Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Council Meeting
June 21, 2011 (Approved)
Present: Tom Heinrich, Dick Ruohoniemi, Bill Fredrick, Pastor Mark Bents, Chuck Krych, Lynn Bohm, Marian Hutchens, Charlie Olson, Kim Cozad, Cindi Lindquist, Mary Gilleshammer, Mike Kust and Allan Grant Absent: Pastor Jim Carlson, Pastor Hal Stoa,
Call to Order: President Tom Heinrich called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.
Devotions: Pastor Mark Bents led opening devotions.
Adoption of Agenda: A motion was made by Bill Fredrick and seconded by Lynn Bohm to adopt the Council agenda. The following additions to the agenda were made. Appointment of Cindi Lindquist as the new Council Member for Spiritual Development to replace Kevin Mehnert, report from the Senior Pastor Call Committee by Mike Kust, and flag pole donation. Amended agenda was approved.
Approval of Previous Minutes: A motion was made by Dick Ruohoniemi and seconded by Bill Fredrick to approve the minutes from the May 17, 2011 Council meeting as written. Motion approved.
Report of the Nomination Committee: The Nominating Committee has recommended Cindi Lindquist to replace Kevin Mehnert who has resigned due to their move to Chicago, Ill. A motion to approve was made by Allan Grant and seconded by Kim Cozad. Motion approved. Welcome Cindi.
Update from the Senior Pastor Call Committee: Senior Pastor Call Committee member Mike Kust updated the Council on the recommendation of a candidate for Senior Pastor at Prince of Peace. The Call Committee received and reviewed 18 candidates. They narrowed this list to 7 candidates that best met the criteria of the Congregational Survey. They invited these individuals to interview and they conducted interviews with 6 candidates. One candidate clearly rose to the top. After an additional interview and a visit to a church to hear an actual sermon, the Call Committee met on Monday June 20, 2011 and determined that this candidate has a complete set of skills and would be a great fit for Prince of Peace. Mike provided additional information and after discussion a motion to support the recommendation of the Senior Pastor Call Committee was made by Bill Fredrick and seconded by Dick Ruohoniemi. Motion was approved unanimously.
Reports of Officers:
Treasurer/Director of Operations:
May receipts excluding the Donor Directed Benevolences were $4,200 below budget. Year to date we are almost $10,900 below budget. There is concern that this is the fourth consecutive month below budget. This month disbursements were $6,900 higher than receipts for the month… This resulted in the need to transfer an additional $1,000 from the General Contingency Fund to bring the Building Fund to a positive balance. This is the same amount transferred in May 2010.
A motion was made to accept the Treasures Report by Mary Gilleshammer and seconded by Bill Fredrick. Motion approved.
President’s Report:
Tom Heinrich will be working with Vicki Weber and others to plan “next steps” to help assure that we are able to meet this year’s budget. A meeting is planned. Tom announced that he would be calling a Special Congregational Meeting for the purpose of issuing a Call for a Senior Pastor. The meeting will be Sunday, July 17, 2011 at 11:30 AM.
Vice President’s Report:
Leave A Legacy Update – The Leave A Legacy Fund stands at $185,942.27. The committee is looking at another member seminar later in the year around November.
A member has offered to donate a lighted flag pole for the front of the Church. There will be no cost to the congregation. The Council sent the issue to the Worship Enhancement and Property Committees for review and recommendations.
Pastor’s Report:
Pastor Mark: Pastor Mark provided a written report which will be attached to the official minutes. In summary Pastor Mark reported that he has met with the 10:30 worship leaders. It was agreed that some changes will be implemented during the summer months leading into the fall. There will be a meeting with all worship leaders on Tuesday, June 21 to discuss worship plans for June – August. We will also plan to meet in August for the months of September – December. The staff continues with their book study on Healthy Congregations. Pastor Mark also reported that he is meeting with staff members about their job descriptions and will make recommended changes to the Executive Team and Council as they arise.
Pastor Jim: Pastor Jim was absent but provided a written report which will be attached to the official minutes. In summary Pastor Jim reported on his communion, hospital and rehab visits. Pastor Jim is working on a Bible study for October, “A Gardener, Two Travelers, and a Cheat” from the People of Faith series.
Pastor Hal: Pastor Hal submitted a written report which will be attached to the official minutes. He is at St. Timothy’s of Columbia Heights Council Meeting this evening. He reports that he continues his commitment to Prince of Peace (15 hours a week) but greatly misses the interaction with members on Sunday morning.
Staff Report: Katie Rykal provided the Council with her requested quarterly report from the Childrens and Family Ministry Report. Katie recently developed a sub-committee to help with various programming needs of Children and Family Ministry, such as summer programming, curriculum development and writing, Faith in Action Parent Connection. We are gearing up to help with Youth Mission Week next week. The team is presently working with the curriculum team to survey the teachers and parents about the current curriculum.
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: The team listed four goals for 2011 and the significant steps that have been taken to reach their goals. These include:
- Nominating Committee has found a replacement for Kevin Menhert.
- Vice President met with Leave a Legacy and is helping with timelines.
Sunday Morning Experience Enhancement: The team reported on recent events since their April meeting with them coordinating and filling the visitor “gift” bags. They have ordered an “information” sign to lead visitors to the Visitor Kiosk. They have solicited/secured WE Team Leadership for 2012 consisting of Team 1 – Chuck and Denise Dube, Team 2 – Melissa Haste, Team 3 – Frank and Jo Fachman and Team 4 – Paul and Vicky Miller, and a Reader Coordinator – Linda Deshayne. They are still looking for a Coffee Host leader as well
Congregational Care: The team approved 2011 goals of restructure the new member process to help new members in becoming active members in POP. They are looking at adding additional new member events to expand from the single meeting which is the current process. They discussed the Befrienders Ministry and the addition of more Befrienders especially men.
Community Life: The team is meeting to discuss the new name for our “Small Foyer Groups” and getting groups going in early fall. They are also to planning the Homecoming 2011 event. The New Senior Pastor welcome committee has been formed and is working on plans to welcome our new Senior Pastor.
Spiritual Development: No report
Outreach: The team met and finalized plans for the TreeHouse Service and the TreeHouse donation box that was built by Terry Hartman. We are sure that the tree house will be a good visual reminder for people to keep TreeHouse in their thoughts and prayers as well as their donation and gifts. They are also considering organizing several sessions at Feed My Starving Children for next year.
Unfinished Business:
- Update on new monitors: Worship Experience Council members Marian Hutchens and Chuck Krych provided the Council with an update on new monitors for the Welcome Center. They reported that there is questions about exactly what do we want the monitors to do. The estimated cost of purchase, installation and upgrade of computer system far out paces the $1,200 allocated from Leave A Legacy. They also reported that there is a real concern regarding microphones used for worship due to new FCC regulations. The WE team will be asked to study and make a recommendation to Leave A Legacy to fund replacement of the microphones in the Sanctuary.
- Executive/Member Meetings: The Executive Team has requested that Pastor Mark conduct 3 listening sessions with members and former leaders on this congregation regarding how they handled issues when they were in a leadership role. These meetings will be held June 28-29, 2011. At least 72 member households will be invited to attend. All Council members are encouraged to attend also.
New Business:
- July Council Meeting: There will not be a July Council Meeting.
- Mortgage Reserve: A motion was made by Dick Ruohoniemi and seconded by Lynn Bohm to authorize Charlie Olson to access the Mortgage Reserve Fund up to $15,000 to cover any mortgage payments not covered by the Building Fund. Discussion followed. The motion was approved.
- Financial Appeal to Congregation: The Giving Team will be developing a special appeal to members to generously support Prince of Peace in the coming months. The end of June will bring reminders to those who are behind on their pledges to remember POP and we pray that they will be able to catch up. A meeting with Vicki Weber, Lowell Larson, Pastor Hal and President Tom Heinrich, as well as Special Gifts Team chaired by Ron Welde will be held June 29th.
Pastor Mark requested that the Council move to a closed meeting. Charlie Olson left the meeting.
The Council returned from the Closed Session.
A motion was made by Cindi Lindquist and seconded by Chuck Krych to approve a revised job description and title for the Communication and Media Administrator. The new job description better meets the needs of Prince of Peace and the skills of the staff member. The title will be Minister of Communication and Volunteer Ministries. After some discussion the motion was approved.
Pastor Mark will share the new job description and title with all staff.
A motion was made by Marian Hutchens and seconded by Chuck Krych to adjourn the meeting. Motion approved. Meeting adjourned at 9:20PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Allan Grant
Secretary