Council Notes October 4, 2023
Council was called to order by President Gary Apgar. Council Minutes of the September meeting were approved as written. The Treasurer’s Report from September were approved as written.
President’s Report: This month we are spending time reflecting on Gratitude. This is a very important part of our Christian life! It is good to spend time reading and talking about Gratitude. We should be grateful every day. I think it’s safe to say Jesus was grateful every day. I am blessed to have people in my life that are always, every day, reminding me how grateful they are. I am always grateful every day, but I admit that I don’t always express this feeling enough. I am working on trying to express my gratitude more. Another very important event that is going on now is the pledge for next year. Please pray for your pledge and please be timely on turning in your pledge. As everyone should know we are grateful for all our church family.
Pastor’s Report: Pastor continues to provide pastoral care, provide ministry leadership, teach the Faith, participate in the Community and Wider Church, and learn for Ministry. Other than what is noted in new business, no new directory updates. We will close these discussions for 2023 and start the new discussion with the 2024 council. The Stewardship campaign on Gratitude is going well. We currently have two, enthusiastic confirmands ready to start their journey.
Ministry Team Reports:
Christian Education: Parents’ Night Out – Youth Fellowship (PNO-YF): Our next PNO-YF event will be on October 13. September’s event was attended by 7 children and $50 was
collected to be used for future youth events.
Monday Night Bible Study (MNBS): September 25 to December 11 – “What Happens When Women Walk in Faith,” by Lysa Terkeurst.
Communications: Sign has been updated.
Fellowship: Almost 50 individuals met in Faith’s sanctuary to experience the most heartwarming, emotional life story of Julie Henning, an Amerasian and the “adopted” daughter of Pearl S. Buck. $508 was raised for Pearl S Buck Foundation.
Finance: At approx. 75% of the year, member pledged giving is at 66%, and Member unpledged envelopes is at 65%. Loose plate offering is still up over our projections. At this point, our budget deficit increased by $1,519.33, leaving us with a total deficit of $23,489.77. Under income it is noted that our Thrivent Choice Dollars are much lower than expected. We need to contact David Kratz and have him check on that and send out reminders to people to direct their Choice Dollars to our church. The Team met on Thursday, September 14, to put together a proposed budget and prepare the pledge packets that were handed out on September 24. Pledge Sunday is October 8. Next team meeting will be October 26.
Fundraising: Sundae World fundraiser raised $48.02. The latest submission of Redner’s receipts was $54.87. Upcoming scrap-booking fundraisers are coming in October & November. October 8 is the Wawa hoagie sale fundraiser. Checks are starting to come in from vendors for the Holiday Bazaar.
Hospitality: Deb and Anne will be meeting before Thanksgiving to work on next year’s schedule.
Long-Range Planning: First meeting should be scheduled by the end of October.
Mutual Ministry: The team met with all four staff members. Notes were reviewed.
Property Team: Fall clean-up day is scheduled for October 28 (rain date November 4). We will fill the pothole, clean up fallen branches, and rake the leaves. We can use tarps, wheel barrels, rakes, leaf blowers, and helping hands. Need to ask Adam to check with the front sign vendor since there is some wear and tear showing on our new outdoor sign.
Shepherding: Planning to send Halloween cards to the children.
Social Ministry: September – Our congregation exceeded our goal and donated $177 towards the purchase of books for children through 141 Impact. October – Code Blue - We will be collecting socks, mittens, gloves, scarves as well as energy bars, individual packs of crackers, juice boxes, etc. Pastor looking into services projects outside the church.
Stewardship: In progress the past few weeks. Commitment Sunday is October 8.
Transportation: Dale is now also taking Wawa food to the adult day care center at Lansdale Hospital, as well as the Boys and Girls club.
Worship & Music: The team met on September 17 and planned services through Ash Wednesday. Advent will be pushed forward a week, and there will be two services on Christmas Eve (AM and PM). The offering plate will remain in the back, but with a note in the bulletin to advise visitors. The plates will be passed on Christmas Eve. Coming soon – announcements will be provided on the screen instead of being read at the beginning of church. Acolytes will be assigned for first and high Sunday services.
OLD BUSINESS Constitution Update – Draft in review by Executive Committee. Now will be sent to the council for review. Moving the library books to be more accessible (need volunteer librarian.) What “things” did we stop doing because of Covid and/or lack of permanent Pastor? Should we look to bring any of these items back? The list created by the council will be sent out to the individual ministry teams for review. First-Responder needs – what kinds of things would our congregation find helpful should we bring in the local fire/police? This list will be provided for the person who attends the Township meeting on November 1 (Pastor to recruit volunteer to attend), then discussed at council. Background checks for the staff need to be reviewed and updated where necessary.
NEW BUSINESS The Food Addicts are asking if it may be possible for them to change from Tuesday to Thursday nights. At the council meeting it was mentioned that the Girl Scouts would also prefer another night. If they can “piggyback” on using the heat and AC on one night and the calendar allows for it, they can move. Please be sure that Adam is kept in the loop. It was also noted that sometimes the Korean church does not have services. We’re asking Janet to contact them to make sure they let us know ahead of time if they can so that the church isn’t being heated or air-conditioned unnecessarily. Lauren (Allegrezza) and Chris Krupp have requested to be moved to the “Friends of Faith” list since they have joined a new church in Souderton. Sunday’s 5:30 Faith Education Dinner – Council volunteered to provide the meal for October 8. Pastor requested info on any movie policies. Any plans for Halloween – Pastor will be encouraging all to “dress up” for the Sunday service and coffee hour. The Nominating Team has started discussions to put together a slate of candidates for council for 2024. The current team is Sharon Hood (chair), Mary Lou Foster and Paul Prunkel. There are 3 seats to fill for this year, and we still have an open seat from last year (we were only able to get 2 people instead of 3). As a reminder - the council can be 7-9 people. It is set up as a 3-year term and works best to elect 3 new members every year. You can serve two 3-year terms and then you have a required year off before you can run again.
Next Meeting: Wednesday, November 1, 2023, at 7:00 PM. Will be a hybrid meeting.
Council was called to order by President Gary Apgar. Council Minutes of the September meeting were approved as written. The Treasurer’s Report from September were approved as written.
President’s Report: This month we are spending time reflecting on Gratitude. This is a very important part of our Christian life! It is good to spend time reading and talking about Gratitude. We should be grateful every day. I think it’s safe to say Jesus was grateful every day. I am blessed to have people in my life that are always, every day, reminding me how grateful they are. I am always grateful every day, but I admit that I don’t always express this feeling enough. I am working on trying to express my gratitude more. Another very important event that is going on now is the pledge for next year. Please pray for your pledge and please be timely on turning in your pledge. As everyone should know we are grateful for all our church family.
Pastor’s Report: Pastor continues to provide pastoral care, provide ministry leadership, teach the Faith, participate in the Community and Wider Church, and learn for Ministry. Other than what is noted in new business, no new directory updates. We will close these discussions for 2023 and start the new discussion with the 2024 council. The Stewardship campaign on Gratitude is going well. We currently have two, enthusiastic confirmands ready to start their journey.
Ministry Team Reports:
Christian Education: Parents’ Night Out – Youth Fellowship (PNO-YF): Our next PNO-YF event will be on October 13. September’s event was attended by 7 children and $50 was
collected to be used for future youth events.
Monday Night Bible Study (MNBS): September 25 to December 11 – “What Happens When Women Walk in Faith,” by Lysa Terkeurst.
Communications: Sign has been updated.
Fellowship: Almost 50 individuals met in Faith’s sanctuary to experience the most heartwarming, emotional life story of Julie Henning, an Amerasian and the “adopted” daughter of Pearl S. Buck. $508 was raised for Pearl S Buck Foundation.
Finance: At approx. 75% of the year, member pledged giving is at 66%, and Member unpledged envelopes is at 65%. Loose plate offering is still up over our projections. At this point, our budget deficit increased by $1,519.33, leaving us with a total deficit of $23,489.77. Under income it is noted that our Thrivent Choice Dollars are much lower than expected. We need to contact David Kratz and have him check on that and send out reminders to people to direct their Choice Dollars to our church. The Team met on Thursday, September 14, to put together a proposed budget and prepare the pledge packets that were handed out on September 24. Pledge Sunday is October 8. Next team meeting will be October 26.
Fundraising: Sundae World fundraiser raised $48.02. The latest submission of Redner’s receipts was $54.87. Upcoming scrap-booking fundraisers are coming in October & November. October 8 is the Wawa hoagie sale fundraiser. Checks are starting to come in from vendors for the Holiday Bazaar.
Hospitality: Deb and Anne will be meeting before Thanksgiving to work on next year’s schedule.
Long-Range Planning: First meeting should be scheduled by the end of October.
Mutual Ministry: The team met with all four staff members. Notes were reviewed.
Property Team: Fall clean-up day is scheduled for October 28 (rain date November 4). We will fill the pothole, clean up fallen branches, and rake the leaves. We can use tarps, wheel barrels, rakes, leaf blowers, and helping hands. Need to ask Adam to check with the front sign vendor since there is some wear and tear showing on our new outdoor sign.
Shepherding: Planning to send Halloween cards to the children.
Social Ministry: September – Our congregation exceeded our goal and donated $177 towards the purchase of books for children through 141 Impact. October – Code Blue - We will be collecting socks, mittens, gloves, scarves as well as energy bars, individual packs of crackers, juice boxes, etc. Pastor looking into services projects outside the church.
Stewardship: In progress the past few weeks. Commitment Sunday is October 8.
Transportation: Dale is now also taking Wawa food to the adult day care center at Lansdale Hospital, as well as the Boys and Girls club.
Worship & Music: The team met on September 17 and planned services through Ash Wednesday. Advent will be pushed forward a week, and there will be two services on Christmas Eve (AM and PM). The offering plate will remain in the back, but with a note in the bulletin to advise visitors. The plates will be passed on Christmas Eve. Coming soon – announcements will be provided on the screen instead of being read at the beginning of church. Acolytes will be assigned for first and high Sunday services.
OLD BUSINESS Constitution Update – Draft in review by Executive Committee. Now will be sent to the council for review. Moving the library books to be more accessible (need volunteer librarian.) What “things” did we stop doing because of Covid and/or lack of permanent Pastor? Should we look to bring any of these items back? The list created by the council will be sent out to the individual ministry teams for review. First-Responder needs – what kinds of things would our congregation find helpful should we bring in the local fire/police? This list will be provided for the person who attends the Township meeting on November 1 (Pastor to recruit volunteer to attend), then discussed at council. Background checks for the staff need to be reviewed and updated where necessary.
NEW BUSINESS The Food Addicts are asking if it may be possible for them to change from Tuesday to Thursday nights. At the council meeting it was mentioned that the Girl Scouts would also prefer another night. If they can “piggyback” on using the heat and AC on one night and the calendar allows for it, they can move. Please be sure that Adam is kept in the loop. It was also noted that sometimes the Korean church does not have services. We’re asking Janet to contact them to make sure they let us know ahead of time if they can so that the church isn’t being heated or air-conditioned unnecessarily. Lauren (Allegrezza) and Chris Krupp have requested to be moved to the “Friends of Faith” list since they have joined a new church in Souderton. Sunday’s 5:30 Faith Education Dinner – Council volunteered to provide the meal for October 8. Pastor requested info on any movie policies. Any plans for Halloween – Pastor will be encouraging all to “dress up” for the Sunday service and coffee hour. The Nominating Team has started discussions to put together a slate of candidates for council for 2024. The current team is Sharon Hood (chair), Mary Lou Foster and Paul Prunkel. There are 3 seats to fill for this year, and we still have an open seat from last year (we were only able to get 2 people instead of 3). As a reminder - the council can be 7-9 people. It is set up as a 3-year term and works best to elect 3 new members every year. You can serve two 3-year terms and then you have a required year off before you can run again.
Next Meeting: Wednesday, November 1, 2023, at 7:00 PM. Will be a hybrid meeting.
