Prince of Peace Lutheran Church

Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

May 14, 2013 (Approved)

 

Present:  Bill Fredrick, Sue Johnson, Pastor Chad Brekke, Julia Sevald and Melissa Johnson

Absent:  Kathy Arveson

 

Call to Order:  President Bill Fredrick called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm.

 

Devotions: Secretary Melissa Johnson led us in devotions.

 

Adoption of the Agenda:  A motion was made by Sue Johnson and seconded by Julia Sevald to approve the agenda.  Motion approved.

 

Approval of Previous Minutes:  A motion was made by Sue Johnson and seconded by Julia Sevald to approve the previous minutes. Motion approved.

 

Reports of Officers:

 

Treasurer/Director of Operations:  Notable April activity:

 

• ·        Total April offerings & receipts were unfavorable to budget by $20,388 and $24,067 unfavorable to prior year.  This is because the budget had Easter included in April, rather than March.  Easter was in April in the prior year as well.  Disbursements are slightly favorable to budget by $1,419 and unfavorable to prior year by $12,851. 
• ·        The general fund activity for the month was a loss of $10,770.  This is unfavorable to budget for the month and to prior year based on the comments above regarding Easter.
• ·        Year to date, we are still overall unfavorable to budget by $31,737 and to prior year by $29,598. 
• ·        The cash balance has dropped to $16,241.  This is less than half of the balance at the beginning of the year.
• ·        Year to date Thrivent Choice dollars received is $5,424. This is slightly below budget of $5,667.
• ·        The only designated fund with significant activity was the Youth Plant Sale.

 

Additional notes:

• ·        Expenses are supposed to be at their peak in July.
• ·        The Wednesday night summer service should not have much of an impact on giving since it is taking the place of one of the Sunday services.
• ·        Pastor Chad noted that our decline in giving is really about faithful stewardship, and we have something planned to help with this (Financial Peace University).
• ·        Pastor Chad included a letter with the quarterly report sent to members letting people know that giving is low. This is also something that will be discussed during the service within the next few weeks.
• ·        Other churches are experiencing similar declines in their giving. The answer is a combination of communication and encouraging people to remain faithful to the commitments they’ve made.
• ·        The next quarterly review will be the third week of July. This information will be communicated through eNews, but a quarterly budget meeting will not be held until September.

A motion was made by Sue Johnson and seconded by Melissa Johnson to approve the treasurer’s report. Motion approved.

 

 

President’s Report:

• ·        We had a short discussion on benevolent giving, and Julia Sevald confirmed that this now gets paid in and out of the budget, which makes more sense, as we have to be capable of this giving.
• ·        The property committee has made a proposal to take the movable pews and move them to the chapel. After a discussion, it was decided that this is not a good option as the chapel needs to be a flexible space; the furniture is removed from this space on a weekly basis. President Bill Fredrick will report back to the property committee on our decision.

 

Vice President’s Report: 

Endowment/Leave A Legacy Update: 

• ·        The Identity Theft Seminar will take place on September 22, 2013. Jerry Johnson will be speaking at this seminar.
• ·        The Leave a Legacy Team revised the bylaws on paper. Marilyn will type it red-lined and it should be ready for the council to review in June. There are no big changes, but it has been updated to reflect what is currently happening.
• ·        There has been a proposal asking for $2,500 to do some outdoor landscaping, which would include landscaping around the new sign, putting in paver slabs and installing a fire pit. This would leave $1,100 in the fund.

 

Secretary’s Report:  No Report.

 

Pastor’s Report:

 

Pastor Chad: 

• ·        A written report has been submitted to be included in the May Council Packet.
• ·        The staff is working on summer themes for both the Sunday and Wednesday services. At least one of the Sunday services will be a Community Sunday – possibly taking place at the local park, with a BBQ.
• ·        There is a lot of ministry going on at Prince of Peace right now with funerals and other significant health needs.

 

Unfinished Business: 

• ·        The ministry teams have been asked to take on one of the Wednesday night meals. They are only responsible for the main dish, as the rest of the meal will be potluck style. Pizza will also be served each Wednesday for $1 a slice, providing another option for the kids.
• ·        The council will be serving at the Wednesday, June 5^th service. We would like to kick off the Wednesday night meals with a BBQ. We will need to look for a volunteer to bring in a second grill.

 

New Business: 

• ·        Julia Sevald asked if it would be possible to take June off from our full council meeting instead of July, as Pastor Chad, Sue Johnson, Melissa Johnson and AIM Natalia Terfa will all be gone for the June meeting. We will discuss this at our May 21^st meeting.

 

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Julia Sevald and seconded by Sue Johnson.  Motion approved.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Melissa Johnson

Secretary