The Episcopal Church of St. Mary
165 Ponquogue AveHampton Bays, NY 11946
Minutes of the Annual Meeting – January 22, 2023
Vestry Members Present: Junior Warden: Mary Castro, Richard Brown, Elaine Curry, Adrian Drake, Karen Lucas, Kathy Luce, Pat McCrave
Also Present: Father Hubbard, Rector
Russel Rose, Treasurer
35 Parishioners total
Excused: Sue Rumph
Call to Order: 10:35am
The meeting opened with prayer and Thanksgiving.
Elections:
Senior Warden – Mary Castro – Election for 1st two-year term Junior Warden – Sue Rumph – Election for 1st two-year term
Vestry Member – Richard Brown – Re-election for 2nd three-year term Vestry Member – Pat McCrave – Re-election for 2nd three-year term Open Vestry – Janet Hanks – Election for 1st three-year term
Open Vestry – Russel Rose – Election for 1st three-year term
Rector’s Report – Father Philip
The meeting concluded at 12:01pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Aimee Brown Vestry Clerk
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTS FOR ANNUAL MEETING
JANUARY 22, 2023
Choir/ Music
What a joy it is to work with the St. Mary's Choir! Our dedicated group includes (in alphabetical order) Barbara S., Fred, Irene, Jonny, Julie, June, Mary, Sue, and Virginia. We still miss our dear and talented friends, Arlene and Emoke, but we remember them with love in our hearts as we sing.
Irene Blydenburgh graced us with her gorgeous rendition of the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil in 2022, and she sang a solo for us last fall. Samantha Coulton shared her beautiful version of 0 Holy Night at the early Christmas Eve service, and we are excited that Joseph Lucas and Irene plan to share solos with us soon. At other times of the year and for special occasions such as Joe Rella's Celebration of Life service, the Ponquogues (Alfred, John and Sue) join us as we lead the parish in lively and meaningful hymns from the blue praise hymnal.
Hymns are chosen to complement the lectionary's weekly Scripture readings. As we learn and sing about themes such as discipleship, God as our creator and king, Jesus as our Savior and friend, atonement, the liturgical seasons (and many other topics!), we tap into a deep well of traditional and contemporary music that helps us express our love, our daily struggles, and our desire to grow closer to God. Music enables us to communicate our yearning to spread the Gospel and repair God's kingdom on Earth in 2023.
One initiative that proved to be quite popular in 2022 invited parishioners to submit a favorite hymn and share a few lines about why they found the hymn meaningful. We sang a lot of lovely music and learned more about one another in the process by doing that!
If you would like to sing in the Choir, come and join us! We rehearse at 8:15 a.m. in the Fireside Room for the 9:00 a.m. service. Everyone is welcome to sing with us as we lift our voices and open our hearts to celebrate the glory of God.
Respectfully submitted, Sonya Hubbard
ALTAR GUILD
St. Mary's Altar Guild is blessed to have14 active and dedicated women. Teams of 3 or 4 are assigned on a regular basis to one week each month to set up for all church services. Months where there are five weeks the two chair people take responsibility. We are a cohesive group who readily support and fill in for each other.
Altar Guild is responsible for preparing the Altar for each church service, including baptisms, weddings, funerals and any special services. We are responsible for the care of linens, vestments, silver and brass. We prepare and decorate the church for Advent, Christmas, Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. We support our Rector in whatever special needs are needed for worship.
This year, a parishioner generously donated a $500 gift to the Altar Guild. Two new pottery chalices and patent as well as replenishment of our linen supplies will happen thanks to this donation. Donations in memory of loved ones or in celebration of special occasions are always appreciated.
St. Mary's Sunday School Annual Report
Recap We started the 2022 Sunday School year in person in the new room, and have been able to maintain in person Sunday School. We currently have 5 kids attending regularly; we have had several visiting friends also. We don't have enough kids for two classes, so we have one combined class ages 8-12. The strengths in having one class is the older ones can help the younger ones, and this close knit group feels more like a family.
Current Status
In September 2022 we returned to in person Sunday school in the new room which we are grateful for. This is much better space, as the kids are physically closer and not as distracted and running around.
Registration/ attendance is small (5 kids total.) Although there has been some interest shown, no new families have wanted to commit to have their kids attend. We still have the viewpoint of come when you can, and we don't take attendance as we know that life gets busy for families.
We make a point to let any potential families know this. Sunday Sports are now more prevalent, so at times we lose kids for a season. We feel the obstacles of gaining new families are time, fear of commitment, unfamiliarity with religion, and being overscheduled with sports and other activities.
Content
Our weekly lessons are activities and crafts that support the word of the gospel. The Sunday School serves in church as acolytes throughout the year periodically.
Happenings
We were able to resume the Annual Heifer Project Bake Sale in 2022, and with generous donation of both baked good and money from the congregation, it was the most successful bake sale raising $900.
The Sunday School assisted with ABATE Food and Toy Drive by making welcome signs, greeting ABATE and unloading trucks. We had a successful Christmas Eve Pageant (all kids were healthy!) The kids read a nativity poem about the first Christmas.
We feel we are making a difference in their lives. We have used the current climate of so many uncertainties, disappointments and transitions to have discussions about faith, learning how to pray as a way to cope with god's help.
Julia Distenfeld Adrian Drake
NON FOOD PANTRY ANNUAL REPORT
A committee of seven dedicated parishioners continue to deliver taxable items to St. Rosalie's Food Pantry every four to six weeks. Our vestry has donated 1,500 dollars to support this mission. In addition, money and items continue to be donated by members of our parish family.
A Spring drive-by Saturday was held with community members as well as parishioners contributing taxable items to St. Rosalie's Food Pantry.
In August St. Rosalie's shared a need for school backpacks. Once again our parish family stepped up to the plate. 60 backpacks were donated in addition to 20 gift cards to Target valued at 25 dollars each were given to St. Rosalie's Food Pantry.
St. Mary's is blessed to be a part of this community outreach.
Taxable Items Include:
toilet tissue paper towels
feminine hygiene products baby wipes
tooth paste tooth brushes shampoo
deodorant laundry detergent hand lotion
soap bars razors
Thanksgiving, and the Angel Tree Christmas Food/Toy Outreach Program
2022
It was another great year for our Thanksgiving and Angel Tree Christmas Food/Toy Outreach Program. The weather cooperated and everyone seemed to enjoy the refreshments! Perhaps next year the food spread will be able to go back to the "old days"! The congregation always looks forward to this festive day.
We used the money from ABATE and the food cards from the Kiwanis Club of Southampton to provide 53 families with Thanksgiving $50.00 food cards. The families are from the Hampton Bays Elementary School and St. Mary's Outreach List.
For Christmas, each of the 114 children received a $50.00 gift card. Each family on St. Mary's Outreach List and the Hampton Bays Elementary School also received a $50.00 food card. The toys provided by ABATE and Serenity Nails were divided up for 4 of the agencies that we support. The agencies are the Shinnecock Reservation, N.A.N.A.'s (Never Alone... Never Afraid) House, Family Service League and the Eastern Farm Workers. The residents [6 women and 9 children] at the Retreat (domestic violence) were each given $50.00 gift cards. The food that the ABATE Run brought was given to St. Rosalie's Catholic Church which serves as our Communi y Food Pantry.
Thank you to everyone from The ABATE Motorcycle Club, The Kiwanis Club of Southampton, Karen Lucas and the 10 women in the Outpatient Coding Department of Southampton Stony Brook Hospital, Betty Sparrow and Serenity Nails Eastport, and St. Mary's who so generously supported the program!!!
Don Sherwood Marlene Trafford
WESTHAMPTON CARE CENTER
On Tuesday mornings several of our local clergy visit the Westhampton Care Center to conduct Worship Services. As is the custom of many other Protestant churches, Holy Communion is provided on the first Tuesday of each month. Needless to say, the residents are very happy to be able to worship each Tuesday. Fr. Philip and I are on the schedule. Irene Blydenburgh, Betty Sparrow and Barbara Frederic accompany me when I am scheduled. It actually works out to be 3 times in 4 months. So, it ends up as a small commitment with a maximum pay out!! If you are interested in joining us, please speak with Fr. Philip or Don Sherwood. It's a very rewarding ministry!!!
Don Sherwood
2022 Church Ladies Report
This year (2022) we did some nice things. The Brotherhood of St. Andrew received $100 from our collection and our sister in faith Aimee, received a check for $500 from our Kitty.
We also had a wonderful time watching the sunset at Barbara Sirois' home on Peconic Bay and at Sue's home on the Pond .
Betty opened her home to us and we carpooled like champs!! Claudia also made us all feel very welcome in her lovely home.
Diane hosted our Christmas get together with a present exchange that was fun!! ALWAYS Too many yummy appetizers and desserts to remember!!!!
2023 January meeting was held at Freddie's home 19 in attendance and too much food to
remember!
Feb 2023 will be held at Elaine Curry's home and the March meeting is already scheduled for Doris Fernandez's home .
Suggestions are taken into consideration about dispersing the money from the Kitty, To date we have $200 available.
..
165 Ponquogue AveHampton Bays, NY 11946
Minutes of the Annual Meeting – January 22, 2023
Vestry Members Present: Junior Warden: Mary Castro, Richard Brown, Elaine Curry, Adrian Drake, Karen Lucas, Kathy Luce, Pat McCrave
Also Present: Father Hubbard, Rector
Russel Rose, Treasurer
35 Parishioners total
Excused: Sue Rumph
Call to Order: 10:35am
The meeting opened with prayer and Thanksgiving.
Elections:
Senior Warden – Mary Castro – Election for 1st two-year term Junior Warden – Sue Rumph – Election for 1st two-year term
Vestry Member – Richard Brown – Re-election for 2nd three-year term Vestry Member – Pat McCrave – Re-election for 2nd three-year term Open Vestry – Janet Hanks – Election for 1st three-year term
Open Vestry – Russel Rose – Election for 1st three-year term
- No floor nominations
- Father Philip moved to close nominations and elect by acclamation.
- Motion made by Lee Allen. 2nd by Craig Curry
- Unanimous support for all 6 to be elected.
Rector’s Report – Father Philip
- Father Philip addressed the parish as this is his last Annual Meeting as Rector at St. Mary’s
The meeting concluded at 12:01pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Aimee Brown Vestry Clerk
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTS FOR ANNUAL MEETING
JANUARY 22, 2023
Choir/ Music
What a joy it is to work with the St. Mary's Choir! Our dedicated group includes (in alphabetical order) Barbara S., Fred, Irene, Jonny, Julie, June, Mary, Sue, and Virginia. We still miss our dear and talented friends, Arlene and Emoke, but we remember them with love in our hearts as we sing.
Irene Blydenburgh graced us with her gorgeous rendition of the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil in 2022, and she sang a solo for us last fall. Samantha Coulton shared her beautiful version of 0 Holy Night at the early Christmas Eve service, and we are excited that Joseph Lucas and Irene plan to share solos with us soon. At other times of the year and for special occasions such as Joe Rella's Celebration of Life service, the Ponquogues (Alfred, John and Sue) join us as we lead the parish in lively and meaningful hymns from the blue praise hymnal.
Hymns are chosen to complement the lectionary's weekly Scripture readings. As we learn and sing about themes such as discipleship, God as our creator and king, Jesus as our Savior and friend, atonement, the liturgical seasons (and many other topics!), we tap into a deep well of traditional and contemporary music that helps us express our love, our daily struggles, and our desire to grow closer to God. Music enables us to communicate our yearning to spread the Gospel and repair God's kingdom on Earth in 2023.
One initiative that proved to be quite popular in 2022 invited parishioners to submit a favorite hymn and share a few lines about why they found the hymn meaningful. We sang a lot of lovely music and learned more about one another in the process by doing that!
If you would like to sing in the Choir, come and join us! We rehearse at 8:15 a.m. in the Fireside Room for the 9:00 a.m. service. Everyone is welcome to sing with us as we lift our voices and open our hearts to celebrate the glory of God.
Respectfully submitted, Sonya Hubbard
ALTAR GUILD
St. Mary's Altar Guild is blessed to have14 active and dedicated women. Teams of 3 or 4 are assigned on a regular basis to one week each month to set up for all church services. Months where there are five weeks the two chair people take responsibility. We are a cohesive group who readily support and fill in for each other.
Altar Guild is responsible for preparing the Altar for each church service, including baptisms, weddings, funerals and any special services. We are responsible for the care of linens, vestments, silver and brass. We prepare and decorate the church for Advent, Christmas, Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. We support our Rector in whatever special needs are needed for worship.
This year, a parishioner generously donated a $500 gift to the Altar Guild. Two new pottery chalices and patent as well as replenishment of our linen supplies will happen thanks to this donation. Donations in memory of loved ones or in celebration of special occasions are always appreciated.
St. Mary's Sunday School Annual Report
Recap We started the 2022 Sunday School year in person in the new room, and have been able to maintain in person Sunday School. We currently have 5 kids attending regularly; we have had several visiting friends also. We don't have enough kids for two classes, so we have one combined class ages 8-12. The strengths in having one class is the older ones can help the younger ones, and this close knit group feels more like a family.
Current Status
In September 2022 we returned to in person Sunday school in the new room which we are grateful for. This is much better space, as the kids are physically closer and not as distracted and running around.
Registration/ attendance is small (5 kids total.) Although there has been some interest shown, no new families have wanted to commit to have their kids attend. We still have the viewpoint of come when you can, and we don't take attendance as we know that life gets busy for families.
We make a point to let any potential families know this. Sunday Sports are now more prevalent, so at times we lose kids for a season. We feel the obstacles of gaining new families are time, fear of commitment, unfamiliarity with religion, and being overscheduled with sports and other activities.
Content
Our weekly lessons are activities and crafts that support the word of the gospel. The Sunday School serves in church as acolytes throughout the year periodically.
Happenings
We were able to resume the Annual Heifer Project Bake Sale in 2022, and with generous donation of both baked good and money from the congregation, it was the most successful bake sale raising $900.
The Sunday School assisted with ABATE Food and Toy Drive by making welcome signs, greeting ABATE and unloading trucks. We had a successful Christmas Eve Pageant (all kids were healthy!) The kids read a nativity poem about the first Christmas.
We feel we are making a difference in their lives. We have used the current climate of so many uncertainties, disappointments and transitions to have discussions about faith, learning how to pray as a way to cope with god's help.
Julia Distenfeld Adrian Drake
NON FOOD PANTRY ANNUAL REPORT
A committee of seven dedicated parishioners continue to deliver taxable items to St. Rosalie's Food Pantry every four to six weeks. Our vestry has donated 1,500 dollars to support this mission. In addition, money and items continue to be donated by members of our parish family.
A Spring drive-by Saturday was held with community members as well as parishioners contributing taxable items to St. Rosalie's Food Pantry.
In August St. Rosalie's shared a need for school backpacks. Once again our parish family stepped up to the plate. 60 backpacks were donated in addition to 20 gift cards to Target valued at 25 dollars each were given to St. Rosalie's Food Pantry.
St. Mary's is blessed to be a part of this community outreach.
Taxable Items Include:
toilet tissue paper towels
feminine hygiene products baby wipes
tooth paste tooth brushes shampoo
deodorant laundry detergent hand lotion
soap bars razors
Thanksgiving, and the Angel Tree Christmas Food/Toy Outreach Program
2022
It was another great year for our Thanksgiving and Angel Tree Christmas Food/Toy Outreach Program. The weather cooperated and everyone seemed to enjoy the refreshments! Perhaps next year the food spread will be able to go back to the "old days"! The congregation always looks forward to this festive day.
We used the money from ABATE and the food cards from the Kiwanis Club of Southampton to provide 53 families with Thanksgiving $50.00 food cards. The families are from the Hampton Bays Elementary School and St. Mary's Outreach List.
For Christmas, each of the 114 children received a $50.00 gift card. Each family on St. Mary's Outreach List and the Hampton Bays Elementary School also received a $50.00 food card. The toys provided by ABATE and Serenity Nails were divided up for 4 of the agencies that we support. The agencies are the Shinnecock Reservation, N.A.N.A.'s (Never Alone... Never Afraid) House, Family Service League and the Eastern Farm Workers. The residents [6 women and 9 children] at the Retreat (domestic violence) were each given $50.00 gift cards. The food that the ABATE Run brought was given to St. Rosalie's Catholic Church which serves as our Communi y Food Pantry.
Thank you to everyone from The ABATE Motorcycle Club, The Kiwanis Club of Southampton, Karen Lucas and the 10 women in the Outpatient Coding Department of Southampton Stony Brook Hospital, Betty Sparrow and Serenity Nails Eastport, and St. Mary's who so generously supported the program!!!
Don Sherwood Marlene Trafford
WESTHAMPTON CARE CENTER
On Tuesday mornings several of our local clergy visit the Westhampton Care Center to conduct Worship Services. As is the custom of many other Protestant churches, Holy Communion is provided on the first Tuesday of each month. Needless to say, the residents are very happy to be able to worship each Tuesday. Fr. Philip and I are on the schedule. Irene Blydenburgh, Betty Sparrow and Barbara Frederic accompany me when I am scheduled. It actually works out to be 3 times in 4 months. So, it ends up as a small commitment with a maximum pay out!! If you are interested in joining us, please speak with Fr. Philip or Don Sherwood. It's a very rewarding ministry!!!
Don Sherwood
2022 Church Ladies Report
This year (2022) we did some nice things. The Brotherhood of St. Andrew received $100 from our collection and our sister in faith Aimee, received a check for $500 from our Kitty.
We also had a wonderful time watching the sunset at Barbara Sirois' home on Peconic Bay and at Sue's home on the Pond .
Betty opened her home to us and we carpooled like champs!! Claudia also made us all feel very welcome in her lovely home.
Diane hosted our Christmas get together with a present exchange that was fun!! ALWAYS Too many yummy appetizers and desserts to remember!!!!
2023 January meeting was held at Freddie's home 19 in attendance and too much food to
remember!
Feb 2023 will be held at Elaine Curry's home and the March meeting is already scheduled for Doris Fernandez's home .
Suggestions are taken into consideration about dispersing the money from the Kitty, To date we have $200 available.
..