Bishop’s Council Meeting

July 6, 2011

Present: Father Don,  Bob, Phil, Ellie, Julie

Father Don opened the meeting with a prayer.   A motion was passed to accept the minutes from the June meeting.

Treasurer’s Report-We have $9,070 in our checking account.  The bills from this month have not been paid. Insurance is paid until October 1.  Julie sent $100 towards the copier bill.  We can’t pay it in full right now, but will try to pay $200 per month.  Julie will send Judy Chamberlain the information on finances.  Julie is sending a letter to parishioners regarding finances to date.  We are paying about $5800 per month in bills.  We are taking in $3,000. If we take $1400 off for insurance that we do not need to pay until October, our bills will be $4,400, so we are running in a deficit of about $1400.  We should be getting money from Lion’s in July.  We still need to pay the $300 taxes on the rectory.  January 1 through July 6 we had a net income of $1,544.  Julie is researching a going green grant.  The treasurer’s report was accepted.

Senior Warden Report-Father Don will be gone to Camp Able on July 17. Canon During will celebrate and preach and will be staying at the vicarage. Father Don will be gone August 1-15.  Rev. Schumann and Rev. English will be celebrating and preaching.

Junior Warden Report-Phil does not want to spend the money for an air conditioner in the ladies’ room right now.  Hopefully, we can get someone to donate the unit.  We can put a donation box in the parish hall and ask for money. We need to decide what to do with the Columbarium. Bob suggested we ask Judy H if she has any ideas.  We need to get Jesus fixed.  Julie asked why we are no longer getting money from Edith McDaniel. Phil is looking into this. Nobody told Phil what maintenance we need to do on a regular basis, so we came up with this list for now:

First Sunday of the Month Check AC filters

Clean bathrooms once a month

Change tablecloths when necessary

Renovate Kitchen:  Replace countertops in the kitchen or at least glue them down.

Measure and price what we need to make the kitchen look good. Put hand sink in kitchen. Accept donations for the kitchen make over.

Check church for leaks

Bob has Burt’s plate done and will get it put up this week.

Bob and Phil will try to mount the project or on the wall and put up new fans in the church.

Saint Raphael’s Episcopal Church, Fort Myers Beach, Florida is a member of

 A Brief History

St. Raphael’s is located in a quiet residential area, on a circle of land, across from the Back Bay on Estero Island. The church plant includes the Parish Hall, Church and Rectory.

St. Raphael’s was founded by a devout group of 20 Fort Myers Beach Episcopalians who petitioned the Diocese for permission to organize a Mission on March 5, 1951.

The first service in the newly built church was December 1953 and the dedication of the Church by the Bishop was January 31, 1954, with 42 communicants.

The Rectory (Vicarage) was built by members of the congregation and completed in October 1956.

The parish hail was built in 1958 and became a center for local organizations such as AA, AARP, girl scouts, young people dances and church activities.

St. Raphael’s became a Parish October 16, 1966.

Additions were made to the Parish Hall with an office complex and conference room in 1974 and improvements to the kitchen and Sunday School rooms were made soon after.

Over the years, many improvements have been done to the buildings and grounds. We have a beautiful Columbarium with a Cremains Garden outside behind the Altar. A new wall and statue of Jesus by the sculptor Don Wilkins were dedicated on All Souls day, November 2001.

Our 50th Anniversary in March 2001 was a joyous occasion with many former rectors in attendance and the Service was conducted by our Bishop — the Right Reverend John Lipscomb.

Blessing of the Fleet

The Blessing of the Shrimp Fleet was started back in 1952 by having our Bishop come down to Fort Myers Beach on a Sunday and bless all the boats and their crews. This has continued as an annual event and is looked forward to by the congregation, the public and especially the fishermen.