Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Council Meeting Minutes May 21, 2019

Present: Pastor Natalia Terfa, Lynn Anderson, Melissa Johnson, Cheree Geisler, Patti Amstrup, Rachel Henderson, Richard Habstritt, Joel Odens, Jeff Hanson, Jodi Spoden, Jeff Hanson, Bailey Massicotte

Absent: Pastor Chad Brekke

Call to Order: President Lynn Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:05pm

Opening Prayer: Jodi Spoden opened us in an prayer.

Adoption of Agenda: A motion was made by Rachel Henderson and seconded by Patti Amstrup to adopt the Council agenda. Motion approved.

Approval of Previous Minutes: A motion was made by Jeff Odens and seconded by Melissa Johnson to approve the minutes from the March, 2019 Council meeting as written. Motion approved.

REPORTS OF OFFICERS:

President’s Report:

As I reflect on the last several months of activities at POP, I smile. I am grateful and excited to be part of this wonderful council and congregation.

I was very happy with the services and events that took place over Lent. Lots of good things were going on. I was particularly thrilled with the events on Easter Sunday. Larry and I held the door at the 9 am service. It was a thrill to greet people and to hold the door. It was amazing to see the reaction on people’s faces when I said “Happy Easter and Welcome. We are so glad you came today”. It was fun to see the sanctuary filled with people. I really loved the music and especially the band that accompanied the choir. Brass instruments sound so grand and welcoming. My family and I had to sit in the very front on the side as our door holding duty lasted until a little after 9 so the only seats left were in the front. I kept looking over my left shoulder to gaze in amazement at all of God’s beautiful people attending Prince of Peace. For me, it was a magical moment.

Larry and I continue attend our small group. The fellowship that has developed has been a gift. We all feel very connected and supportive of one another. One of our members died and we all mourned together. We have been told that our support helped the family get through this. What a blessing. Thank you Pastor Natalia for setting up the small groups. I have heard about the closeness of other groups as well. What a gift from God. We all love our church family. I was glad to hear and see that the skylight was successfully replaced.

Be sure when you schedule an event at the church, that you involve the Building Committee. They would like to be involved to be sure that they have the right set up for your event. This makes sense and has been requested by the Building committee.

Prince of Peace/Outreach committee will be hosting a graduation party for the Brooklyn Avenue’s graduates in June. There are 3 graduates which is a big deal. This is the 3 rd year we will be doing this. Most of the money to purchase the food will be donated as a grant from the Crystal, New Hope, Robbinsdale Rotary club where I am a member. Anyone interested in helping? Jodi Spoden will give us updates.

I often get feedback from people at church as to how things are going or suggestions on how to make things better. I always take comments and suggestions seriously. The feedback I have received lately is that things appear to be getting better. They think that people seem to be more welcoming and friendly. We should all be happy and proud that people are noticing. I know I have made a point of going around on Sunday morning to say thank you to people serving including the musicians and the choir. Everyone likes to be noticed and appreciated. I hope the staff and council will continue to build on this as I feel it is everyone’s responsibility to be welcoming. If people do not feel welcome and loved at church, then we have a problem. Thanks staff and council, for ensuring that people feel included, welcome and loved. It is all of our responsibilities.

Vice-President’s Report:

-Approval of LAL requests

-LED Lighting in the common areas. There is a rebate from Excel that we can use.

-Prayer Room

-Young Adult Retreat $50/person to help cover part of their cost

-Rachel Henderson made a motion and Jodi Spoden seconded to approve all three LAL

requests. Motion carried.

-Synod notes: The Synod proposed to adopt a family leave policy of a minimum of 6 weeks and a recommendation of 12 weeks and to make paternity leave the same amount of time as maternity leave. POP uses a more corporate guideline, rather than one that is created for a church congregation. Bereavement is also being discussed.

-Exec Team would like to recommend our full support behind extending maternity, paternity and bereavement pay.

Treasurer’s Report:

-Please see attached report regarding the financial update for April, 2019

-The new daycare is currently paying rent

-Nate leaving will make a difference in the budget because the future replacement position will be hourly and without benefits.

-Paul and Richard will be working on the voluntary audit. Their goal is to complete it by the fall

-Mike Gilbertson’s funeral donations will be placed in an un-designated fund Secretary’s Report:

-None

MINISTRY TEAM REPORTS

Youth Representative:

-Youth group would like to come in to discuss POP supporting LGBTQ members

Property Report:

-Bill received a few bids for patching, seal coating, re-striping the parking lot ($20,000-$25,000). This is will not immediate because we need to budget for it.

Sunday Morning Experience:

-Should have enough volunteers through the summer due to the combined services.

-Joel will put together another name tag Sunday

Outreach:

Upcoming Events

Brooklyn Avenues

May Avenues Birthday Party – One birthday on May 27. Amy to provide cake, ice cream and

gift. We recently received a target gift card donation from a POP congregation member, so we

will use these for the next couple of birthdays.

Park Brook Graduation –Wednesday, June 5

–

–

Serve breakfast – 6 volunteers from 8:15 – 10:00

Serve cake and ice cream at afternoon ceremony – 6 volunteers from 1:30 to 3:30 pm

–

Volunteer needs – We have 5 volunteers for both the morning and afternoon. We could

use one more person – Amy may be able to help.

Brooklyn Avenues Graduation – Saturday, June 8

–

–

–

Three Brooklyn Avenues youth are graduating from high school this spring

Friday, May 3 Committee meeting update

Volunteer needs – Amy Kust, Lynn Anderson, Diane Tripp and Jodi and Greg Spoden

are signed up. Sally Onstad is a maybe. We are in pretty good shape, but Jodi will create a

sign-up sheet for the kiosk to spread the word and maybe gain another volunteer or two.

–

We have reserved the POP grill, outdoor table and chairs and yellow lemonade jug. Jodi

checking with George Umolac to see if he can transport furniture and grill to BA again this year.

–

–

Lynn applying for a Rotary grant

At our May meeting, we approved up to $200 if needed for food and supplies

Joint Pentecost Worship and Meal – Sunday June 9 –

–

Details evolved on this event post our meeting.

In the spirit of Pentecost, we are planning a joint worship service with POP, HOPE

Church and Faithful Friends Ministry. The service will be a coming together of different cultures

and different worship.

–

Jodi will discuss details of the post service fellowship with the council and will provide

updates on food and volunteer needs. We do have leftover soup and breadsticks from Soup Du

Jour we can use.

Potential New Projects

Gift bags for Hope Lodge residents

–

–

Potential post-church service congregational event in May or June

Jodi to discuss potential date at the May council meeting.

Care Kits for Homeless

–

Sally and I discussed assembling care kits for the homeless again potentially in

September or October. Jodi to discuss dates with council.

Completed Project Reports

April Avenues Birthday Party – Thanks Amy for your on-going ministry

Brooklyn Avenues Community Connectors Meeting – April 25

–

Amy attended this kick-off meeting in April. The group will continue to meet monthly.

Meetings will be held at POP on the 4 th Tuesday of the month from 6:30pm to 8pm. Anyone

interested in supporting the mission of Brooklyn Avenues is invited to join.

Jeans and Junk – Sunday, April 28

–

Thanks to Sue LaGue and the clean-up crew for your ministry to pick up trash and keep

the area around POP looking nice.

Comcast Cares Days – Saturday, May 4.

–

Volunteers assembled 6,000 dental, hygiene, snack packs, home, school supply and job

search kits to be distributed to local non-profits. Brooklyn Avenues had 17 volunteers which

earned them 300 kits and $1,000. Morgan and Owen Holle and Jodi Spoden were among the

150+ community volunteers.

Building on Dreams Breakfast – Nicollet Island Pavilion; May 7

– Amy Kust attended on behalf of POP. This is one of Avenues for Homeless Youth’s main

fundraisers of the year which includes a breakfast, inspirational speakers and updates about It

was a wonderful event with breakfast, inspirational speakers and information on Avenues’

accomplishments and plans. Avenues raised $87K. Park Brook Reading Buddies

– The Park Brook Reading Buddies program wrapped up the first week of May. Thanks to all

who participated. The reading skills and caring adult friendships the students gain from this

activity make a lasting impact.

– The Park Brook staff held volunteer recognition activities during the last week of reading,

with treats, volunteer and reader photos, volunteer gift bags and a tomato planting activity with

individual pots both the reader and volunteer were able to take home with them.

Next Meeting:

– June 11, 2019, 7:00pm, POP Welcome Center

Community Life:

-Women’s Retreat- October 12th

Congregational Care:

The prayer room is completed and looking great. We got some great feedback from the congregation and have even had people come in to sit in there who heard about it on the podcast. We will continue to look for ways to advertise and use this space as well as incorporat purposeful prayer into the life of the congregation throughout the year.

I gathered a lsit of current members from Karina and I am working on sorting out Anniversaries and Birthdays. I am designing some postcards that congregational care can send out, just as a nice little check in with our members even when nothing is going wrong.

We are doing well checking in with those who request prayers, it is a continuing challenge to make peopel aware that they can ask for prayers or ask for help from the CC team. We are brainstorming ways to make this clear to the congregation and remind them it is okay to ask for help, in fact POP would LOVE to support them in any way we can.

STAFF REPORTS:

Children and Family Ministry:

April Looking Back/ Moment of Praise

● Our Sunday School kiddos participated in a little “Food Pyramid” Competition for CEAP and all together they collected 15 (very full) bags of groceries

● Weather/Spring Break affected almost every Sunday in March, but our teachers and students were great and just went with the flow when we needed to make last minute changes

Current

● We have a great group of young people who are participating in our Communion Milestone this year. Parents to continue to respond with positivity to having that milestone on Maundy Thursday. ● Our young people who participated in the Plant Sale did another great job of raising funds for their Summer opportunities. Plants will arrive on Mothers Day Weekend and extra annuals and hanging baskets will be available for sale on Mothers Day

● Our last few weeks of Sunday School are all a little different with Easter being as late as it is. We have two different weeks of Craft Projects, a week off for Easter, Family Worship, but it has been a great year.

Looking Ahead

● Working on Summer Day Camp stuff as time allows. Registrations continue to come in on a regular basis

May Looking Back/ Moment of Praise

● We have wrapped up another great year of Sunday School. This year I had a lot of High School and Young Adult teachers which is great…except when the graduate and go off to College

● The Plant Sale was very successful (as it usually is) and this year I DID NOT have to go back to the Greenhouse (which basically means I didn’t screw up the order) AND we were done in record time thanks to a lot of parents who worked on behalf of their students

● We continue to get new young families in our doors on a regular basis. They end up here for a variety of reasons, and stay once they are here

Current

● Working on finalizing the Summer Schedule for Sunday mornings (which Sundays have DIG, which have activity bulletins) and working on planning the DIG Lessons

● Working on the lesson plans/guides for the 1 st month of Summer Day Camp. Our first group of campers arrive on Monday, June 10 th

● Continuing to do some of the Administrative tasks while Karina gets up to speed on all that her job entails. We will work on passing some of the stuff back to her over the Summer

● Will be working on some “Church on the Go” curriculum for families that are traveling or involved in Sports this Summer. This will hopefully feed into an option to do this during the School Year as well for those families that want to stay connected

Looking Ahead

● Just continuing to gear up for Summer. Each week has its own set of plans/lessons/supplies so it helps to be organized from the get-go.

Youth and Family Ministry:

-None Modern Worship Arts & Media:

-Here comes Easter… !

-With the introduction of the Prayer Room/Sacristy, you know we are reevaluating and repurposing various spaces around campus. We are also thinking about how the Media Room (where the band practices on Sunday AM) can follow this trend. Currently, it stores all of our A/V equipment (i.e. mic stands, mic cables, amplifiers, keyboards, extra speakers, etc.). It has also become a dumping ground for tech-y things that aren’t working. It needs to be cleared out. Look for that in the coming weeks. Given the value of the band equipment in that space, I do not think it should be an option for public group-use. But the occasional meeting, here and there, might bring more value to an underutilized space.

-Nate is actively recruiting new band members. On Palm Sunday, we had a large band. It was so much fun! A few of them were not playing with us a year ago. In the last 3 months, you have seen many different musicians rotating through. Expect this wonderful trend to continue, as this band is a work of the people, and continues to grow. If you know of a musician who is a good fit for us, hook us up.

-It has been a little over a year since beginning seminary. Things continues to go well. I learn something amazing nearly every day. For winter/spring I am taking Christian Public Leader IV and Leading Christian Communities in Mission. Both are leadership development classes, and I have noticed positive shifts in my leadership as a result of course material and conversations with classmates. I am in the process of registering for Summer term/Intensives. Thanks for your continued support. If you have any questions about it, feel free to talk to me any time.

-[related to above seminary update] Where do you currently notice God’s work being done in this congregation and how are we partnering in it? Is God doing something in our community of which we are unaware and how do we step into it together?

PASTORAL REPORTS

Pastor Chad’s Report:

We have enjoyed an active start to the spring season around Prince of Peace. All of the planning and preparation that went in to our Holy Week through Easter services resulted in meaningful experiences for hundreds of worshipers. We continue to see lots of first time visitors from our local area and beyond.

Here are a few items I will highlight:

Both Karina, our new office administrator and Paul our new business administrator are doing a great job assimilating into their respective positions. They have also both been drawn in to the rich worship life we are blessed with at PoP and regularly attend worship here on Sunday mornings.

Nate Bergengren has accepted a ministry position with Faith Lutheran in Forest Lake. I have been serving as Nate’s supervisor/mentor for his enrollment at Luther Seminary and this new position is a natural step toward Nate’s vocational goals in ministry beyond music leadership. Nate’s time at PoP has been a blessing. We are talking with several people who may be good candidates to join our team in this position.

I attended the annual ELCA senior pastors conference in CA last week. The focus of the event this year was on creative ways to be the church in an age when church membership decline is the norm. The presiding bishop of the ELCA attended and loved hearing about some of the creative worship experiences here at PoP like ask the pastors, and melding contemporary and traditional elements in one service. I presented on sustainable international vision/mission relationships with an emphasis on Africa. I also learned that several senior pastors of large ELCA churches around the country regularly visit our live streamed services and podcasts.

Eight people are participating in the next PoP Vision Trip to Tanzania. Part of the group departs on June 7 and the rest will depart on Sunday, June 9 and return home on June 24. As always, the group will represent PoP as they visit schools, churches, hospitals and orphanages which are supported through the Africa Fund at Prince of Peace.

Our summer worship schedule begins on May 26 when we will go to one 9:30 am service on Sunday mornings. We are still working on the approach to the midweek summer Wednesday eve services which are scheduled to begin on June 12. The transition in our music staff required a pause in our usual approach. A more interactive, discussion based presentation is currently being explored.

June 2 will be Grad Sunday and June 9 is Pentecost. We have invited the two other worship communities worshiping on our campus to join us in that service. Both HOPE Liberian and Ministerio Cristiano Jesus Fiel Amigo (Faithful Friends of Jesus Ministries) are excited to join us in worship on that day.

Pastor Natalia’s Report:

● Our first pre-marriage workshop (that was rescheduled to April 20th) was so successful and we have loved being able to start this new ministry partnership with Bri. All the feedback was positive and we look forward to doing another one in the fall (looking at twice a year from here out).

● Our OneRead this summer is Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan. I will begin promoting it later in June.

● Synod Assembly was a good reminder of the importance of creation care and stewardship and I hope that we can all come up with some ideas for how we can, as a congregation, better care for the environment.

● Synod Assembly also voted and approved on a new family leave policy. Our policy (in fact our whole personnel packet here at POP) is out of date, out of sync, and particularly corporate. I’ve asked Allan Grant to join with Melissa and look at our policies and how we might better align POP with synod guidelines. ● Our first partnership event with the BPIC (Iftar May 23) is looking great. We have a large group from POP attending and I am very pleased with the interest from our congregation. (also, no angry calls about our sign this year, so that’s a bonus!)

● I’ve been doing some initial interviews/conversations about the worship leading position and while I am sad about Nate leaving and will miss his presence in the office, I am excited to see where we go from here.

Pastoral Acts (March 15-May 15): Funerals:2 Weddings:1 Baptisms: 1

Unfinished Business:

-Volunteer Cards- discuss further in the fall

New Business:

-The next council meeting will be at 7:00pm July 16th. We will not meet in June- send reports only.

Action Items: -None

A motion was made by Melissa Johnson and seconded by Jeff Odens to adjourn the meeting. Motion approved. Meeting adjourned.