New VGEC Committees Launched in 2014

Board member and Treasurer Duke DuTeil's dedication typifies the hard work of our many volunteer committee members

This week VGEC President Scott Smith surveys the work of a growing number of volunteers within the committees that help operate the VGEC in support of your personal verger ministry.

For many years, a number of volunteers have been the backbone of day to day operations while also applying their experience to long term goal development. The guild has always had a very active board of directors. There are eleven board members (nine elected and two ex-officio) who work together to direct VGEC strategy and operations.

New committees of the VGEC have been launched in 2014 allowing us to focus on various critical areas of the organization and to greatly increase the number of people who are involved in leadership of the guild. The committees are evolving and will be adding new members.

Please consider how you can apply your counsel, experience, and skills to work with the leadership of the VGEC. Email me at [email protected] or email any of the committees or the committee chairs at the email addresses indicated on each committee’s web site page. This work is fulfilling and is a pleasure to participate in (most of the time!). Here is the latest news from our (very) active committees:

Annual Conference Committee
In the past the primary role of the Vice President has been to coordinate the location of future annual conferences and to support the planning and conduct of the current-year conference. This one-person job is now a committee of six people who all have experience working on our conferences or will be involved in future conferences. A planning meeting was recently held at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri site of the 2015 conference. Members are also working hard to make sure the 2014 conference in Burlington, Ontario in Canada is a huge international success. Where will the conference be in 2016, 2017 and 2018? Stay tuned or contact the committee to help decide!
Email: [email protected]
Online: http://www.vergers.org/about/GuildLeadership/committees/conference

Chapter Development Committee
We have six diocesan chapters of the VGEC: Atlanta, Dallas, Mississippi, Southeast Florida, Tennessee, and Texas. In 2014, we want to vastly improve how we represent and help promote the chapters and specifically how the VGEC can offer assistance to the chapters. We are actively encouraging and helping more dioceses to form new VGEC chapters. Board members Rich Lammlin and Richard Parker are heading up this new committee along with representatives from the existing chapters. You will see exciting news about current and developing chapters in the coming months!
Email: [email protected]
Online: http://www.vergers.org/about/GuildLeadership/committees/chapters

Communication and Technology Committee
This committee was formed in 2009 at the VGEC annual meeting in San Diego. In the last six months, the committee has re-invented the "Verger’s Voice" newsletter into an active news blog located at news.vergers.org. The vergers.org web site recently received a major organizational overhaul. Now the Technology sub-committee is hard at work moving the membership.vergers.org server to a new home in the Amazon Web Services cloud. The committee will soon meet to elect a new chair and to set objectives for the rest of 2014 and beyond.
Email: [email protected]
Online: http://www.vergers.org/about/GuildLeadership/committees/communications

General Convention Committee
Immediate Past President Margaret McLarty is chairing this committee as she has for the past two conventions. In 2015, General Convention will be in Salt Lake City and the VGEC plans to have a conspicuously active presence with a booth and participation in worship as directed by the convention liturgical leadership. Other members of the committee include vergers with experience or interest in working in the VGEC booth at General Convention. This committee also works to improve our relations with the Episcopal Church and other church organizations around the world.
Email: [email protected]
Online: http://www.vergers.org/about/GuildLeadership/committees/convention

Guild Shop Committee
The Guild Shop exists to supply vergers with verger stuff. It’s really that plain and simple! But what’s not plain and simple is running the Guild Shop... VGEC President Emeritus Bill Gleason has been expertly and tirelessly operating the Guild Shop as a true labor of love for many, many years. He continues in that role today. We recently formed the Guild Shop Committee to help spread some of the work around to others in the VGEC. Barry Norris, board member and verger at The Church of the Holy Spirit in Harleysville, Pennsylvania is Board Liaison for the committee while Bill is serving as committee chair. We are very pleased with how the relationship between the shop and Amazon Store Services is going. The committee is also working to streamline the process of ordering and obtaining several of the embroidered clothing items. This very active committee takes care of your Guild Shop orders every day. We look forward to news of more shop upgrades in the coming months. If you have interest in helping with the Guild Shop, please contact [email protected].
Email: [email protected]
Online: http://www.vergers.org/about/GuildLeadership/committees/shop

Membership Committee
One of the most vital and challenging operational areas of the VGEC is processing memberships, especially since our active membership roster is now hovering around 1,500 members. Membership Secretary Cheryl Cantrall, verger at All Saint’s Episcopal Church in Lakeland, Florida has worked in that role since the 2010 Annual Conference in Washington, DC. In 2014, Cheryl became chair of the new Membership Committee with the idea of spreading the tasks associated with membership services to several members working together. In February, the Membership Committee announced that Betty and Karl Moore, vergers at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Laurel, Mississippi are working to audit the membership database. David Neville from St Simons Episcopal Church in Conyers, Georgia is working as photo editor to edit and approve all headshots submitted by members. And the best news is that we are about to launch a new online PDF Membership Directory. There is so much going on in the area of membership. Look for a follow-up Verger’s Voice blog post focusing just on membership services!
Email: [email protected]
Online: http://www.vergers.org/about/GuildLeadership/committees/membership

Nomination Committee
The VGEC Bylaws set out the Nomination Committee as the one committee that MUST be formed every year. This year, the committee of five members was established at the January board meeting. They have already met in a conference-call meeting and elected a chair, Mike Malone, verger at Church of the Holy Cross, Poplar Bluff, Missouri. The committee will work to build a slate of nominees for the board election at the VGEC annual meeting on Saturday, September 27, 2014 in Burlington, Ontario. It's OK to nominate yourself-just contact the committee and let them know of your interest in helping!
Email: [email protected]
Online: http://www.vergers.org/about/GuildLeadership/committees/nomination

Training Committee
Last week’s Verger’s Voice blog post covered the Training Committee. Check it out!
Email: [email protected]
Online: http://www.vergers.org/about/GuildLeadership/committees/training

This gives you an idea of the work being done, much of it online, by an increasing number of dedicated volunteers across the country. Again, I encourage you to join in our committee activities by contacting me at [email protected] or by emailing any of the committees or the committee chairs at the email addresses indicated on each committee’s online web page.