Presented for Annual Meeting of February 16, 2025

Pastor's Report for March 2024 thru January 2025

Membership
We have been blessed to continue to see new folks joining in worship at St. Peter. A New Member Service was conducted during our annual outdoor worship service/picnic on September 8th. We were thrilled to formally welcome Sara Morrell and Kalon Hughes to the family. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome.

Worship Services
Bill Schmeelcke, Hugh Canham, Peter Rensvold, and Anne Cinquemani offered sermons throughout the year. All members are invited to participate in this sharing of thoughts and words. Please let Pastor Jinney know if you are interested in volunteering.

Maundy Thursday 2024 was celebrated with Pastor Andrew and St. Andrew Lutheran Church at St. Peter. The washing of hands and feet was offered. A Mediterranean (what would Jesus eat) Potluck followed. Those in attendance offered communion to each other.

Good Friday was celebrated at St. Andrew in conjunction with their congregation.

Holy Humor Sunday was observed the Sunday following Easter. For centuries, in all Christian faith traditions, this Sunday was observed by the faithful as a day of celebration and laughter, a day to reverently but joyfully join together to celebrate Jesus' resurrection.

On April 14th, our Bishop Lee Miller joined our St. Peter family and offered a sermon. He was impressed by the enthusiasm of the congregation.

The Outdoor Service and Picnic was held on Sunday, September 8th. Great fellowship and food (including hand churned on location ice cream) made for a fulfilling combination.

The Blessing of the Animals Service was held on Saturday, October 5th, at 11 am. Once again, the llamas who were in attendance courtesy of the Carminati’s, were the hit of the day. Sassie, the very well-behaved canine fur companion of Nick Casey, joined us in worship prior to her surgery.

Services for All Saints Sunday and Veterans Day Sunday went very well. A table was set up in the front of the sanctuary where worshippers could place photos of departed saints and veterans as appropriate.

A Blue Christmas Service was held with Pastor Andrew Nelson on December 18th.

The Christmas Eve service was held on the 24th at 4:30 pm with attendance in excess of 60 people.

St. Peter welcomed Rev. Jon Berry, who offered a sermon and a post worship lecture on the Quaker tradition. Both were very well received and we look forward to his returning to our church.

Children’s Services
Thanks so some of our dedicated members, a room was completed to offer Sunday School to some of our youngest attendees. The Gradys’, in particular, have done a wonderful job making the room more inviting and useful. Children services were held on a number of Sundays, with the children attending part of the regular worship service and then retreating to the classroom, returning to the church for communion. Teachers included Sandy Grady, Stacey Fecura, Dona Stone, Anne Cinquemani, Bob Cowan, and Sara Morrell. Future classes will be scheduled as requested.

Outreach
Pastor Jinney and Anne Cinquemani continue to lead services, usually on the second Sunday of the month, at the Wilton Home of the Good Shepherd. Several members of the congregation have also been participating in these services, which have been well attended and received. It is also a welcome opportunity to see our dear friend Jim Gourlay.
This year, we offered a Christmas Eve service with communion at Home of the Good Shepherd that included twenty-three participants, a new high in attendance.

Sandy Grady continues to spearhead the monthly outreach project whereby a monthly seasonally-themed gift is delivered to homebound members of our congregation. The purpose is to let them know they remain in our thoughts and prayers. This has been exceptionally well received by the recipients.

To enable more members to attend, the Prayer Group has changed its meetings to bimonthly following our worship service. Sharon Laviska continues to facilitate the Prayer Group.

Thanks to Peter Rensvold, we again held several Red Cross Blood Drives this past year. After many years of heading the blood drives and increasing the number of annual drives from one to three, Peter has decided to retire. We are currently looking for someone else to take charge of this critical program. Hint, hint.

Some members of the church assisted a young woman who was establishing an apartment with furniture, a TV, and other household items. Donations were also collected for gift cards to help her.

Through efforts championed by Stacey Fecura and Sandy Grady, the church has adopted a family of eight for the coming year. Holiday and birthday gifts and food are being provided by members of the congregation.

The weekly message is currently sent to ninety-five email accounts, including members and friends of St. Peter’s, with an average of 70% of the emails being opened by the recipients. This is an impressive rate, given that Constant Contact reports that the industry average open rate is 31%.

Bill Schmeelcke continues to maintain our Facebook account, posting great candid pictures and updates weekly.

The church, thanks to Peter Rensvold, requested a $5000 grant from Global Foundries, which was donated to the Malta Food Bank. Weekly food collections continue as does the yearly soup collection during Souper Bowl Sunday. Pat Palmer has been sending out cards to shut-ins and distant members for birthdays and anniversaries, etc. on behalf of St. Peter.

Pastor created new business cards for the church for anyone to hand out and for our events. The card contains a QR code which takes the user directly to the St Peter webpage.

Table Fellowship
The Monthly Breakfast Brunch at the White House continues to be extremely well attended. It offers good food, lots of laughs, and time for fellowship.

The traditional Carminati Easter feast followed the 2024 Easter Service. The food and décor was incredible. No surprise there! Thank you, Carminati’s!

The Friendsgiving potluck held after worship on Sunday, November 17th was well-attended and enjoyed by all, as per usual!

Two tables full of members took part in the last Lake George brunch cruise of the season. This will also be repeated.

The Upstate New York Synod of the ELCA and the Hudson/Mohawk Conference
Bishop Miller visited our congregation on April 14th.

The Annual Upstate NY Synod Assembly was held on Monday thru Tuesday, June 3-4. Pastor Jinney, Anne Cinquemani, Cindy Hare, Sandy Grady, Peter Rensvold, and Bill Schmeelcke attended. Anne and Sandy were the voting members. Some of the attending members gave an overview of the conference and what they experienced during worship in place of a sermon upon their return.

Hudson-Mohawk Conference was hosted by St Peter in March and went very well. A potluck luncheon was offered by members of the ministerium clergy to honor the conference’s church assistants in recognition of their contributions to our churches.

Confirmation Graduation
Julia and Amanda Cressman were confirmed during the Pentecost service on Sunday, May 19th. Julia read the lessons and Amanda served as acolyte and communion assistant. A nice reception was held in Fellowship Hall afterwards and the new congregants were presented with certificates. Anne Cinquemani accompanied Julia and Amanda to a Presbyterian service and Amanda to a Quaker service to expose them to different styles of worship.

LQBTQIA Activities
St. Peter’s joined with St. Andrew’s to host a table at Saratoga’s Pride Festival at the Farmers’ Market in Saratoga Springs on September 15th. It had been rescheduled from Pride Month due to inclement weather. The purpose was to present St. Peter as a welcoming congregation.

After discussions with the congregation, questions, and surveys, Anne Cinquemani brought the church up to date on the Reconciling in Christ initiative. Results of the congregational survey and initial discussions show that perhaps the right path forward is to review our actions and materials, wordings, etc. to ensure that we meet the goal of being all inclusive and all-welcoming without pursuing the official RIC path and designation. A review of our mission statement to see what message it presents and possibly amending it (with council/congregational approval) would be a start. Bill is to provide our original mission statement from records.

Finances
The annual review of our financial records was completed by Glenn Lunde and Mike Fredericksen. Thanks go out to them for their work!

Kalon Hughes stepped up to fill the role of Treasurer when Rebecca left. He has found a number of cost saving measures and undertaken a number of improvements. He is also in the process of forming a Finance Committee, which he will head, along with a couple of the Council members not on the Executive Staff. It will be held as an open meeting.

We received a donation of a small color printer for the office, allegedly from the Easter Bunny.

A new toilet for the center bathroom was purchased by Bill Schmeelcke and installed by Jeff Carminati.

Thank you, gentlemen! Funds for a new audio system for the church have been graciously donated by an anonymous donor. After receiving cost estimates, a final company was contracted with installation tentatively scheduled for February. Another donor will be providing the new keyboard (which may require a new, or modifications to the existing, keyboard enclosure). We are awaiting input from Laura before the purchase is made.

Anne Cinquemani purchased a new and larger hot water heater for the church. We finished 2024 in the black!

The Quilters’ Group
The quilters group continues meeting twice a month on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of most months. The group received a large stash of material from Pat Miles’ estate.

The Quilting Group supplied quilts for an auction. Two quilts were auctioned off for a total of $300.

Pastor Jinney Updates
The Pastor’s contract with the church was renewed for the standard three-year period.

Events
Thanks to Nick Casey, we held an incredible Santa Event in December where participants could take photos with Santa. This event became a fantastic fellowship opportunity for everyone, including many new faces from the community. It received incredibly good reviews. This year we were able to take pictures and provide a copy to those who “visited” Santa. One of the most appreciated events was the surprise attendance of two of our St. Peter family llamas in full costumes, as escorted by the Carminati’s. Their behavior in the sanctuary was impeccable. By widespread acclaim and the grace of our very own Santa Nick Casey, we will hold this event again this year.

Several members of the church took part in a Cupid’s Run (although this group walked) around the church. These brave volunteers took a walk around the church in their undies, as is the tradition. Proceeds benefit Neurofibromatosis research, a cause that is very personal to Randi Preston, whose sister has been diagnosed with this condition.

Two Paint N’ Sips were held at the church, one in April and another in December. Lunch was provided. Both were extremely well attended. More will be scheduled.

The church family were invited to stay after the worship service for a showing of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” Popcorn, pretzels, whoopers, soda, and Raisonettes were enjoyed, as was enjoying this entertaining movie with a message with our family.

Buildings, Grounds, and Maintenance
Thanks to Bill Schmeelcke, Pastor Jinney’s office, the Administrative Office, and the Nursery/Sunday School Room have been repainted. The kitchen is next on the to-be-repainted list as it will be the same color as the nursery, and we have leftover paint. Bill also provided each newly painted office with new curtains and rods. A big thanks to Bill!

The once-a-month Saturday Workdays continue under the direction of Bill Schmeelcke.

Goodbye and Farewells
The church mourned the sudden passing of Susan Fassett and offered a memorial service and repast at the church.

A memorial service was held for Grace Teal on Saturday, July 13th. Market 32 provided the repast. Stacey Fecura has been providing support to Grace’s husband, John.

The memorial service for Pat Miles was held on Saturday, September 21 at 10AM. A repast was held after the internment at the church.

Both the Miles estate and the Teal estate donated a number of items to the church. Some items have been sold to benefit St. Peter. Other items will be offered at a to-be-scheduled tag sale, with part of the sales going to St. Peter. Stacey, Todd, and Deb, among others, have been instrumental in coordinating this effort.

Looking Forward
We will continue to search for new ways to serve others, by being the hearts, hands, and feet in the walk of Jesus.

Respectfully Submitted with Love,
The Rev. Virginia (Jinney) Vogel-Polizzi
February 16, 2025