Adminstration
Parish Council:
The Parish Council is the group within St. James’ that is charged with ensuring that the decisions expressed by the congregation in the Annual Meeting (Vestry meeting) are carried out over the next twelve months. The Council meets monthly (usually on the 3rd Tuesday evening) with the exception on July and August.
Wardens:
Wardens are lay leaders who function as the corporation of the parish. They are responsible for St. James’ finances and building. Currently our wardens are Bev Boyd and Sharon Dunlop bev.boyd@sympatico.ca shardun@kingston.net. Cora Therien and Will Pickett serve as a Deputy (assistant) Wardens cora01@sympatico.ca will.pickett@queensu.ca.
Synod Representatives:
Representatives from all the parishes in the Diocese of Ontario gather together (usually every 2 years) for a decision-making meeting called a Synod. Typically St. James’ sends 6 lay leaders and clergy to this event. Synod Reps are part of parish council.
Personnel and Operations:
This committee helps oversee the staff and volunteers at St. James’ and provide support for the wardens in matters relating to personnel. Nancy Marlow leads this group nap@kos.net.
Parish Office:
The parish office is accessed through the grey doors on Union Street. It is staffed from 9am-noon on Monday and from 9:00am to 2:00pm on Tuesday to Friday. The office can be reached by telephone by dialing (613) 548-7254. An answering service picks up messages if nobody is there.
Administrative Secretary, Barbara is there Tuesday-Friday 10:00-2:00. stjameskingston@cogeco.net
Pastoral Desk -To assist our administrative secretary, lay volunteers answer phones and greet visitors. They are on duty Monday-Friday 9:00-12:00.
Summer -Office hours are reduced during July and August.
Building:
We are blessed with a beautiful and historic building which serves as a wonderful worship space and home base for our ministries and mission. The main building was erected in 1845. The building boasts excellent acoustics, gorgeous stained glass windows and a top-notch Cassavant pipe organ.
Property Committee -The Property Committee works to maintain and enhance the physical structure and grounds of St. James Church. During the 1990s a capital committee undertook a major restoration of our worship space and tower at a cost of nearly 1 ½ million dollars. In more recent days the property committee has overseen the installation of a new sound system, pipe organ repairs and the complete rebuilding of our kitchen. In the near future we will be improving our washroom facilities. Brian Hope currently chairs the property committee. b_hope@sympatico.ca
Room Rental -We are pleased that community organizations have often made use of our facilities. (for example Brownies, Alanon, Overeaters Anonymous, and Intervarsity Christian Fellowship). Bookings can be made with the wardens’ approval through the parish office. stjameskingston@cogeco.net
Work Parties –The property committee occasionally convenes work parties. Gardening bees are also organized by Judy Beardall tjb@phoenix-ohc.ca.
Capital Fund –a beautiful historic building like ours costs a huge amount to maintain. In recent years a capital fund has been established for money earmarked for building improvements. Many parishioners have given generously to this fund. Substantial contributions have also been made to the fund from proceeds from fund raising events: For instance, each summer Jack Pike organizes a fun bus tour to enjoy musical theatre together jack.pike@sympatico.ca . Each November we also host a fundraising luncheon and sale.
Communications:
Bulletin
Each week a leaflet is prepared in the parish office which includes an order of service for the Sunday liturgy and a listing of upcoming events. Allan Scudamore and Barbara Labreque produce this bulletin. stjameskingston@cogeco.net
Newsletter
The Messenger is the name of our parish newsletter. It is produced every other month and is edited by Geoff and Mary Pond. In an effort to save paper, many parishioners now receive it by email. If you would like to subscribe or submit an article, please e-mail Mary and Geoff at TheMessenger@cogeco.ca
Website
Our web address is stjameskingston.ca. The Website has been designed by Oliver Banyard. He can be contacted at fightlikeabrave87@gmail.com .Our administrative secretary Barbara maintains the site. stjameskingston@cogeco.net .
Finances:
The financial cost of ministry at St. James is about $300,000 annually. Nearly all of this money comes from free-will offerings.
PAG -Many parishioners make their financial contributions by Pre-authorized giving. Funds are automatically deducted from their bank accounts and deposited in St. James’ account. Not only is this extremely convenient for the donor, it also has a wonderfully steadying effect on parish income.
Envelopes -Some other parishioners use a system of dated envelopes. Envelopes may be obtained from Barbara Armstrong.
Planned giving -It has been wonderful to see how many generous parishioners have thought of giving to the ministry of St. James’ from their accumulated assets. A number of people habe chosen to give some stocks and to name St. James’ in their wills. These are wonderful investments in the future ministry of this mission.
Finance Committee -While the wardens have full financial responsibility for the parish, they benefit greatly from the advice of the finance committee. The consultative committee carefully reviews the financial procedures of the parish.
Envelope Secretary -Barbara Armstrong keeps track of who has donated how much to St. James’ and oversees the preparation of tax receipts. She is the only one with access to this confidential information.
Treasurer -The wardens appoint a treasurer to assist them with the accounting of church finances. Our treasurer is Lloyd Therien. bean06@sympatico.ca
Counters -These important workers carefully and confidentially count and record the amounts of the Sunday collections each week.
Long range funding task force -Parish council struck this task force to make plans for the funding the parish’s ministries far into the future. This group has, however, evolved into a more holistic stewardship committee which is seeking to promote generosity in all aspects of life,
Wider Church. -We are not just a local parish church. We are part of the diocese of Ontario which is part of the Anglican Church of Canada, the world-wide Anglican Communion and the universal Church of Christ. So, we are pleased to financially support the work of Christ beyond our parish. In addition to parish programs, St. James contributes about $80,000 annually to diocesan, national and international Anglican ministries and to other mission initiatives.
