September Mustard Seed - Council Notes

Council Notes: August 14, 2019

Council was called to order by President Debbie Hollenbach and commenced with devotions from Sharon Hood from Psalm 111.

New Business:

• Monetary Donation from Piligian Family – Faith has received a memorial in the amount of $2500 from Rob Piligian in memory/honor of his parents, Pat and Hiag. He requested that the funds be used to spread the word. Pastor G sent a thank you to the family
  
• Community Outdoor Movie Nights – This is a wonderful ministry which is attended by community members and church members alike. Council discussed what procedures must be followed when proposing community events.
  
• Families in Need – the question was asked regarding the church’s response to requests for families asking for financial help.
  
• Church Picnic at Little Farm Estates – Sharon is hosting this event and inviting the residents of her community. We have secured Thrivent funds to cover some of the costs, but sides and desserts will be needed. More discussion about the picnic (including possible games to get folks interacting) will be held during a Fellowship meeting on August 25.
  
• Process for new ideas for events, projects, expenditures:
  
  • What Ministry team does it fall under? o Who has ownership?
    
  • Council asks the Ministry team to make a decision/recommendation.
    
  • If funding is involved, where would funding come from?
    
  • Ministry team reports back to council.
    
  • Council approves. If not, reasons are provided back to the Ministry team.

Secretary’s Report: The June and August meeting notes will be reviewed for approval in September.
Treasurer’s Report: Council reviewed the July report with Denise. President’s Report: See ministry budget process under Finance.

Pastor’s Report: Since the topic of LBGTQ in the ELCA and our church has been coming up frequently, now is the time for a discussion with the congregation. Pastor G is planning a 6-week Bible Study (between services) that will cover the ELCA’s stance, how this was derived, and the biblical scholarship behind it.

Transition Team:

• The transition team has been meeting regularly and making headway with incorporating the congregation’s feedback into the MSP. We are still hoping to have it submitted to the Synod before the Dean’s meeting in September. Before this can happen, the congregation needs to approve it
  
• We will need to have a “Call Team” in place shortly. This is chosen by Pastor G based on recommendations from council and those that have expressed an interest. Note that those on the Transition team are not eligible.
  
• The call committee’s work is:
  
  • Call Committee receives names of candidates, along with their paperwork, from the Synod. They are required to keep all of the information, including the names of candidates, confidential.
    
  • The Call Team determines which (if any) of the presented candidates they wish to interview. They arrange the interview times and conduct interviews.
    
  • If the committee wishes to continue with any candidates, they then arrange a time to attend worship led by the candidate.
    
  • Following this interview process, the committee may recommend one name to the council. Any other candidates are released from the process. This is done in conversation, and with the assistance of the Office of the Bishop representative. The Interim pastor is not involved in this process.
    
  • Council interviews the candidates and makes the decision to recommend one to the congregation. If candidate is recommended to the congregation, steps are taken to arrange for the candidate to meet the congregation, lead worship, and a congregational meeting is called for the purpose of a call vote.
    
  • This entire process occurs with the call committee working with the representative from the Office of the Bishop.

Ministry Team Reports:
Christian Education:

• VBS was a huge success with 57 children (86% were from the community and 14% from our church) and 28 teachers/helpers. Thanks to all those who worked so hard and donated their time, talent, and funding to teach our littlest disciples.
  
• Note for next year – move the VBS fund-raiser night to Wednesday to allow the students and their families more time to plan.
  
• The Christian Education team will be calling a meeting, including all current teachers, to get a proposal for changes to the current Sunday school schedule. Parents were asked for their opinions for the best timing, but we received no feedback.

Communications: No report.

Evangelism: Denise received an invoice from Compassion International, which she called them about. In the past, we have proactively sent them a check for $1000 to cover our two children. Since this is more than what is required, it had accumulated, but now our funds have run out. Denise paid the minimum amount due $54. The following action items will be taken:

• As liaison, Sharon will talk to Doug about the next steps.
  
• A meeting of the Evangelism Team is to be called to discuss if we will continue with this project. Options include keeping the same program (then how much do we send), try something different, etc.

Finance:

• The finance team will be meeting in September.
  
• This year’s budget process will be as follows: Each mutual ministry team will be given their current spend for this year. They will be asked to provide what they think they need. They must also provide an explanation of what their team does (not just how the money was spent, but why and what return is expected).

Fundraising:

• Pretzels netted $14.
  
• June Scrapbooking on June 7-8 netted $650.
  
• Redner’s Register Receipts netted $57.30.
  
• Remember to buy your GIANT gift cards!

Property/Building Usage:

• Dale relayed a request from Marty and the Garden Club. She would like to have their team clean up all the fallen branches and wood from the back of the parking lot, cut them to size, let them season over the winter, then offer them free for firepit wood outside the church. As long as they have willing hands, this is fine to do; however, a time limit needs to be set for how long it sits out before the Prunkels take it.
  
• The potholes are back at our entrance. Dale will be coordinating the repair, possibly with the help of the Elder Daycare next door.

Social Ministry: August’s project is fruit cups for Manna on Main Street.

Stewardship: We will discuss presentation of the 2020 budget and pledging at September’s council meeting.

Transportation:

• Dale had asked for guidance on the “2 person” rule when providing transportation. It was recommended that the person receiving the ride be asked of their needs.
  
• Since we may not always be able to fulfill each request, it was suggested that we provide information on medical transportation available in our area.

Worship & Music:

• Adam has provided a proposal for a new wireless microphone since the old one is no longer working. It was approved by council. The funding will come from the new Piligian Memorial Fund – no better way to “spread the word” than with a microphone.
  
• Discussions were held regarding the Music Team move. It was noted that there was a proposal from W&M team, but the council did not review or approve (a slight misstep in the process since we did not meet in July). The process is underway to turn the adult forum room into the music team room.

Mutual Ministry:

• Pastor G will meet with Lauren, Debbie, Teri Apgar, and Marc Erskine to determine a path forward (since Teri and Marc’s two-year appointment has ended).
  
• Reminders from June:
  
  • The Transition team will be working on the job descriptions for a part-time and full-time Pastor. o We also need job descriptions for the sexton, secretary, and organist/choir director. For these, the Mutual Ministry team and Pastor G should meet to write the descriptions. Then council will need to approve them. Then they will be provided to the employee for acceptance.

Old Business:

• E-giving Update – Jack reported that the system is finally in place. He will send the links to Lauren. Some will be asked to “test” the process before the launch on September 15.
  
• Constitution Review – Linda and Lauren met with Pastor G on two occasions to compare our constitution (which has not been approved by Synod since the 90s) and the Synod template that has sections that must be included, word-for- word.
  
  • The council was provided the marked-up version and we asked for questions/discussion.
    
  • The bylaws were not modified (this can occur, if needed, with the new Pastor).
    
  • After a few clarifications were made the council approved.
    
  • Next steps: Lauren will clean up the edits and provide the file to Pastor, Pastor will forward to the Synod, Synod will come back with approval or changes necessary.
    
  • If approved by Synod, the congregation will vote to adopt the revised constitution at the January congregational meeting.
    
  • Note that we would like to request to move the Annual Congregational Council meeting (off a holiday weekend), which can be suggested at the next congregation meeting.

​Next Meeting: September 11 at 7pm.