Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Rapidan, Virginia

Our Vestry

The Vestry consists of elected lay members of the church that participate with the rector in the oversight of parish life and ministry. Vestry members share the responsibility of ensuring that the spiritual mission of the church is maintained as well as carrying out the duties related to church property, finances and personnel. 

The Vestry at Emmanuel has six members  each serving a 3 year term.  Nominees are announced and voted on each year at the annual church meeting in January. Vestry meetings are usually held monthly.

Emmanuel’s vestry:

Linda Heilbron – Senior Warden 

Oversees the work of the church and serves as a consultant to the priest 

Beth Wilbanks – Junior Warden  

Responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the church buildings and grounds 

John Kauffmann –  Clerk

Takes minutes at Vestry meetings and sends out monthly news and activities of the church

Meg Donnelly – Stwewardship Chair

Woody Purcell 

Thomas Payette

Outreach Coordinator:  Betty Long

Treasurer:  Rachel Rondell

 

 

Vestry Adopts Behavioral Covenant

At  the meeting on May 28, 2023, the following Covenant was adopted:

Behavioral Covenant

In our work and conversations as members of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, we realize that there can be conflict, disagreements, and misunderstandings.  In order to maintain clear communication and personal assumptions, we covenant together the following:

 

  • We promise to honor the worth and dignity of each other and to extend trust, patience and goodwill to one another.
  • We promise to listen with an open, non-judgmental mind to the words and ideas of others and to try to understand their point of view.
  • We will focus on issues and behavior in our conversations. We will not talk about people. When talking about events or issues in our congregation, we will seek to use words and sentences that describe the situation and do not evaluate the situation.
  • We will seek to express ourselves clearly and honestly so that we are certain that other members understand our point of view.
  • We accept disagreement, conflict and evaluation as normal and natural. In this regard, we will seek to deal constructively with disagreements or conflicts by one or more of the following:
    • Going directly to the person with whom there is a disagreement or conflict
    • Having an agreed upon third party meet with the conflicted persons
    • Agree to meet with an assigned committee to work out the disagreement or conflict.
  • We will seek to know one another as individuals and friends building community together and to discover what is best for our church as a whole, not what may be best for us or for some small group in the church.