Senior Warden's Report

             Julia Messer was welcomed as the new seminarian at the September Vestry meeting. Julia is in her second year at the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), and is beginning her first of two years at Pohick. Julia has previously served as a lay chaplain at Camp Kanuga, NC, and has held internships at her home parish, Church of the Epiphany, Danville, VA, at Hickory Neck Episcopal Church, Toano, VA, and at Emmanuel Church, Staunton, VA. Welcome Julia!

• At the September meeting, parishioner comments on the new sound system were discussed. Feedback (no pun intended) has been generally positive, but some have commented that the system is too loud. Adjustments will be made as the full capabilities of the system are discovered. Donations received are still a few thousand dollars below the cost.

• The Library of Congress will continue to hold Pohick’s colonial Vestry Minutes, which have been on deposit there for some 85 years. As part of the loan agreement, Pohick has been given a digital version of the Vestry Minutes at no charge. The new agreement will be reviewed every 10 years.

• The Vestry approved a draft loan agreement with Mount Vernon to display some of the Pohick artifacts, including the silver chalice dated 1716, the Pulpit Bible dated 1762, an original fragment from George Washington’s pew, and the Pohick Church Vestry Book, which is currently in the Library of Congress, as part of an upcoming exhibit on George Washington’s spirituality. Ways to promote Pohick as part of this event are being explored. This one year agreement will give Pohick Church exposure to over one million visitors.

• Wayne Biggs, Junior Warden, put forth a motion to spend $9,000 to replace the air conditioning/heat pump units for the classrooms which failed recently.  The motion was approved and the funds will come from the Capital Budget. This will essentially deplete the Capital Budget for the year.

• John Pasour, Treasurer, briefed that the Plate and Pledge income continues to be at the low end of the historic range. Income is now 2.8% below the average, which corresponds to $16,400 less income than expected. Expenses are within budget, except for repairs and capital expenditures with 93% of the budget spent.   The Capital Repairs balance is cause for concern. Roof repairs and replacement of the classroom heat pumps totaling $16,250 will leave a balance of approximately $2,600 for the year. John stressed the need for parishioners to make good on their pledges for the balance of the year in order to meet the budgeted income.

• Don Brownlee, Planning and Policy Commission Chair, discussed his “Issues and Choices” report from the Policy and Planning Commission on issues confronting the Anglican Communion. Additional information on these issues will be provided in the Pohick Post. No further action will be taken at this time on the issue of incorporation since there would be little gained for the expense. 

• Robin Teale, Pastoral Care, indicated that a Community of Hope meeting would be held.

• Femi Ayorinde, Outreach, briefed that in August, a group of Pohick adults went to Iowa to help with clean-up following the devastation of the Midwest flooding. In addition, Pohick donated over 150 pounds of food from July to August as part of the ongoing Pohick support for the Lorton Community Action Center (LCAC). Pohick parishioners also contributed to the annual Back to School Collection of school supplies to assist LCAC in meeting the needs of young people in the community. The Vacation Bible School added to this school supply collection with donations from its participants, which made a huge difference in the ability to respond to the need.  Also, the Brotherhood of Saint Andrew (BSA) made a significant monetary contribution to help LCAC fill the financial gap. Furthermore, during the last week of August, BSA held a successful homeless picnic involving approximately 39 participants as part of its outreach effort to the neighborhood homeless community. Also, using Dana Hutson’s draft, the Commission provided a proposal to the Fair Commission that may help bring visitors to the Fair who are looking for a place to grow spiritually or just want to worship at Pohick.

• The Stewardship Commission has completed the text and selected pictures for this year’s stewardship brochure. Most of the correspondence is now complete and ready for the upcoming stewardship campaign. The Vestry also signed this year’s tithing statement.