteers!

• Flat Pastors are on the move! The Outreach Committee’s creative fundraiser has Father Nick, Father Celal and Vanilla Bean traveling the world. Thanks to everyone who is supporting!

• Endowment Committee has been re-established. A big thanks to Paul Johnson for recruiting the great team of Bob McPeek, Amanda Wallingford, Joe Manous, Drew Hutcheson, and John Moorman. The re-establishment of this group has been a goal of the Finance Committee and Vestry this year.

• St. Luke’s Day School is getting a new playground. With the positive synergy between Vestry and the Day School Leadership, changes are coming this Fall to the playground at St. Luke’s.

St. Luke’s Nominating Committee will be reaching out to potential Vestry members. If you have any interest in being a future Vestry member or want more information, please reach out to Paul Johnson, Richard McFarland, Matt Harding, Father Nick, or me!

Save the Date for Kick Off Sunday on Sept 10th. This is where we kick off the church year, visit Youth Education teachers and classrooms, and learn more about the various volunteer and ministry opportunities. More details and lunch sign up to come!

Enjoy the rest of your Summer!

Faithfully,

Amy Moorman

SENIOR WARDEN'S NOTE: MARCH 2023

St. Luke’s Vestry gathered March 3-5 in Shrine Mont for a retreat; an annual vestry tradition that hasn’t occurred since before COVID.  Much has happened over the last few years:  safe regathering of the church, parish hall construction, lighting project, growth of the membership, new Day School director and the mutual ministry resulting in Father Nick becoming St. Luke’s 8th Rector.  There is still more work to be done and current members of the Vestry are up to the task.

Sue Bentley joined us to share the administrative and bookkeeping duties involved as Parish Administrator.  She gave a thorough understanding of the Church Life app that includes contact information of active members of the church; Ministry Scheduling Pro that helps keep track of volunteers in various duties on any given day and the Abundant e-giving system that allows members to make gifts, pledges, and donations online.

The Vestry discussed Functional Areas of Ministry, the vast matrix of volunteers that keeps our doors open and programs and services running smoothly.  We discussed ways to continue and improve meeting the needs of a growing church and identified strengths and weaknesses that need attention.  Nick would like to add a permanent Wednesday healing service and plans for a Ministry Kick Off program that recruits in May and celebrates all the ministries in September.  The Day School is embarking on a fundraising campaign to fund a new safe space playground that is shared with the church with a kickoff on March 17.  There was also discussion about the future of St. Luke’s and continuing to focus on and support the people and structure of the church.



Besides the work of St. Luke’s, members of the Vestry had a nice time getting to know one another better and learn any hidden talents.  Among us is a person who likes to hang picture galleries, a person who enjoys planning excursions around the world, another who enjoys coaching basketball, another who likes to organize, another who is an online shopper genius, and the list goes on and on.  I’m in awe of the talent, professionalism, humor, care and thoughtfulness of this group.  The year ahead with this Vestry will be one for the books, just you wait and see.

Faithfully,

Amy Moorman

Sr. Warden

September 16 from Jr. Warden Amy Moorman

St. Luke’s Vestry met this week with much enthusiasm with a full Fall event calendar and a growing congregation attendance on Sundays. The lighting project is well underway and as soon as the lights arrive, they will be installed. We joked that the last piece of AV equipment in the parish hall and the lights must be in the same supply chain. Patience! 

A Building and Grounds Happy Clippers work day is being scheduled for September 24th. The pumpkins arrive on October 8th -- all hands on deck are needed to help unload pumpkins and sign up to work the patch. Much of the community waits for our pumpkins to arrive so let’s not disappoint! 

The 2023 budget process is well underway as well as the planning for the upcoming Stewardship Campaign which will kick off on October 9th.  Members of the Vestry are busily planning for the November 6th Senior Saints Luncheon and the Installation of our Rector Nick Hull on November 11th. Invites to come for both events.

The next Vestry meeting is scheduled for October 11th. Continue to take great care of one another.

Faithfully,

Amy Moorman

Jr. Warden

August 19 From Jr. Warden Amy Moorman

The dog days of summer are drawing to a close with the start of a new school year and new church year.  Thank you to all who have kept the wheels moving forward and participated in and supported the ministries of St. Lukes including cookie baking, coffee making, piano and guitar playing and singing, ushering, alter guilding, happy clipping, attending one of the three services on Sunday and caring for one another. 

Update on Sr. Warden Richard MacFarland. Had a wonderful visit with Richard this week who is recovering from an August 6th stroke.  The Happy Clippers were cleaning up the grounds when they detected that Richard needed some help and they acted quickly!  He is currently recovering and rehabbing at Mt. Vernon Hospital.  He attends rigorous therapy each day and is working hard towards his release date on August 25 when he will return home in the care of his family.  Richard’s daughter, Kate, is coordinating visitors around his medical appointments during the first few weeks home.  Please contact Kate at mcfarlkl@gmail.com directly if you plan to pay Richard a visit.

Mark your calendar with the upcoming events listed in this newsletter. First up is Homecoming – Kick Off Sunday August 28, hope to see you there.  Continue to care for one another and look forward to seeing you this Fall!

Amy Moorman
Jr. Warden

December 15, 2021

Merry Christmas to Saint Luke's! Following are notes from the December 14 Vestry meeting.

• Reviewed the Treasurer's report. Income for the month of November exceeded expenses. We project a year-end surplus that will be rolled over to the 2022 operating budget. It was noted that Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) grants enabled us to maintain operations without drawing from reserves as had been anticipated at the beginning of the year. Our endowment fund, held at the Diocese, was valued at $421,845 as of November 30.

• Received report from Don Hazen, parish hall renovation project manager. Construction is essentially complete with "punch" list items being worked on. Permanent wood doors are due this week for installation and the audio/visual control box is due to be installed in February. Meeting room and gathering space furniture has arrived. The area is undergoing thorough cleaning with a ribbon cutting scheduled for January 16. Thanks to Don and the Building for Ministry team for their service on behalf of St. Luke's.

• Christine Kelly reported that a rough planning estimate for construction of the outdoor lighting has been received and is under review. The architect will be directed to finalize plans. The lighting project committee is working to identify all costs (permitting, design, construction) for presentation to the Vestry.

• Richard McFarland reported on the heating system. While a long awaited part was recently installed we continue to experience heating system shutdowns when the system fails to automatically restart. This requires a member of the staff to manually restart our heat. We continue to work with our HVAC service provider to identify the issue(s) to resolve the situation.

• Lee Gilmore provided a wrap-up of the stewardship campaign. We received 91 pledges totaling $430,511. There were 68 pledges with increased commitment to St. Luke's and five new pledges. Much thanks to Lee and the Stewardship Committee for conducting a well organized, structured, and disciplined campaign. In sum, we reached a total dollar pledge amount consistent with our pre-pandemic pledge for the 2020 operating budget. Great work and thanks to all for your commitment and generosity.

• Paul Johnson, Finance Committee chair, presented a proposed operating budget for 2022. The budget, based on pledges and other sources of income including rents and rollover from 2021 surplus, permits us to provide cost of living and pay adjustments to current staff, slight increases in several budget lines, increased commitment to our Diocese pledge, and the ability to hire a Sexton. The Vestry approved the proposed budget. Much thanks to Paul and the Finance Committee who worked in close coordination with the Treasurer, Parish Administrator, and Stewardship Committee. We are in a strong financial position as we enter 2022.

• Nick discussed a broad range of topics and observations under the general theme of "Bringing Ministry Back." He identified numerous strengths as well as areas needing attention for Vestry consideration. Something we need to pay attention to is identifying, welcoming, and integrating newcomers (without overwhelming them)...we are ok in this regard but there is plenty of room for improvement. Nick noted that GAMMC, the Ghaniain congregation, will return December 19. He also reviewed the Christmas service schedule and noted the office will be closed the week after Christmas.

• Nick, following up on the November Vestry discussion, reported that he has spoken with the new Vestry class. Candidates have been identified for nomination and election during the February 6 Parish Meeting. We discussed the process and potential candidates for nomination for Senior and Junior Warden, Treasurer, and Register of the Vestry to be elected at the February Vestry meeting.

• Lee Gilmore reminded us that the annual greening of the church is this Saturday, 18 December, 8:00 a.m. Many hands are welcome to help out.

• Please mark your calendar and save the date, Sunday February 6 following the 10:00 a.m. service for the Parish Meeting in the Parish Hall.

Thank you. Merry Christmas and see you next year if not sooner.

Richard McFarland

Senior Warden

November 9, 2021

The following is a summary of topics discussed during the November 9 Vestry Meeting

The October Treasurer's report shows operating income for October and year-to-date exceeds operating expenses. This includes the Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) grant that was received earlier this year.

Don Hazen reported that Parish Hall renovation is nearing completion. He expects the construction "punch list" walkthrough in late November or early December. Don advised that furnishing for the gathering space and meeting room are being selected and purchased. There is a delay in delivery of a component of the audio/visual system and entry doors (temporary doors are in place). Don believes we will be able to occupy and use the parish hall and kitchen in January after we complete a thorough cleaning and relocate all the "stuff" that's been in storage while construction was underway.

Christine Kelly reported that the outdoor lighting project planning is on-going. The committee is engaged with the architect for initial design. They are also in contact with Dominion Energy to explore the feasibility and possible options to remove the single power pole in the middle of the parking lot green strip.

Our heating system remains a problem. We are waiting delivery and installation of a part, identified by the manufacturer, before we can attempt to get the system up and running. We are doing all we can to address this recurring issue and will advise the congregation as we know more.

Paul Johnson reported that the Finance Committee is developing low/medium/high 2022 operating budget scenarios to be presented at the next Vestry meeting. These options are informed by the outcome of our current Stewardship Campaign with pledge income being our primary source of funds for the operating budget.

Lee Gilmore provided an update on the Stewardship Campaign which is scheduled to end on November 22. We have received 71 pledges to date totaling $329,000. Fifty four pledges are increased over previous years and there are five new pledges. We have some heavy lifting to do over the next couple of weeks to secure remaining pledge commitments. Thank you to all who have pledged to date and please submit your pledge if you haven't already done so.

Reynold Schweickhardt reported on Vestry Nominating Committee progress to identify nominees for the next Vestry class. Nominees will be presented at the Parish Meeting in February 2022 for congregation vote. There are four positions to be filled by adult communicants in good standing.

Nick stated that he continues to be impressed with Saint Luke's and the great momentum he has witnessed over the last two-and-a-half months. Things are "fantastic" and we will slowly and deliberately determine our "new normal" as we get back into full facility operations once construction is complete. Nick is in dialogue with GAMMC, the Ghanian church community, and they anticipate a return in early December.

The Vestry approved fundraising requests from Boy Scout Troop 654 (annual Greens sale), Child Christmas Wish Program (Alice's Kids charity), and West Potomac Crew (wreath sale).

Thank you to the Pumpkin Patch Team! Gross sales receipts exceeded $38,000 and netted in excess of $15,000. This was a strong team effort, headed by Melissa Brunton, with participation and support from across the congregation. ORANGE returned to the greater Saint Luke's community.

Richard McFarland

Senior Warden