COUNCIL MEETING
November 18, 2021
7:00 pm – 9:40 pm
Attendees: Pastor Scott Baker, Robert Blankenship, John Barnes, Mary Rosas, Richard Giltner, Beverly Byers, Kenny Lee, Stacey Welch, DJ Schoneweis
Guests: Art Mory, Marc Funderburk, Karolyn Havener, Mara McGee
Opening Prayer: Bob
Devotional: Peacemaker Chapter 10 – DJ
– DJ reviewed the chapter in detail and emphasized demonstrating your forgiveness, not just forgiving or saying that you are but showing forgiveness through your actions so that your forgiveness is believed as genuine.
– Pastor Baker discussed that we should actively seek opportunities to forgive and that the act of true forgiveness is hard work.
– Since there is no December council meeting scheduled, this will be the last chapter covered together by this council.
Review of Minutes: Richard
– Correction suggestions were discussed and the corrections added to the submitted minutes.
– Motion by Beverly to accept the October minutes as corrected, seconded by Mary. Motion passed.
Youth and Family Report: Mara
– Pumpkin Patch project has raised over $900 profit in only 9 or 10 days, even in these struggling financial times. People continue to stop and ask if they are for sale.
– November has been calm after the heavy activity of October. December will be busy as well. We will be including the children’s advent wreath (candle of hope, peace, joy, etc.) again this year.
-The animals for the Live Nativity have proven to be a headache. Though confirmed in June, the provider canceled our reservation so we will just have a donkey rather than spending $2,000 for a petting zoo. (The new provider also brought two sheep and a goat.) We are inviting the Scouts and the CLC teachers to participate and join in the social time afterward. The event will be 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. December 11th. There will be a hot chocolate bar with other treats that Ginya Anderson will provide. Money for the hot chocolate will come from fellowship funds.
– The youth have been invited to go caroling with the adults on December 5th.
– Sunday the 24th we will distribute the kid bags to those responding to the cards distributed at Trunk or Treat. (Six kid bags were given out in response to cards distributed at the Trunk or Treat event.) The bags contain a plastic water bottle, Stories of Jesus – a Christian-themed coloring book, crayons, etc.
– Last Sunday the youth went bowling and though they were terrible bowlers, everyone had fun. We will be looking to have more of this kind of activity after Christmas.
– We will include the movement of the wise men as part of the advent candle activity both in the fellowship hall then in the sanctuary when it is again in use. The candle supply needs to be checked.
CLC Report: Karolyn
– CLC hours are currently 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. but will change as of November 29th to 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. due to staffing shortages. As a result of this change we will be losing five families but this will work because it reduces the number of staff required.
– We have a teaching vacancy in infant care. Otherwise staffing is the same. Please pray for more workers. There is a general shortage of daycare workers which keep people from being able to return to work.
Pastor’s Report: Pastor Baker
– This week Pastor Baker met with the new Mission District Dean, Mark Braaten, to review the current situation here (construction, call committee, etc). He may be doing the congregational call workshop as Dean or be working along with the pastor. There are Mission District funds in our account that we are being asked to hold there for the time being. The Dean plans to hold a pastors’ meeting in January or February including the National Bishop who is moving to the area. The Bishop will not be here at the very first of the year but will be moving here early next year. The national headquarters will be moving to the Dallas / Fort Worth area then.
– Mara’s wedding will be held in the sanctuary December 18th at 3:00 p.m. with Pastor Baker as assisting minister to Pastor McGee, Mara’s father.
– Pastor Baker was not able to take his vacation in November so will take the week after Christmas but will be present on each Sunday and be available by phone for emergencies.
Financial Report: Beverly
– Bonnie’s report is available. Beverly has some additional minor work to do on it but nothing major.
– Funds for chocolate bar will come from fellowship funds but there is chocolate available in the pantry. We will be asking for donation of cookies, etc. which should be pre-packaged ones from the store rather than home made for COVID safety reasons.
– Beverly needs signing authority at the Bank after her term ends due to the other financial work that she does as volunteer Chief Financial Officer. Signing authority is only needed for the President and Secretary otherwise since we deal with all checks electronically after approval by one of these two officers. The treasurer’s responsibility is to do budget, oversee the finance committee and Beverly and Bonnie, and to report to council. The other responsibilities Beverly has as part of her work with the finance committee require her to have some authority at the bank to conduct bank business for the committee.
Motion: Pastor Baker made a motion that after Beverly leaves her position as both Treasurer and volunteer CFO (Chief Financial Officer) that she retain her position as volunteer CFO with appropriate signing authority. Richard seconded. In discussion, John Barnes, the Council President for next year, voiced his approval of the motion. Council voted and the motion passed, Beverly abstained from voting. It was decided that an internal audit as a part of next year’s business is appropriate.
– Beverly will review the contract with Bonnie to include ‘fiduciary duty of care’. Offerings are entered electronically and Bonnie is reconciling deposits. There are usually about six checks per week. Beverly will also coordinating counting as CFO.
– A request has been made that the finance committee document their current procedures so that there is a written record of how we conduct our financial business.
Property Report: Mary
– Currently the altar area floors are ‘a disaster area’ so there is much reconstruction, repair and refinishing left to be done.
– The Gophers team will work through this month doing preventive work for winter and checking cutoff procedures for electricity, water and natural gas.
Ministries Report: DJ
– An online ministries report is available. Trunk or Treat was a great success as was the Veterans Day recognition. Thanks to Mary for her work on the display. Mary mentioned that Richard assisted with it.
It was decided that the display remain up for a few more weeks.
– Men’s breakfast is to be held on the first Saturday of the month at 7:30 a.m. Church decoration for Christmas will follow the December meeting at 9:00 a.m..
– The Teacher Appreciation event for CLC and Corey Academy teachers is scheduled for November 19th.
Other Business:
– Facility Use Form: After an extended discussion of revisions, Beverly volunteered to work with Julie to include the proposed revisions in the forms.
– Baptismal Font: Mary indicated that she and Richard are working on it and that it would be completed in the next one or two weeks. It is a modification of one of the existing pulpit tables and may be temporary unless the congregation and council decide to keep it as a permanent fixture.
– Congregational Meeting: There was a good report of progress on missions in spite of the physical disasters which occurred that damaged the building. The meeting went smoothly. Dr. Wendel commented to Pastor Baker that ‘these people are doing the mission of Christ’.
– There will not be a December Council Meeting unless there is an emergency reason to have one.
Online Motions: Stacey
There were no online motions.
Call Committee Report: John Barnes
– The first meeting was held to select officers and set a meeting schedule. The Chair will be Marc Funderburk, Vice-Chair John Barnes, Secretary Libby Lindstrom.
– The second meeting reviewed the schedule of meetings and set the date of the zoom meeting with Dr. Wendel. The next meeting is set for Novemeber 29th.
– Discussion of the call process included being open to call options such as the sharing of a pastor or having a part time pastor, depending upon needs. Also in the past people have felt removed from the call process, so there will be a short talk each Sunday prior to worship to keep the congregation informed of the progress of the call process.
Nominating Committee: General discussion
– Next year’s council will address vacancies and has the authority to appoint people to fill vacancies. If the Treasurer Elect position is not filled, someone from the finance committee will step forward to fill it. The Secretary Elect position will need to be appointed.
– Beverly will send out a link to documentation to be read and studied by newly elected officers so that they may pose any questions they have about responsibilities. This is to be done before the January orientation.
Executive Session: Beverly moved to enter executive session, Mary seconded. Motion passed.
Exit Executive Session: Beverly moved to exit executive session, Mary seconded. Motion passed.
Pastor Baker moved that we accept bonus levels as discussed in session. Beverly seconded. Motion passed.
Closing Prayer: Pastor Baker
Meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Richard Giltner, Council Secretary