Call to Order
A monthly meeting of the All Saints Church Council was held on July 20, 2023 at All Saints Lutheran Church.
The meeting was presided over by Art Mory, Council President.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm.
A quorum was declared by Art Mory.
Opening prayer provided by Pastor Abera Hellemo.
Attendees
Voting Council Members in attendance included: Pastor Abera Hellemo, Art Mory, Donald Scheeler, Lois Ballard-Stephenson and DJ Schoneweiss
Absent Council Members: Ginya Anderson
Staff in attendance included: Julia Bessler, Karolyn Havener, Mara Welch
Guest in attendance included: Beverly Byers
Approval of Minutes
The monthly minutes for June 2023 were submitted for approval.
Add Pastor Abera as a voting member and spelling correction to be made and updated.
A motion made by DJ Schoneweiss, seconded by Donald Scheeler to approve the monthly minutes for June 2023 with corrections.
The motion carried with 5 yeas in favor and 0 nay’s against.
Staff Reports
Youth and Family Ministries Report provided Mara McGee Welch.
Children’s Learning Center (CLC) Report was provided by Karolyn Havener.
- Addendum: Fire System Inspection
Communications Report presented by Julia Bessler.
- Event Clean-Up Checklist close to completion
- Pastor Abera’s mother sent a thank you card
- Unique Church Solutions
- Free church directory, no cost to the church
- They make their money if families purchase photos from the directory photo shoot, but ASLC will incur no fee if no one makes a purchase (Though they report 60% of families typically make a purchase.)
- They will provide directories, plus 20%, for every family that attends.
- They will provide Promotional fliers with date/time
- Compassion Experience
- A representative will be on the Mission All Saints Zoom call on August 3, 2023.
- Julia will be personally involved in a Compassion Experience promotional video
Motion made by Pastor Abera Hellemo, seconded by DJ Schoneweis, to move forward with scheduling the church directory offered by Unique Church Solutions.
The motion carried with 5 yeas in favor and 0 nay’s against.
The Financial Report was presented by DJ Schneeweiss and Beverly Byers.
- ASLC has a credit card balance which will now be addressed and paid as the market rebounds
- David Gustafson has been asked to volunteer for the role of Treasurer for 2024
- Staff bonuses will be addressed in the Executive Session
- Art and Lois both feel that there needs to be more transparency and clarity regarding monies being transferred out of investments and what that money is being used for
- DJ notes that we need to be more conservative with our spending and the congregation needs to be alerted to the financial needs/expenditures versus what ALSC financially can afford
- Lean on the members of the congregation to provide financial support
- Return to passing the plate?
- Tithing box?
during ASLC time of financial need
- Liability insurance coverage for ASLC drivers
- insurance package to be renewed 08/01/2023.
- People to be covered, Staff: Pastor Abera, Julia, Karolyn, Mara
- Event volunteers may not need to be covered
- Volunteer Driver Policy – signed waivers for events?
Trustee Reports
Property report was presented by Donald Scheeler.
- AC drains and filters
- Mary would like to have a written service agreement with our current AC servicer, Dennis Douglas, to provide regularly scheduled cleaning and maintenance.
- Begin asking for bids to repair the following items which are outside the scope of the GoFers
- Repair of the roof over the Prayer Room
- Repair of roof over CLC classroom 3
- Hole in sanctuary drywall
- Street Sign bulb replacement
- The Property Team would recommend replacing them with 972 Ellington Vault (over the regular 520) due to longer life and warranty of LED over fluorescent lighting
- Approval given by all present council members to approve the cost of replacement (~ $900)
Board of Ministry Report was presented by Lois Stephenson.
- Benevolence Review Team
- Lois Stephenson, Beverly Byers and Julia Bessler have committed committed
- Would like to have a committee of at least 5 people
- Julia will announce Benevolence Review Team agenda items in the next Sunday Service Bulletin
- Mission All Saints – continue meeting once monthly (as over the summer), or resume every other week?
Pastor Report was presented by Pastor Abera Hellemo.
- Sincere thank you to those who visited Leonard Gunpat at his home. His wife was so pleased that members of the church cared enough to visit them
- Will take a chalice (or more) to convocation, but will return them
Motion made by DJ Schoneweiss, seconded by Donald Scheeler, to accept staff and trustee reports. The motion carried with 5 yeas in favor and 0 nays against.
OLD Business
Pastor Abera’s Onboarding:
- Cleaning out Pastor Abera’s Office Closet
- Immigration process is slow for Pastor Abera’s wife, but he is working diligently to expedite the process
- Remember to drink water!
Organizational Chart
- Draft presented by Art
- Bev – Board of Finance should be listed under the Treasurer according to the constitution.
- Add Board of Communication – currently no functional board, list as Communications Team?
- Worship/Fellowship/Outreach Team: to include Mission All Saints
- Christ should be listed as the head of all teams, per Pastor Abera
- Wording change: from “Board” to “Team”
- Children’s message
- Children’s message was discontinued as it was more of a show for the adults
- More personal to the child when done during children’s church
- Children feel more comfortable responding and asking questions when not in front of the adults of the congregation
- Lois suggests: Make a statement regarding children’s message subject for the day
- Return of weekly children’s bulletin/busy page/activity
- Children are not truly participating in the liturgy and music before they leave for children’s church.
- Intentional targeting to be done for ages 10-12 year olds
- Tithing:
- Begin regular announcements as a friendly reminder of where the tithing plate is located.
- Pastor announce before special music vs John Barnes during weekly announcements at the beginning of service
- Be sure to acknowledge those who donate online after the friendly reminder
- Return passing the offering plate
- During special music
- Tithing box, more privacy?
- Communion:
- Discontinue the use of wafer server (tweezer)
- Return to the communion table vs continue the line?
- Logistical concerns: who, how
- Need for more Altar Guild volunteers
Convocation:
- Lay delegate is needed for purposes of voting
- Beverly Byers is unable to attend
- Julia is scheduled to volunteer and is willing to return to be the ASLC Lay Delegate
NEW Business
Call Committee Recognition:
- Is it time to recognize the Call Committee
- How should they be recognized
- Verbal recognition during service
- Personal notes to each individual member (12) from the council
Storage Space Request:
- Art would like to store some equipment in the quilter’s room for the next few months
- Temporary use approved by council, no vote required
Insurance Vehicle Policy
See finance
Convocation Report:
- Mara has been asked to present ideas that may help us continue to grow our congregation
- Mara agree and says she can have a report ready for Sept
Pastor Abera Hellemo closed in prayer.
Non-council members were dismissed and the Executive Session entered.
Recording ended.
9:10 pm A motion was made by DJ Schoneweis, seconded by Donald Scheeler, to enter Executive Session.
The motion carried with 5 yeas in favor and 0 nay’s against.
Adjournment
9:16 pm A motion was made by DJ Schoneweiss, seconded by Donald Scheeler, to adjourn the meeting and Executive Session.
The motion carried with 5 yeas in favor and 0 nay’s against.
Next Meeting 08/17/2023
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Secretary Date of Approval
All Saints Lutheran Church Council