Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Council Meeting
March 19, 2013 (Approved)
Present: Bill Fredrick, Pastor Chad Brekke, AIM Natalia Terfa, Julia Sevald, Dan Cassada,
Erik Hasse, Morgan Holle, Melissa Johnson
Absent: Georgia Larson, Sue Johnson, Bev Alsleben, Jennifer Follestad
Guest: Andrew Follestad
Call to Order: President Bill Fredrick called the meeting to order.
Devotions: Julia Sevald led us in Devotions – She shared verse John 3:18 and read a quote she had jotted in her Bible…“Be careful how you live- you may be the only Bible somebody reads.”
Additions to the Agenda: Under the President’s report, Bill would like to discuss the Property Committee.
Adoption of Agenda: A motion was made by Morgan Holle and seconded by Dan Cassada to adopt the Council agenda as presented. Motion approved.
Approval of Previous Minutes: A motion was made by Julia Sevald and seconded by Morgan Holle to approve the minutes from the February 19, 2013 Council meeting as written. Motion approved.
Reports of Officers
Treasurer’s/Business Administrator’s Report: Notable February activity:
- · Total February offerings & receipts were slightly favorable to budget by $793 and $4,359 favorable to prior year. Disbursements are also favorable to budget by $3,658. The general fund activity for the month was a loss of $712. This is favorable to budget for the month and to prior year.
- · Year to date, we are still overall unfavorable to budget by $22,457 and unfavorable to prior year by $8,763, although we are quickly gaining ground over the prior year.
- · Year to date Thrivent Choice dollars received is $3,644. This is slightly above budget of $2,833.
- · The Adult Mission Trips was the only designated fund with significant activity in February.
A motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report was made by Dan Cassada and seconded by Morgan Holle. Motion approved.
*Julia Sevald will complete the Quarterly Budget Review in April, most likely the weekend between Executive and Full Council (April 14th) so she can share the information at the April Council Meeting. This information will be presented to the congregation between services with a Power Point presentation. Bill mentioned that it would be nice to have council members present at this meeting.
President’s Report:
President Bill Fredrick reminded us of the Council and Staff Retreat on April 20th. We will meet at Prince of Peace from 8:00am until 12:00-1:00pm. A light breakfast and lunch will be served.
Bill also informed us that Roger Dissmeyer, along with the Property Committee, recently had an Energy Audit run by Xcel Energy. This is free of cost to Prince of Peace, with the stipulation that we report any savings that occur as a result of their suggestions. They have not received the report yet, but will let us know when that happens. It sounds like there will be several places that PoP could make changes to reduce our energy usage/efficiency, such as the use of lights and how we heat/cool the building.
Vice-President’s Report: No Report.
Secretary’s Report: No Report.
Pastoral Reports:
Pastor Chad’s Report:
- · Pastor Chad and Natalia met this morning to talk about the April Staff/Council retreat. They are going to use a resource that discusses 52 strategies churches use to be successful. They will choose some of these strategies to be our focus. Pastor Chad asked us to let him know if there are any other topics that we feel would be beneficial to discuss on this day. It was brought up that it may be helpful to devote some time to talking about ways to find people to volunteer for our teams. We could also discuss the possibility of a Ministry Fair, perhaps held in conjunction with Volunteer Sunday on May 19th.
- · The recognition luncheon for Pastor Jim was a success and well attended. Pastor Chad announced at the luncheon that PoP would like to bestow the title of Pastor Emeritus on Pastor Jim. This is an honorary title that is kept for life; it is a way to honor a retired pastor, keeping their name on the staff roster in an honorary way. Pastor Chad and Bill Fredrick will work to put together a document listing the criteria for this title. They will bring this back to the council at the April meeting.
- · Looking ahead, Pastor Chad will attend an annual Senior Pastor Convention from May 7th-10th, 2013.
AIM Natalia’s Report:
- · GroupLife will start up again on April 7th.
- · Pastor Chad was away from PoP for about three weeks, and all went well!
SME Update:
- · The mission of this team is to help create a welcoming worship experience for guests and members.
- · Fellowship is an important part of the worship experience.
- · In the fall, more WE team captains will be trained in CPR.
- · The team will work to create a map of the church with safety features noted that will be posted in an area where captains and ushers can see it.
- · The SME team will continue to work to find ways to show their appreciation for current members/volunteers. This may be something like a hand-written note from the team captains, or pictures put up on the screen or website.
- · The team is working to enhance the visitor gift bags. They are working to figure out how they can best be distributed (perhaps there is an announcement at the beginning of the service) and how to follow up after a visitor bag is given.
- · The Ambassador program is a work in progress – the idea is to have people purposefully looking for visitors and finding a way to introduce them to other members/help them make connections with members of the congregation.
Council Reports
Each ministry team is to submit a written report each month. These will be attached to the official minutes. Highlights will be included in these minutes.
Executive Team: No Report.
Spiritual Growth: No Report.
Sunday Morning Experience: See SME Update.
Congregational Care: No Report.
Outreach: Their March meeting was postponed due to illness, but the team has plans to meet soon to discuss the Peace Feast, how to assist with the Easter Egg Extravaganza and to set goals. Although the first Peace Feast had only one guest, many positives came out of this first time event. The Community Life team has asked Outreach to help out with the Easter Egg Extravaganza by inviting Park Brook students to the event. It was suggested at the Bishop’s Leadership conference that becoming a “hub” for special events and community activities is a good way to draw outsiders in – words spreads fast, and events double up, creating a larger audience.
Community Life: Community Life has a busy month of March with the luncheon honoring Pastor Jim, planning the first annual Easter egg hunt and cooking the Easter Breakfast. They have also begun talking about Rally Day. There will be a State Fair theme. They are looking for more people to join their team!
Unfinished Business: None
New Business:
- · Lynell has asked the Council to be responsible for the meal for the first night of Summer Worship on Wednesday, June 5th. Julia Sevald volunteered to help organize this. We will discuss the meal as the date approaches.
A motion was made by Erik Hasse and seconded by Julia Sevald to adjourn the meeting. Motion approved. Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Melissa Johnson
Secretary