The Standing Committees of the Vestry

The rector and the vestry shall determine what committees are necessary for the best interests of the parish.The Standing Committees of Grace Episcopal Church, St. Helena are those groups, designated by the vestry, which act on behalf of the vestry in administrative or governance matters. They are: Accountable to the Vestry with monthly written reports; responsible for the fiscal and/or physical church operations and maintenance, both short-term and long-term. They are appointed by the vestry for 1 year terms.

Buildings & Grounds Committee

The junior warden chairs this committee and oversees the maintenance of the church campus and the rectory. The buildings and grounds committee assists the junior warden with this important function. They meet monthly to review what needs to be done now and evaluate repairs and improvements that need to be planned for.

Endowment Committee

Grace established an endowment fund in 2015. The current endowment committee is working with a consultant to strategize about ways to increase the revenue for this fund and how it can be better utilized by Grace to support the work of the church.

Finance Committee

The treasurer serves as chair of this committee. They meet  monthly to review the financial health of the church. The treasurer reports to the Vestry about the financial status of investments and how we are doing regarding income from pledges, other grants and donations and building rentals as well as expenditures against the budget.

Outreach Committee (GO Seed)

This committee oversees the other areas of Grace’s outreach efforts: GO Advocate, GO Serve, and GO Give. The chair of this committee serves on the Strategic Planning Committee. Grace receives many requests for both community and global outreach needs. GO Seed is the committee that does an initial review and will then pass the request along to the appropriate interest area. This is a new organizational structure for Grace Outreach and it was developed during the process of a mutual ministry review completed in the summer of 2018. It is working well and there is both renewed and expanded interest and participation by parishioners.

Personnel Committee 

The members of this committee advise Rev. Amy on personnel concerns. At Rev. Amy’s request, they have been working diligently to update job descriptions for all paid positions at Grace and created an employee handbook.

Stewardship Committee 

A vestry member chairs this committee. They work to plan a Fall Stewardship Campaign.

Strategic Planning Committee

A vestry member chairs this committee. They work to keep the process of strategic planning and implementation moving forward. The other committee members are made up of the chairs of the goal teams. The “goal teams” are working on developing objectives and action steps with timelines, budget considerations, and accountability. In some areas, this process is being implemented as it is being written! When the people of Grace have an idea, passion takes over and action follows quickly. We are a congregation of “doers”!