Present: Pastor Chad Brekke, Mike Isenberg, Nate Boucher, Rachel Henderson, Patti VanLiew, Ann Maczuga 

Absent: Pastor Natalia Terfa, Kirk Sidlo, Frank Clinton, 

Call to Order: Mike called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm 

Opening Devotion: Chad led us in devotions/prayer. 

Adoption of the Agenda: Nate made a motion to adopt the agenda. Rachel seconded the motion. Motion carries. 

Approval of Previous Minutes: Ann made a motion to approve minutes from the August 15, 2023 council meeting. Nate seconded the motion. Motion carries. 

EXECUTIVE TEAM REPORTS: 

President and Vice President’s Report – 

Nate volunteered to be a member of the Indian Border School truth and storytelling initiative. The orientation session brought to light the effects it will have on the church and our synods and the work to be done. 

Treasurer’s Report:

MONTH	Actual	Budget	Favorable/	Actual	Favorable/
General/Building Fund:	Aug-23	Aug-23	(Unfavorable)	Aug-22	(Unfavorable)
Offerings/Receipts	28,810	54,103	(25,293)	21,700	7,110
Expenses	(66,945)	(61,212)	(5,733)	(100,883)	33,938
Net Gain/(Loss)	(38,135)	($7,109)	($31,026)	(79,183)	$41,048
Budget	Prior Year
YEAR TO DATE	Actual	Budget	Favorable/	Actual	Favorable/
General/Building Fund:	Aug-23	Aug-23	(Unfavorable)	Aug-22	(Unfavorable)
Offerings/Receipts	598,385	453,138	145,247	446,624	151,761
Expenses	(525,631)	(489,693)	(35,938)	(678,919)	153,288
Net Gain/(Loss)	$72,754	($36,555)	$109,309	($232,294)	$305,048

Notable August Activity: 

• For the month of August, receipts were significantly less than expenses. Offering is down significantly; some drop is expected during the summer months. 
• Year to date, we are ahead of where we were in 2022, showing positive balances for the year. 

Submitted by Rachel Henderson, Treasurer, 

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 

Pastoral Report: 

Pastor Chad shared that he sees good quality with our worship. The energy is there, our congregation is engaging, and the feedback from visitors is positive. Our pastoral care is compassionate, faithful, competent. He recognized Karina, our gifted staff secretary, for all she does for our members. He stated, “She is a blessing and is just good at it”. 

From: Pr Natalia Terfa 

First – thank you all for the gift of sabbatical. It was really lovely and I’m still carrying the effects into work with me this month. 

One thing I’m hoping to continue from sabbatical is balance between work and life. I learned to absolute joy of being present for my family and myself in a way I hadn’t done before and would love to hold pieces of moving forward. So – in the interest of clearly communicating my availability as I continue to work from home and out of the office – I 

Nominating Team did some good work in my absence, and we’ll pick up in October with meeting and conversations to continue their work. 

This fall – instead of our typical GroupLife – I’d love to try some new things – dinner church being one of them, and Sunday Morning Education being another. Groups that have been running will be able to continue to meet, but this is a way for people without weekly availability to connect as they are able. 

○ Dinner Church – quarterly, hosted by a POP family, we will help with food costs, but they’ll make a meal, people will sign up, and we’ll hang out, meet each other, and have a little bit of conversation about church and faith in general. 

○ Sunday Morning Education will be an hour after worship, ideally in the CLC but maybe in the welcome center or worship center, if we can’t use the CLC due to Pr Glen’s church. We’ll figure that piece out soon. Katie and I have talked about kid activities during the same time so parents can stick around. 

○ Dates and tentative topics 

■ October 8 – Pr Natalia shares about her Holy Land trips 

■ November 5 – Braver Angels (tentative) 

■ December 3 – Mental Health Connect 

■ January 7 – Baptism Celebration Event (familyfriendly) 

● ¾ Time Off Week Schedule – September, October, and November: 

○ Chad off: September 25-October 1, October 9-15, November 13-19 

○ Natalia off: September 11-17, October 16-22, November 6-12 

Ministry Team Reports: 

Community Life – 

Congregational Care- 

Outreach- 

CEAP will be doing a toy drive in November and will put more details in the bulletin. 

Collection will be starting for non-perishable food, personal care item, and warm hats, mittens and socks to include Car Care Bags October 22, 2023. 

Jeans and Junk will be on October 1, 2023. 

Marian Hutches and Terri Revell are in Jamaica now. Last week they held a sewing clinic with the community at Faith Chapel in Copse. This week they will be spending time at West Haven Children’s Home for physically and mentally challenged kids and young adults. They will also spend a day at Lethe Infant and Basic School. 

Care Team Report- none 

Property Team – none 

Sunday Morning Experience – none 

Staff Reports: 

Youth and Childrens Ministry – Katie 

This Summer was a lot: A lot of work, a lot of energy, but most of all a lot of FAITH FILLED FUN Activities. With the HS Adventure Trip to Colorado, a full week at WAPO, Summer Day Camp and Youth Ministry Bonfires and events spread throughout the Summer, we truly had a lot of fun. 

As we kick off our Fall, things will look a little different, but mostly by NAME. We are going back to the basics and calling things exactly what they are. So anything for children ages BIRTH – 5th Grade will be called “Childrens Ministry”. Anything for Youth grades 6th-12th will be called “Youth 

Ministry” (specific use of High School and Middle School as needed). I am approaching this year three months at a time. The structure listed below will be through at least November, and during the month of December we will evaluate, and make changes as necessary. December is always such a busy month that we will keep what we are doing at a minimum and focus on things they can do at home as a family. 

• Childrens Ministry will continue to happen on Sunday mornings during worship and will continue to use the Sunday morning scripture as the basis for our learning and activities. Childrens Ministry will meet on MOST Sunday mornings (with very few exceptions) 
• Middle School Ministry will continue to happen on Wednesday nights, but our focus will move away from the “traditional” Confirmation that many of us adults grew up with and we will focus on building authentic relationships with each other and God. We will also use the scripture from Sunday as the basis of our activities and learning, and will incorporate Worship, Fellowship and Service into our time together. Middle School will meet MOST Wednesday nights (with very few exceptions) 
• High School Ministry will meet on Sunday nights from 6-9 PM and we will be opening up the Church to be whatever our High Schoolers need it to be. The Youth Room will be available for studying. The CLC will be available for Stress Relief (think dodgeball, basketball, etc). The welcome center will be available those who need to work on group projects. The goal is for our High Schoolers to see Church as a safe space where they are seen, known and loved and can also be a place where they can be themselves. High School Ministry will meet EVERY OTHER SUNDAY NIGHT. High School will also be focusing on showing up for each other in our various plays, musicals, sporting events and other things we are involved in 
• All ministry for BIRTH-12th grade will also carry an important family aspect because we believe that what can start here at Church, can grow at home. Weekly Devotionals will be created (eventually) around Sunday’s scripture that will include prayers, activities and questions geared towards families of all types, and with students of all ages in mind. These devotionals will be sent on Sundays 
• Ministry Events, such as Trunk-or-Treat will also be making more of a comeback this year with periodic events for the various age groups. For example, this Fall there will be a Children and Family outing to a Corn Maze or Apple Orchard, and a Youth and Family Outing to something “haunted” These types of events allow us to see Church as more than just Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. Events like this are also a prime opportunity to invite friends. 
• Service Events and Community Outreach will also play a big part in what we do with Children, Youth and Family Ministry and we will continue to partner with various organizations and teams throughout the Church and Community. 

Below are some upcoming events that are already on the calendar for the Fall 

• Bible Sunday (3-year-olds, 2nd graders and 6th graders) on October 1st 

• Trunk-or-Treat on October 28th 
• Affirmation of Baptism on October 29th 
• Other Fall Events (as listed above) Dates TBD 
• CEAP Toy Drive mid-November – December 10th 
• Childrens Ministry Christmas Program – December 10th 

Media & Tech – none 

Music – none 

Unfinished Business: 

PoP received quotes from quality companies for removal of the dangerous overgrown trees in the courtyard, by the playground area, and trimming of the overgrown trees blocking the garbage pickup area. We decided to go with the insured/bonded company with the cheapest bid of $10,000. It is an unexpected expense, and we discussed a fundraiser to help with the cost. Since we received funds from the Employee Retention Credit program, and this is something we cannot put off, we discussed using funds from the ERC. 

Rachel made a motion to use funds from our available cash on hand to pay for the tree removal. Patti seconded the motion. The motion passed. 

New Business: 

The council discussed the success of Rally Day. We had approximately 180 in attendance. Fun was had by all! We did not have many sign-ups to share their Time-Talent-and Treasure with “It just takes 3”. We talked about Outreach Teams and our new structure; how we can have members find opportunities to participate in church through personal invite. 

If anyone asks how they can help, have them reach out to Karina. She will have a list of things in the office that the church needs. Natalia will still be our go to for communion, scripture readers, ushers, and greeters. 

There will be a new “in house” function to our Simply Giving program that Paul will migrate to. This will be more cost effective and will merge with programs used to keep track of member offerings. 

Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at 7:00 pm via Zoom 

Adjournment: Nate made a motion to adjourn. Rachel seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm.