The Buildings and Grounds Ministry Team discussed several options for improving the area where two oak trees were removed. They also addressed a neighbor's complaint about falling branches from trees on church property, discussed upcoming workdays, and maintenance of the Memorial Garden. The Communications/Outreach Ministry Team explored effective communication strategies to increase awareness and involvement in outreach. They discussed a potential capital campaign and how to best communicate with parishioners. The Communications Ministry Team addressed installing a corkboard, policies for a new video camera, signups for Habitat for Humanity workdays, and ensuring announcements are sent through all communication channels. They also discussed budgets, metrics for the newsletter, and updates from the Diocese.

1. Ministry Teams Meeting Minutes: 17 February 2016
Ministry Team: Buildings and Grounds
Members Present: Nancy Reed, Ken Tessier, Pete Crow, Matt Chytka
Agenda Items:
• Follow-up on last meeting’s action list.
Action Item Assigned to Due Date Comment
Swap contents of old parlor and
staff office
Alfred and
Ken
Done apart from hanging
pictures
Bring proposal for use of area
where oaks were taken down
Matt 2/17/2016 Done
• How to make better use of the area where the two oak trees were taken down.
o Matt will present some ideas for discussion and work day activity planning.
o Goal: To present a spiritually compatible and visually appealing entrance to the Nativity campus
o Limitations:
Must blend and complement the existing natural setting.
Can not infringe into the overhead power lines
Must not break the bank, self-help labor project preferred
Must be low maintenance or maintenance-free
Must use native plants
o Option 1:
Install a low (12-18”) stone / wood retaining wall to define the space. *
Plant a ‘focal point’ tree / shrub (dogwood, holly, weeping willow) in the center
Install a bird bath, stone or wood benches, and short (<36”) evergreen or flowering shrubs
Spread existing mulch and replenish annually to limit weeds/grass
o Option 2:
Install a low (12-18”) stone / wood retaining wall to define the space. *
Build a small (10’ square/circular) tile or block patio in center
Install a bird bath, stone or wood benches on the patio area
Plant short (<36”) evergreen or flowering shrubs
Spread existing mulch and replenish annually to limit weeds/grass
o Option 3:
Plant low, dense shrubs or liriope for a retaining wall/definition effect on the border
Naturalize the area and keep in minimalist or open looking
Create focal point w/ rocks or an appealing ‘Welcome to Nativity’ sign
Plant lots of bulbs, phlox, to flower in the spring (Easter color)
Install a bird bath, bird feeders
Spread existing mulch and replenish annually to limit weeds/grass
o The options will be discussed further at our next meeting, and related activities identified for the spring
workday in April.
• Playground thoughts.
o Michelle McElrath will join us around 7:15 pm to present some ideas for improving the playground area
behind Estill House.
o Some of these ideas will likely turn into work day activities.
o Some input:
Keep the playground at or behind the existing playground area
There is quite a bit of space between the existing playground and the lot line behind it –
expansion options
Expansion into the area where the last trailer was removed needs to be coordinated with the
Memorial Garden plans. An area with dual use could be envisioned with seating for children and
Memorial Garden visitors.
The pole that is in that area can probably not be removed; there is a light on it that provides
lighting behind Estill House.

2. • We have received a complaint from one of our neighbors about some of our trees growing too large and
potentially causing damage to their backyard and roof.
o Contents of their email:
I would like your staff to evaluate my backyard and backside of roof, because there are plenty of
fallen branches and debris that came from your property trees; caused by wind on the night of
February 15th. During the wind, I heard branches falling on top of my roof three times. Besides it
was scary, I believe some minor damage could have happened to my roof. At the moment, I
don’t know if real damage requires immediate attention and if something happened that requires
attention, I would have to check with my house insurance.
I am writing because I fear three large trees, from your property, might need removal soon. I am
constantly cleaning debris and acorns in my backyard from these trees; which requires a lot of
my time and money to keep my yard cleaned. I also don’t want any future damage happening
that can bring my property value down.
Please evaluate this and let me know your response.
o I believe this is the same neighbor, who has approached us earlier about the same issue. At that time, we
looked and did not find any reason to cut down more trees, but we need to take another look.
o Nancy, Matt and I walked the area the following Friday. Matt also brought a metal detector and located
the survey stakes. The trees are on our lot and one of them has branches hanging way in over the
neighbor’s lot.
o Matt will talk with someone who may be able to prune those branches away.
o We currently do not plan on having the full tree taken down.

3. • Habitat for Humanity building project.
o The Nativity day is Saturday February 27. We need as many folks as possible to make that day great.
o Register for workdays at: http://vhub.at/episcopalbuild2016. Indicate Church of the Nativity as your
organization.
o Contact Chris Christiansen jocmpc@att.net or Sam Taylor samuelmtaylor@earthlink.net for information.
o The building site is at 821 Skinner Dr, Raleigh, NC 27610 – southeast of I40.
o Parking for the project is at: 740 Grove Creek Lane Raleigh, NC 27610.
o Nativity will provide the lunch February 27.
o After the event comment: We lifted up and raised all the trusses on the new house we worked on.
• The flooring around the men's urinal in the restroom off the narthex.
o The flooring is breaking up after many years of “moisture” on the linoleum tiles.
o If we only plan to repair the area that is damaged, we may be able to do so ourselves as one of the
workday activities.
o If the whole floor needs to be replaced, we likely need to call in some professional flooring company.
o Ken Tessier found a piece of linoleum, so we will do this repair on the upcoming workday in April.
• The torn cushion on one of the back pews in the nave.
o Should we have input from the Sacristy Team or is that totally out of their realm.
o The company that built and delivered the pews no longer exists.
o A furniture upholstery contractor would be able to repair it. Names or recommendations?
o We need to contact an upholstery contractor to look at this.
• Hanger rails in Vesting room are loose
o Ken Tessier fixed those. They were all loose and needed to be tightened up.
• A toilet seat in the men’s restroom in Estill House needs replacement
o Alfred bought a new seat and it has been installed.
• Decide on the spring work day date.
o The first potential date would be Saturday April 9.
o Ideas for activities can be emailed to Alfred.B.Christensen@gmail.com
o We need to appoint a coordinator for this next work day.
o The team is in contact with Kathryn to have the youth involved in the work day.
o Current list:
Replace batteries in fire alarms in Estill House.
Re-install coat hook inside the stall in the men’s restroom off the Narthex.
Hang pictures in the new Parlor.
Playground area activities (to be decided during our February meeting).
General clean-up of the campus area: broken branches, leaves, dead plants, etc.
Mulching natural areas. It is a year since we did that last and areas need a new layer.
Pruning bushes and plants.
Plant annuals.
Cedar trees around Memorial Garden need to be pruned rather heavily.
o We may want to do a walk-around to identify areas that need improvement or repairs.
• Memorial Garden maintenance schedule.
o Once a month the following activities are to be performed in and around the Memorial Garden. Each
volunteer decides when during the month it is convenient to perform them:
The Memorial Garden walkways and markers are to be cleaned of leaves and other debris that
cover them.
Dead plants are to be removed.
Wild growing plants are to be pruned.
Weeds are to be removed (as far as possible).
Poisson Ivy is to be treated with Roundup.
Fire ant hives are to be treated with chemicals found in the corner closet of the printer room.
o The general objective is to make the Memorial Garden is a welcoming and peaceful place at any time of
the year.
o The following schedule is suggested and accepted for performing these activities in 2016:
February: Alfred Christensen
March: Chris Christiansen
April: Ken Cawthorne

4. May: David Johnston
June: Ken Tessier
July: Matt Chytka
August: Randy Smith
September: Rick Burts
October: Diana Hudgens
November: (volunteer?)
December: (volunteer?)
• Inclement winter weather preparation policy.
o We have had inclement winter weather a few times the last few weeks, and a question has been raised if
the church has a policy to prepare for such situations. We really do not, so some form of written
instructions on how to prepare for such events should likely be prepared.
o Some suggested content for such a policy:
Make sure we have a stockpile of ice melt at the church.
Establish a procedure for spreading such ice melt ahead of and during a winter weather
situation.
For lighter snow events, have a Nativity team to shovel and brush snow off the walkways.
Thanks to Ken and Ailsa Tessier, we now have a real snow shovel at Nativity.
For heavier snow and ice events, know which contractor to contact in case snow and/or ice
needs to be removed from the parking lot and walkways. (What about the driveway from Ray
Road and into the church area?).
How to prepare outdoor faucets and the Nativity Garden watering system for a deep freeze.
Identify all rooms of all buildings where water pipes are close to exterior walls.
Identify a person to coordinate these activities (Junior Warden?)
What else to consider???
• Names and email addresses of Buildings and Grounds members.
o Most current list of members and their email addresses.
o If there are any changes, please let me know.
Display Name Primary Email
Alfred B Christensen alfred.b.christensen@gmail.com
Chris Christiansen jocmpc@att.net
David Johnston bojdwj@aol.com
Duff McAdams mcadams.ds@gmail.com
Ken Tessier ktessier@bellsouth.net
Ken Special kennethspecial@bellsouth.net
Ken Special kspecial@aii.edu
Marc Marotta Marc.Marotta@skanska.com
Matt Chytka m_chytka@yahoo.com
Randy Smith rmsmith003@nc.rr.com
Rick Burts rickburts@earthlink.net
David Feraco davidferaco@gmail.com
Ann Burts Annburts@earthlink.net
Ken Cawthorne mkcgkc@gmail.com
Nancy E Reed nancyereed@yahoo.com
Action Items Assigned/Tracked:
Action Item Assigned to Due Date Comment
Identify contractor to prune branches off trees that
hang in over neighboring lots
Matt 3/9/2016
Identify contractor to look at the torn pew seat Alfred 3/9/2016
Start working on an inclement weather policy Nancy and Alfred ??

5. Ministry Team: Communications/Outreach
Members Present: Carl Sigel, Pete Crow, Rene Garces, Cheryl Waechter, Gail Christensen, Karen Ridout, Jason Pace,
Ailsa Tessier, Sarah Bernart
Agenda/Items Discussed:
Meeting Objective: To explore and engage in more effective communications that will help build a greater awareness and
involvement of parishioners in Outreach at Nativity and in the greater community.
1. Background - Carl
2. Proposed campaign for debt elimination/outreach development - Pete
3. How effective our existing tools? All
4. What other approaches can we try? All
5. Role of social media - Sarah
6. Specific events going forward - Carl
7. Diocesan communications - Ailsa
Carl and Pete asked the Communications Team how to be effective in communicating to parishioners about Outreach
projects. We spent the evening explaining that the best communications is not what is published or posted - it is personal:
discover those whom you want to reach - then target them - then engage them. This might be done with phone calls, face-
to-face talks, sending thank you notes, writing personal emails, or via announcements at services. It is all about building
relationships.
Pete told us that the Vestry has approved a "discernment meeting" to be held Friday night, March 18, to get information
out and feedback in return about the feasibility of a capital campaign to raise $700,000. The Vestry wants to investigate
whether we could pay off the existing mortgage(s) on our buildings, raise the amount we give to Outreach projects from
our present 1-2% of pledge income to the original goal of 10%, and install solar panels on one or more buildings to
decrease our electric bill from the present $19,000 per year. If the Vestry elects to continue, it will take about 2 years to
complete the process.
After the meeting, we had a discussion via email regarding communications between the leadership and our parishioners,
specifically how to handle email addresses on the website. The Communications Team, in consultation with the Vestry,
ruled against publishing personal email addresses and phone numbers when we built the "new" website in 2012-3. There
are several methods we can explore to assure we protect privacy but facilitate communications. All on this mail were
included in this.
Alfred Christensen has produced the new Church Directory, complete with as many family photographs and personal
email addresses as he could get. It will not be put on the website, but distributed in paper copy only. It should be available
beginning this Sunday. Please pick up one.
There were no Action Items from this meeting.

6. Ministry Team: Communications
Members Present: Gail Christensen, David Cariss, Karen Ridout, Ben Huckaby, Jason Pace, Ailsa Tessier, Emilie Sigel,
Sarah Bernart
Agenda/Items Discussed:
1. Corkboard update
a. Karen found a company that is able to make a solid sheet that we can use for the corkboard (AmCork)
b. Cost will be $110 for a 4’ x 25’ sheet
c. AmCork provided plenty of information on how to best install the cork.
d. Estimate is that it would take about a week to get the cork once the order is placed. Chris Christiansen
has offered to help Karen put it up on the bookshelf in the lobby of Estill House. Right now, it doesn’t look
like it will need a frame.
e. There may be enough left over to do a similar corkboard in the Narthex. Jason will wait to see the first
corkboard to evaluate.
2. Policies and procedures for use of the new video camera
a. No one has responded to our call for volunteers to operate the camera. We need to ask again, and again,
and again.
b. Jason has been tasked with writing a draft of policies and procedures.
3. Habitat for Humanity - sign up info on website
a. Jason has designed web sliders for the upcoming workdays and other events
b. Sign up information and form is live on the website (http://nativityonline.org/serving/habitat-for-humanity/)
c. Concern was raised about whether or not there is clear enough communication that people MUST
register with Habitat before going to the site; they can’t just show up. Change the wording on the current
web slider so that it says “Online Registration Required” instead of “Click to Register” - Jason: done
d. Ailsa will be sure to change the wording in the Glad Tidings article to “must register” from “can register”
e. Need to create posters for this - Jason: done
4. Posters and web sliders assignments
a. Habitat for Humanity poster? - Jason: done
b. Holy Week (David, can recycle previous year’s sliders with updated information)
i. Palm Sunday (web slider)
ii. Holy Week (web sliders)
iii. Good Friday (web slider)
iv. Easter (web slider, road banner)
c. Spirituality in the Arts - Jason
d. Service times banner
i. Currently there is no roadside banner out front. Ailsa will hang the banner in the copy room
e. Adult Formation? Gail will contact new Team leader (who is it?)
f. Environmental Stewardship - Gail will contact Carl Sigel
5. For the recent service that was canceled due to inclement weather, was an email sent out? Can we make sure
that in the future announcements such as a cancellation go out to all communication channels, including email?
Gail will contact Stephanie and Jennie.
6. Budget update
a. $1200 is our budget for the year
7. Glad Tidings metrics
a. Some code needs to be added to future digital Glad Tidings in order for Google Analytics to be able to
track traffic going to them. Right now we can only see how many people go to the Keep Informed page,
but we can’t tell anything else. If people follow a link in the monthly email, they bypass the Keep Informed
page.
8. Diocesan update
a. Ailsa has been sending articles about Nativity doings to the Diocesan communications staff. She will write
something in Glad Tidings for signing up for the Please Note weekly email from the diocese.

7. Action Items Discussed/Tracked:
Action Item Assigned To Due Date
First draft of camera policies and procedures Jason 3/9
Put up service times road banner Ailsa 2/20
Purchase and erect corkboard in Estill House Karen 3/1
Habitat for Humanity web slider and poster Jason 2/18
Palm Sunday, Easter, Holy Week posters David 3/13
Contact Adult Ed Team and Carl Sigel re required posters Gail 2/21
Discuss Constant Contact changes with Jennie Gail 2/24
Add code to Glad Tidings PDF to aid Google Analytics Jeremy 2/22
Write article for GT re Please Note Ailsa 2/18

8. Ministry Team: Outreach
Members Present: Cheryl Waechter, Dave McKinnon, Carl Sigel, David Lynch, Tom Schuler, Pete Crow, Rene Garces
Agenda Items Discussed:
1. Pride Packs (Cheryl): Got 5 volunteers to deliver goods to LES for April and May since Cheryl and Judy may not be in
town. Cheryl is handling March, to deliver goods. Apparently, food donations towards the end of the school year sit around
through the summer, and in some cases some of the food spoils and is no longer available to LES students. Cheryl hopes
to increase volunteer involvement with Pride Packs, and prefers to take more of a project manager role for this endeavor.
The dollar donations for this year have decreased by several magnitudes when compared to last year's donations. There
was some discussion on how to better use social media to communicate Outreach's needs for Back Packs, and other
ministry items. Cheryl reported there are less children needing help this year, and the number went down from about 60
last year to 29 this year.
2. Outreach Metrics (Dave): Dave discussed how he's trying to capture and format metrics for several activities/ministries
in order to track them, and explained he's trying to figure out “what” exactly should be measured for each activity/ministry.
Perhaps need to ask communications team for an app, or some means, for folks involved with activities like Inter-faith
Food Shuttle, or Back Pack buddies collections/donations, to enter data, so those activities' metrics can be easily entered
and captured throughout the year.
3. Habitat Project (Dave): This past Saturday (2/13) the project kicked off. 2/27 is scheduled to be Nativity's day to
participate, whereby, the majority of the participants should be from Nativity. Nativity will provide lunch. Those who want to
participate need to register.
4. Pre-weatherizations (Carl): Carl reported Pre-weatherization is explained on the COTN web-page. There's a
government program available to senior and disadvantaged home owners, offering them resources to improve their
home's energy efficiency, sometimes requiring minor repairs and the clearing out of crawl-space and attic space, in order
for insulation to be installed. An ecumenical team of volunteers has been organized to complete the preliminary work so
the home owners will qualify for full weatherization. The work generally only takes 2 to 4 hours. . Some more folks have
volunteered for this worthy cause. Please contact Carl if you would to help.
5. Bread for the World (Carl): March 19 from 8:30 – 3 is next event at Highland Memorial Church on Ridge Road Full day
program with speakers, addressing hunger at home and abroad, including childhood malnutrition. Last year COTN was a
sponsor, and this year Carl and Cheryl won't be in town, so they're looking for volunteers to attend and represent COTN.
6. Team building/Communications (Carl): Discussed how to better communicate Outreach activities/events, how to recruit
more insterest in Outreach, and how to collect metrics, all possibly requiring help from Communicatinos ministry.
7. 2016 Budget Approved (Carl): Touched on briefly, surrounding budget for Habitat House and request from them, but
ran out of time to discuss entire budget in greater depth. Tom Schuler reported that the Outreach budget for 2106 is $10K.
8. Other
1. SOLARIZE TRIANGLE (Carl Sigel): SOLARIZE the Triangle is a movement to encourage home owners and small
businesses to install solar. Communities of faith and other organizations are helping to get the word out. Those
who participate in the program will benefit by a group discount. By being a SOLARIZE partner and hosting a
meeting, Nativity will also be eligible for the group discount for our solar project. Nativity is now scheduled to host
a meeting at 7 pm on March 30. Nativity is partnering with St. John’s Episcopal Church on this project. We will
invite members of other Episcopal churches in the Triangle to attend the meeting. Environmental Stewardship
committee is working with Sierra Club, 350.org and partnering with other churches to bring attention to planet's
issues.
2. Pete Crow mentioned a meeting of the congregation with consultants is scheduled for March 18 to discuss ways
the vestry is looking for the church to raise money to eliminate debt and increase funding for outreach activities
(broadly defined).