Vestry

The vestry is responsible for making sure there is enough money for the ministry and mission of the parish, for setting the budget, and for taking care of the building and grounds.  At St. Jude’s, the vestry is also an integral part of strategic planning and goal setting.  Four members are elected at the annual meeting for a 3 year term of office. The group meets monthly to discuss the goals and programs of the church and to allocate the budget for ongoing church activities.   

The 2013 vestry was elected at the Annual Meeting at the end of January.

Pictured above: Clergy (Rector Wilma Jakobsen) and 2013 Vestry (Pat Coles, Jennifer Stern, Don Disney, Rasika Weerasoriya, Terri Hoornstra, Howard Hill, Liz Jones, Steve Stolarik, Noriko Kunimi, Ken Shuey, Susan Davenport, Andy DeBaets, Bruce LaFetra)

Not pictured: Kevin Bryson

Jennifer Stern is our Senior Warden.  She acts as the Chair of the Vestry.  Bruce LaFetra serves as the Junior Warden.   Bruce works with Syd Jacobsen, our Property Manager, to take care of the maintenance of our campus. The Clerk of the Vestry is Pat Coles, and the Treasurer is Liz Jones. You can read more in the Vestry Profiles.

“The vestry is the elected lay leadership of the parish.  The vestry is entrusted with the temporal affairs of the church, tasked to work with financial aspects of church life, work with the rector and other lay leaders on program, mission, and evangelism for the good of the church locally, regionally, and nationally.  They function as a “trustee” body, making sure the best interests of the local church are being managed on a regular basis.  As trustees, they carry a dual responsibility: to carry out a set of legal mandates as officers of a chartered corporation; and to be the decision-makers of a congregation that is committed not merely to the preservation of a physical institution but engagement in ministry and mission that is constantly changing.”  

[Vestries in the Episcopal Church, by Robert Hansel, Forward Movement Publ. 1993]

“In each Parish the Rector, Wardens, and Vestry shall be the directors and officers authorized by law or by the Articles of Incorporation to manage the affairs of the Parish as a corporation.”

[Canon 19.1 of the Canons of the Diocese of El Camino Real]