Your source of news, and everything that keeps our parish running! In this message: Renew & Revitalize News, a Plea for Greeters, an Article about St. James, Grave Price Increases, and the Importance of Directory Pictures

The Renew and Revitalize Task Force met in person and online last night. As promised in last week's member news, this week's update will be primarily about finances. Thank you to Task Force member Tom Finlan for the report below.

Before that, the Task Force talked about the progress on finding a local engineer to work with architect Sam Geer. We have a top candidate, whose references will be checked by Task Force members Omaira Crane, Ocean Mills, and Lisa Wolfe. She will be meeting us alongside Sam here at St. James on October 21. No agreements will be entered into until then, and we'll share more information in the coming weeks. Most notably, she has considerable experience working on commercial projects in Scarsdale. Additional candidates have not been ruled out.

Additionally, the HVAC subgroup resolved to begin gathering prices on our various options for replacing the church heating system. This will give more direction to the committee so that we're prepared to move if our timeline changes--i.e., if it should be deemed necessary to install the new system *before* work on the parking lot begins in the spring. 

Now here's a portion of Tom's finance report, which you can continue reading by clicking the button below. For the statement of receipt and expenses, see here.

• The Capital Campaign Fund ("Fund") has received total contributions $602,224 as of September 6, 2024.

• The Fund has earned interest income on these receipts of $5,969.

• The Fund has incurred the following expenses: consultant fee ($135,000), restricted gifts to outreach ($12,162), other expenses ($6,196), and program expenses ($1750).

• The Fund currently has $453,220 in cash invested in a Preferred Deposit Program (PDP) at Merrill Lynch in a separate account dedicated to the Capital Campaign.

• The PDP provides a floating rate yield. The current yield is 4.71%. 

Movement of the Money Market Funds into a Certificate of Deposit:

• Discussion with Joshua Jesperson, our Merrill Lynch financial advisor confirmed the following: 

-The rate offered in the PDP will change rapidly and in concert with any movements in monetary policy at the Federal Reserve.

-Josh could not say if the movement will be a "one-to-one movement," something more or something less.

The Scarsdale Insider wrote up a lovely piece about our 175th anniversary year. Click below to see it. The piece captured St. James so well, starting with it's first line, quoted above. :) Thank you to our 175th Communications team and especially Andrea West and Russell Grant for making thie piece happen!

Ever caught yourself saying that while looking around the church? Help eliminate the mystery: Upload your photo in the Member Directory. If it's easier, upload one family photo for everyone in your family, or do individual pics (see my family's profile as an example). If we all do this, we'll have a great resource for getting to know one another this coming year (which was off to such a fabulous start last Sunday!).

They're the first people you see when you walk in the door, the friendly face that sets the tone for your entire experience at St. James. This is a great opportunity for members to get to know other people in the church, and to serve in a role that's one of the most important for newcomers first stepping foot in our doors. Many people can remember who was greeting the day they first attended St. James--even as long as 30 years ago! Click below to sign up, and we'll work with your schedule and tell you what to do. Thank you!

The Graveyard at St. James the Less is a treasure--a place of solemnity and grief, but also joy, worship, and history. It's an "active graveyard," meaning not only that we still bury people there today, but also that it's part of the life of our parish all year long, from egg hunts to Sunday services to commemorations on Memorial and Veterans' Day. 

Pledging members of St. James the Less are eligible to buy plots in our graveyard. The Graveyard Board decided to raise prices for plots effect January 1^st, 2025. Buy before then at the current, lower price. Price increases will be as follows:

• $6,000 for Full Casket Plots (currently $5,000)

• $2,500 for Resurrection Garden Plots (currently $2,000)

• Niches will stay the same at $3,000

• Prices for non-parishioners (with approval from the Rector) are x2

Buy before January 1 at the current rates. If you're interested and/or want to learn more, fill out the very brief form below and someone will be in touch.

Read the minutes from our elected leaders, the vestry, which meets to discuss and vote on church business every month. The next vestry meeting is Tuesday September 17.

2024 Vestry Minutes

Please check and update your information, while helping us keep everyone's info secure and password protected

Breeze Online Directory Invitation

To Reach a Warden:

Senior Warden, Pam Heldman: pamheldman@gmail.com

Junior Warden, Christopher Burrows: cburrows37@gmail.com