Present: Pastor Chad Brekke, Pastor Natalia Terfa, Mike Isenberg, Nate Boucher, Rachel Henderson, Patti VanLiew, Ann Maczuga, Cathy Krogstad,
Absent: Pam Eliason
Call to Order: Mike called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm
Opening Devotion: Nate led us in devotions/prayer.
Adoption of the Agenda: Cathy made a motion to adopt the agenda. Patti seconded the motion. Motion carries.
Approval of Previous Minutes: Nate made a motion to approve minutes from the March 19, 2024 council meeting. Ann seconded the motion. Motion carries.
EXECUTIVE TEAM REPORTS:
President and Vice President’s Report- none
Treasurer’s Report –
| Budget | Prior Year | ||||
| MONTH | Actual | Budget | Favorable/ | Actual | Favorable/ |
| General/Building Fund: | May-24 | May-24 | (Unfavorable) | May-23 | (Unfavorable) |
| Offerings/Receipts | 36,010 | 46,755 | (10,745) | 45,741 | (9,731) |
| Expenses | (55,163) | (56,460) | 1,297 | (59,401) | 4,238 |
| Net Gain/(Loss) | ($19,153) | ($9,705) | ($9,448) | ($13,660) | ($5,493) |
| Budget | Prior Year | ||||
| YEAR TO DATE | Actual | Budget | Favorable/ | Actual | Favorable/ |
| General/Building Fund: | May-24 | May-24 | (Unfavorable) | May-23 | (Unfavorable) |
| Offerings/Receipts | 236,049 | 243,954 | (7,905) | 262,858 | (26,809) |
| Expenses | (302,543) | (296,926) | (5,618) | (333,007) | 30,464 |
| Net Gain/(Loss) | ($66,494) | ($52,972) | ($13,522) | ($70,149) | $3,655 |
Notable April Activity:
- For the month of May, receipts were lower than expenses. Offering was lower than budget by $11,632. . . The general/building fund offering for the month was $27,614. This is unfavorable to the budget.
- Income was $10,745 less than budget. This continues to be a trend of offering less than budgeted, however building use income is slightly higher than budget.
- Overall, expenses are favorable to budget and favorable to prior year for the month. May expenses were down $1,297 from expected.
- For May year to date, receipts are lower than expenses, resulting in a YTD loss of $66,494. This is unfavorable to the budget by $13,522, but favorable to last year by $3,655. Overall receipts are lower than budget.
- Giving throughout the first 5 months of 2024 is down from last year but expenses are also down.
- We are very carefully watching the expenses and keeping those tight, but the overall decrease in offering from what is budgeted continues to remain low. *Offering was budgeted based on continued giving levels from last year without anticipated increase.
- Cash balances available at the end of May were $25,022, with an additional $100,000 in investment accounts, but we have drawn $45,000 on our line of credit.
Business Administrator Update:
Stan McFall started in June as the Business Administrator. In this position, Stan will manage property concerns, short term and long term building rentals and accounting tasks as well as work with the council on finance planning. We are very grateful to have Stan on board and he is already proving to be a great addition to the team. Stan will be working part time, and his schedule will be variable. He can be reached through the main office phone line as well as his email: stanm@princeofpeacechurch.org.
Submitted by Rachel Henderson, Treasurer
Pastoral Report-
June 2024
Area of Ministry: Associate Pastor
From: Pr Natalia Terfa
- I’m really looking forward to a little summer experiment with Cafeteria Christian and Prince of Peace doing something together. We’re calling it Faith on the Rocks, and I think it’s been out there enough but if you are able to come we’re doing education and conversation and social hour once a month at Pocket Square in New Hope. 2-4pm on June 22, July 13, and August 24, with special guests and important topics.
- Also looking ahead to a book study in the fall – one with an in-person gathering on Sundays and also an online gathering, plus groups can use it too – so there are lots of ways to connect and participate.
- ¾ Time Off Week Schedule – June dates are past, but here are July dates: Chad off: June 3-9, July 15-21
- Natalia off: June 10-16, July 22-28
- Chad will also be out of the country from June 19 to July 2.
- And as always, in the interest of clearly communicating my availability – here’s the link to my digital calendar scheduler. Anyone can find a time to meet (in person, via zoom, or on the phone) with me at: https://calendly.com/nataliaterfa
Ministry Team Reports:
Outreach –
From: Cathy Krogstad
During the month of June, we are collecting diapers for CEAP. Size 4 and up including pull-ups.
We’d like to start promoting two Farm Fresh events: July 10th from 12:30-2:30pm where we’ll pack fresh produce for distribution later in the day. On August 7 from 2:30-5:30pm we’ll distribute produce. Both events are being held at CEAP which is located at 7051 Brooklyn Blvd.
Continue to thank all those that drive for Meals on Wheels. That’s a great team!
On Tuesday, June 11th, we celebrated two June birthdays at Brooklyn Park Avenues for Youth. The request was for an ice cream cake. So, we picked that up along with some salty snacks and birthday cards which also contained a Target gift card in each card and plenty
of prayers and good wishes. 💞🙏🏼 We continue to ask congregants for personal care items such as deodorants, feminine hygiene products, shower gels, and hair care products for all ethnicities. These donations are on-going and can be placed in the bin located in the Welcome Center across from the kitchen. Thank you!
Park Brook
- Reading Buddy volunteers completed their mentoring at the end of May. This year we had 6 mentors. Each set of two mentors were connected with a third grade student who needed some assistance with their reading. The mentors took turns having lunch and reading with their student once a week from January through May. All of our mentors and students seemed to really enjoy and grow from the experience.
- 5th Grade Graduation – On June 5th, 5 volunteers served graduation breakfast to the 5th graders and their teachers. And in the afternoon 5 volunteers served cake and beverages to students and their families at the commencement ceremony. Both events are very special celebrations to recognize the students’ accomplishments and to provide inspiration and encouragement for continued educational achievement and personal growth.
~Cathy Krogstad
Care Team Report –
From: Ann Maczuga
Care:
Our goal is to send cards to all on the weekly prayer e-mail, as well as rotate through a regular check-in list. This is in addition to any prayer requests that require follow up.
Funerals:
The team served Theo Peterson’s funeral on June 13. It was catered by Angeno’s so they set up, served and cleaned. Estimated 110 people attended.
Quilters:
The Patriotic quilts that were recently completed were going to be delivered to the Veteran’s hospital by July1st.
During the summer break some of the ladies lay out or sew quilt tops, or even put together completed quilts. Several of them also visit various sales and thrift stores to build up supplies of sheets and material in preparation for our group gatherings starting in September.
Church Library:
Now that summer is here the POP Library is not used as much as during the school year, probably due to lower attendance at church services. To encourage church goers to read during their spare time Sally has displays of interesting books on the hallway table and book cart. Inside the library is a display of children’s books and fiction books for adults. During the coffee fellowship time a cart of books is wheeled to the Welcome Center for people to browse and hopefully find a good book to read. This has been encouraging and hopefully will continue to be of interest.
The “Little Free Library” continues to be used by passerbys. We replenish books in it when necessary. During the summer months a weeding of the library collection is done and withdrawn books from POP library are recycled in there. A “win…win” for everyone!
We feel it is most important for all children to be encouraged to read during the summer month to keep up their reading skills and be ready for school in the fall. There are many books in the library for all reading levels for your children to enjoy. Encourage people to come in before and after the church service to find something just right for them and their family!
~ Ann Maczuga
Property & Sunday Morning Experience –
I received several emails informing me that everything is good, with no concerns voiced.
~Pam
Staff Reports:
Youth and Childrens and Family Ministry – Katie
PRAISES from PAST Events
- We have successfully wrapped up our 2023-2024 School Year and we saw some energetic changes and growth happen this year.
- With our Children’s Ministry remaining the most “unchanged” we still saw MANY new visitors throughout the School Year who have continued to come back week after week
- Middle School Ministry turned our focus to be more focused on building relationships. We used the scripture from the previous Sunday to engage in faith formation through conversation, hands on activities, games and service.
- High School Ministry probably saw the most change as we moved off of Wednesday nights and moved to every week on Sundays. We sometimes had 15
- on any given night, this place became somewhere that made the youth feel safe, seen and loved.
- We also did a few different fellowship events throughout the year that saw a large number of visitors
CURRENT UPDATES
- Summer Ministry is in FULL SWING for Children, Youth and Family Ministry and it is going to be a FULL Summer
- Children’s Ministry will be primarily focused on Summer Day Camp and will meet IN PERSON two Sundays a month during Worship
- Middle School Ministry will be meeting every Wednesday from 9 am – 5 pm and our days will alternate between FELLOWSHIP EVENTS (Valleyfair, Bunker Beach, etc.) and SERVICE LEARNING Days (through Service Learning Camps).
- High School Ministry is invited to join any and all Middle School events as well as having ONE Sunday night a month for a hangout/bonfire.
- There are NO Big HS Trips scheduled for this Summer
- We will head to WAPO the week of July 28th – August 4th.
- Continuing to work on the Storage Areas around the Church so that we can make sure ALL of our spaces are utilized in the best way possible. This Summer I will be encouraging the Media Team and Music Teams to do some work on the Media/Music Room to make room for meeting space.
~Katie Rykal
Unfinished Business:
- Welcome to our new Business Administrator Stan McFall!
- Ann talked with Gerri and Phyllis on the garden team and suggested having families of Prince of Peace adopt one of our garden spaces to help weed, cut back and bring them back to beauty.
- Pastor Chad noticed a couch cushion thrown in our space that was just cleaned up next to the parking lot. Please keep an eye out so we can clean this area before it becomes a problem with the City of Brooklyn Park.
New Business:
- The nominating team has been meeting and are requesting names to consider for next year’s council. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact Melissa Johnson.
- Rachael noted that our constitution needs to be amended with the new language. Pastor Natalia mentioned that there will be more changes in August.
- Our new Council Connect will be talking once a month on Sunday morning to let the congregation know we are here to listen, let them know the needs of the church, and welcome suggestions. We will have council in the Welcome Center on those Sundays and also have a Question/Suggestion Box for all who have concerns.
- Prince of Peace will be celebrating our 65th anniversary in 2025! Our quilt ladies will be making a special banner for the celebration on April 13, 2025.
- Even though summer has just begun, we want to start thinking about Rally Day.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, July 16, 2024 at 7:00 pm via Zoom
Adjournment: Nate made a motion to adjourn. Cathy seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned at 7:40 pm