Dear Members of Trinity Church, Cornwall,
A Special Vestry will be held, by Zoom, on Wednesday May 26 at 7:00 p.m. to authorize the withdrawal of $85,000 from the Consolidated Trust Fund of the Diocese of Ottawa to pay for urgent and necessary repair work on the masonry of the Church, and to pay for 2019 arrears owing to the Diocese of Ottawa.
Given this Vestry will be held online, registration is required and you can do so by following the link below by Wednesday, May 26, at 12:00pm.
The Registration Form can be found here: https://forms.gle/zLo6rgzmgTKJCitj6
If you experience any problems with the form, please contact Father Adam at adamjoseph.brown@mail.utoronto.ca .
Background and Rationale for the Trinity Special Vestry Motion Building Repairs
Urgent repairs are needed to the stonework of the building. The buttresses on the north side are an immediate concern At least 4 buttresses have deteriorated to the extent that restoration is necessary, the rest will at least need re-pointing. Three stonework companies were approached; Porter Restoration, Keith Kennedy, and Keystone Masonry. Porter declined to bid, and Keystone had the lowest quote. Their quote of $22,500+HST includes 10 days of labour by two masons and an apprentice, as well as materials and equipment. Keystone has an impressive resume of repairs to buildings in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario including the Diocese buildings and the Cornwall Jail. We are deliberately “rounded up” out CTF withdrawal for this project to allow for unforeseen expenses.
Priestly Services and Monies Owing to Diocese
In 2018. the Area Parish of St. Lawrence was formed with Christ Church, St. John the Evangelist and Trinity sharing two priests. The intent of the Area Parish is to combine priestly resources in order to make all three churches viable. Progress has been made in this regard, but Trinity has a large footprint and is has not yet been able to fund Priestly services through the operating account: payment for ECOPS and Fair Share tends to be in arrears each year,
Trinity has only managed to reimburse the Diocese for its lay employees in 2019: we owe for priestly services rendered in 2019, as well as for 2020. At the end of 2020, the Financial administrate or the Diocese, Sanjay Glover, wrote to Trinity asking when and how the arrears would be paid. At this point, it would be a sign of good faith for Trinity to pay off the 2019 arrears from the CTF Fund. We are grateful for the ministry of our priests and need to show that we are committed to them.