LORD OF GRACE COUNCIL MINUTES

November 14, 2006    7:00pm

 

Members Present: Vicki Shearer, Pandora Larsen, Pastor Moe, Ron Paul, Mike Stein, Carol Buuck, Chris Pendleton, Corliss Jenkins-Sherry, Pastor Hermansen,  

 

Not Present: Dan Scott, Don Lawler, Joan Travis

 

I.  Call meeting to order                                                                   

Vicki Shearer called the meeting to order at 7:00

 

 II. Opening Prayer: Pastor Dale                                                                   

       

 III. Modifications to and approval of Minute                                

Ron moved to accept the October minutes as written. Corliss seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.                   

Review of Action items:

-Don will report at the next council meeting regarding the options and cost for re-keying and or using a key pad (June 2006) Cost to re-key will be approximately $500 with Any and All Lock Company.  Re-keying will happen in approximately two months. Don will have a draft security policy at the October meeting. (October 2006) Continue

Mike will research the crack on the sanctuary and possible repair. September 2006

Andrew Met with Bob Sisley from Chestnut Construction regarding cracking of drywall.  Bob is sending out his general superintendent, Bill Wright, who also has extensive experience with drywall to review cracking.  Continue

Dale, Chris, Don, Vicki will establish a Worship Enhancement Team by next council meeting Team is being developed.  October 2006 Continue 

 

IV. Pastors’ Reports: Pastor Dale/Pastor Chris

Pastor Moe: See Attached Report

#3 Plan for RSI to present to council in Jan. or Feb.

Pastor Hermansen: See Attached Report

 

V. Ministry Team Reports                                                               

 Youth: Chris Pendleton

See Attached Report

 Property/Building: Mike Stein

See Attached Report

 Outreach: Corliss Jenkins-Sherry

See Attached Report

Gift Giving: Don Lawler

No Report Submitted

Worship/Stephen Ministry: Dan Scott

No Report Submitted

 

 

 Education: Pandora Larsen

See Attached Report

 Fellowship: Joan Travis

No Report Submitted

 

VI. Old Business                                                                               

Council approved the organ committee including Carolyn Bernheim, Jim and Joy Fowler, Norm Ritzen, Ruth Sears, Ed and Betty Johnson with Dan Scott as council representative.

 

VII. New Business    

Vicki reviewed the proposed staff position for Minster for Leadership and Staff Support.

See job description below.                                                                   

Dale moved to approve the new position. Corliss seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

 

The Facilities Development team has met twice. The team is developing a congregational survey that will be distributed after the beginning of the New Year. Andrew is consulting with the team.

 

 

VIII. Treasurer Report                                                                        

See Attached Report

 

Corliss moved to accept the proposed budget for 2007 as written. Mike seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. A congregational meeting to approve the budget is planned for December 5, 2006 at 7:00

                  

VIII Closing Prayer/Adjournment                

                                   

 

Position Description for

MINISTER FOR LEADERSHIP AND STAFF SUPPORT

LORD OF GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH

 

Mission and Vision:  The position of Minister for Leadership and Staff Support will;

1.       act as a conduit between the pastoral staff and support staff,

2.       assist with the coordination and implementation of activities within the church, and

3.       Act as a liaison between the church and other social service agencies.

Reporting responsibilities:

1.       This position reports directly to the Senior Pastor of the church.

2.       This position has direct supervision for the support staff and volunteers.

Tasks and Duties:  To

➢      Provide a calm and spiritual presence for church operations.

➢      Work with the pastoral staff by

➢      assisting them in confidential matters of the church

➢      working with them on their specific needs

➢      assisting with their calendars

➢      prioritizing work flow, tasks and objectives for the church year

➢      providing supervision for support staff and volunteers

➢      Work with the office staff and volunteers on prioritizing work flow, tasks and objectives.

➢      Review and revise, when appropriate, the Policies and Procedures, providing a solid operational foundation.

➢      Review existing job descriptions and work with the Staff Support Committee on creating the needed job descriptions and objective performance evaluations.

➢      Review operations within the church, making sure that there are clear lines of responsibility and communication.

➢      Assist in the collection of all documents in the office and making assessments about how to organize them and their accessibility.

➢      Work with the church leadership and Council to make sure needs are being met.

➢      Work with Pastoral Staff, Council, Committees and Staff to be proactive on upcoming events.

➢      Act as a liaison between the church and other social service agencies.

➢      Develop a resource manual of social service agencies and contacts.

 

Hours:              Initially this is to be a part-time position, 20-24 hours per week.  There is                                      potential for full-time hours, at the pleasure of the pastoral staff                                                                    and council.

 

Pastor Dale Moe’s Council Report—Nov.  2006

1)      Thank you to all of you for your partnership in the Gospel.  I am truly amazed by your talents and your commitment.  Thank you.  Thank you. 

2)      It is always good for us to ponder anew the question:  “How are we best being God’s disciples?”   It is a blessing to be a child of God.  We are truly His servants! 

3)      RSI wants to come and give a presentation for stewardship—debt reduction campaign.  Debt reduction equals ministry advancement.  Combination campaign—debt reduction and ministry advancement.  Dates that they may be able to come and visit with the entire council—coordinate with us for a visit.  They will be calling me Wed.—the day after council to see if we want them to come.  The will come and give a presentation free of charge.    

4)      You’re all invited to the Estate Planning and Charitable Giving Workshop this Thursday, Nov. 16th at 5:30p.m.  Dinner is served!  Please let us know if you’re coming so we can plan appropriately for dinner.  The guest speaker is Cheryl Grasmoen, director of Charitable Giving Services at the Lutheran Community Foundation, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

5)      I will be representing the Grand Canyon Synod this week Nov. 16th-18th at the Evangelism Network Seminar at the National church headquarters in Chicago.  I will be back late Saturday night. 

6)      Our mission plan (budget) development is exciting as we seek to Make Christ Jesus Known! 

7)      New Members received on Oct. 29th are:  22nd  New Member Class   Oct. of 2006 =24 New Members = 12 family units,  Sue Abrahamson,  John & Lin Berdahl,  Jennifer Dahnke,  Jim & Joan Dahnke,  Loren & Janet Gratz,  Ron Ivanoff,  Ernie & Pat Jones,  Chris Kollen,  Merle & Lorriane Margelofsky,  Gina Klein and Todd Moutrey family daughter Kaley and son Gavin,  Karen Radant,  Bernie and Kristin Rickus family and sons: Andy, Ryan and Trevor

8)       I will be using my final week of vacation for this year—the week after Christmas Eve.  It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. 

9)      Many outreach ministries during this season of Thanksgiving.  I am in awe of all that is happening both within our faith community and outside our faith community. 

10)    Be mindful of the worship schedules in the next two months.  Thanksgiving Eve worship.  Advent worship!  Christmas Worship.  The mid-week worship times are at 6:30p.m.   Much is happening by way of our opportunities to worship. 

11)    The preschool continues to be a blessing to us all as we proclaim the Gospel in this place.     

 

 

 

Pastor Hermansen’s Report 

Updates and closures: Trunk or Treat went very well. Thanks to everyone who helped out. We did see some folks who were here for the first time; I am guessing that they got word of the event through MOPs or the Preschool. We handed out a CD that the praise team made as an evangelism tool. Vicki and I compiled a list of names for the "worship enhancement team." We will look to contact these individuals and form the team shortly. The youth team is in place and has met a couple of times so far. We are looking at ways to further enhance the program. I have suggested varying the week to week activities to keep the group more active and fresh. The hope is to do more things in the community, such as activities for service and for fun. This will happen on a rotational basis. The Jr. High youth will be going to Phoenix for a youth event in January. The motorcycle group will be riding the Friday following Thanksgiving. We have contacted some of the other area churches in hopes of adding some numbers to the group. All in all everything is going well. Thanks for your partnership and support. Pastor Chris

 

Intern Pastor Andrew Schlecht’s Council Report November 2006

1)                  Thank you for making my internship so wonderful!  You are all a wonderful blessing to me.  I am thankful that God has brought me her.

2)                  I continue to visit members and nonmembers at the hospitals (Northwest, UMC and TMC) as well as some shut-ins.

3)                  Grief support group has been meeting on Mondays at 11:00.  Carolyn Nichols has been wonderful!  We anticipate starting up a new group come the first of the year.

4)                  Prayer chapel is going strong on Wednesdays at 8:00 am.  Attendance has doubled to around 12 or 13.  Praise the Lord!  Please come and join us! 

5)                  Trunk or Treat was great fun! I really enjoyed working with Pastor Chris and all of the volunteers—they were fantastic!  Between 125 and 150 people showed up, including a number of families from MOPS and the Preschool.  Special thanks to Wayne Lundeberg, Tania Fricke, Julie Tweedy, Sue Hermansen, Tom Vingerud, Patrick and Leslie Kelley, Mark Campbell, Gina Posey, Cathy Lundeberg, Erin Cloutier, Jonathan Schlecht, Tina Cloutier, Vallorie Schlecht, Pandora Larsen, Norm and Jynn Ehler, Dan and Shannan Heston plus many more people who helped.  Please forgive me if I inadvertently left out your name.  Blessings and thanks to you all! 

6)                  Continue leading chapel every third week for the preschool and MOPS.  What a blessing! 

7)                  Continue with Kids Church on Sundays.  They, too, are a blessing!

8)                  Assisting Pastor Chris and Pastor Dale with confirmation.

9)                  Assisting Pastor Dale with adult Lectionary Bible study.

10)              Taught First Communion Class on November 5.  Approximately 23 youth plus adults were present.

11)              Began meeting with the building expansion committee to study options and review the mission and vision of Lord of Grace.  Briefly reviewed site plan and prepared preliminary questionnaire.  Also provided some church planning guidelines.

12)              Attended the meetings of the Monday Ministers. 

13)              Coordinating volunteers for the EDGE service from among the youth.

14)              Met with Bob Sisley from Chestnut Construction regarding cracking of drywall.  Bob is sending out his general superintendent, Bill Wright, who also has extensive experience with drywall to review cracking. 

15)              Planning another visit to Craycroft Towers on November 21 from 5:00 to 7:00.  We will be providing a Thanksgiving dinner.  Please let me know if you can come and help. 

16)              Continue to attend seminary classes every other Saturday.

17)              Pastor Chris and I are putting together plans to take middle school youth to the Youth Quake on January 19 to 21, 2007.

18)              I was invited to attend the compensation committee meeting.  I watched, listened and learned a lot!

19)              Continue meeting with Pastor Dale once per week for supervision. 

20)              Attended a cluster meeting in Phoenix with Pastor Dale on November 1 and 2 for internship.  I bragged about Lord of Grace…I hope that wasn’t sinful!

Grace and peace, Andrew Schlecht

Lord of Grace Youth Report November 13, 2006

This past month the Youth’s have been meeting on schedule with Pastor Chris’s program.  We have established a youth logistics group.  This group assists Pastor Chris with whatever he needs in his youth ministries.  Some of our discussions so far have been on fundraising ideas, youth monthly activities and major youth activities.

As far as the internet project-

Ö        We are up and running.

Ö        We now have a bulletin board that members can post comments, questions, prayer requests, etc.

Ö        I need CONTENT DEVELOPMENT FROM EVERYONE.  There are still blank pages and we need to decide if we want content for the blanks, delete it, or if we want other features.

 

Reminder - Email address @lordofgrace.org are now available for Pastors, staff and council members.  Just see me or send me an email with your requested user name and password and I will create it.  Email to chris.pendleton@lordofgrace.org.

 

Outreach Council Report November 14, 2006
1 The clothing drive ended November 12.  Clothing is going to the following
groups:  Gospel Rescue Mission, Casa de los Ninos, Big Brothers & Sisters
2.  Outreach will be setting up ordering of Poinsettas from New Beginnings
starting November 12th.
3.  Angel Tree gift signups are available now.
4.  A Tucson house birthday party has been scheduled for November 29th.
5.  Ninety five Thanksgiving bags were handed out on November 5th.
Submitted by,
Corliss Jenkins-Sherry

 

 

Education Report for November 2006 submitted by Pandora Larsen

 

1.      Sunday School offering is going to World Vision for an adopted child.  This was already in existence before I came on council.  I am getting myself familiar with the program, so the kids can start to correspondence with him.

2.      I am very grateful to all my volunteers who keep all these great education programs going.  I will be giving them a small token of my thanks this Christmas.

3.      Christmas program practices are going strong.  Thank you to our leaders Melissa Elias and Phyllis Teager.  Practices will continue through Sunday, December 10th.  The Christmas program will be on Sunday, December 17th at 6:30pm.

4.      A TV and DVD/VCR has been installed in the large classroom.  Mary had planned for this in the budget but did not get a chance to get it done.  It will be a great tool for the kid’s music ministry, preschool and other church groups.

5.      The Preschool children are scheduled to sing at the 10:30 service on November 19.  They have 2 songs that they will sing. Wayne Lundeburg will put together a short video showing some of the other activities our children participate in.  The preschool budget has been turned in to Ron. A small increase in tuition next year and raises for the returning staff have been submitted pending on approval from the preschool committee as well as council.  They are also looking into summer programs.  I commend Cathy for the wonderful job she does as teacher and as director.

6.      Given to me by coordinator Gina Posey.  MOPS is going well this year.  We have 2 meetings left before we break for Christmas.  The 3-5 year olds have been enjoying chapel time each MOPS Wednesday and using the Narthax area for the babies, seems to be working well.   We are currently doing a fundraiser for the pediatric ward at UMC, selling stuffed bears.  In addition, to each bear donated to a child at UMC... MOPS will get $3/bear. As an outreach to the community, we made 5 fleece blankets as a group and donated them to Teen Life (a Christian organization for pregnant teens).  We have 52 moms registered this year, many who are new moms.  About 1/3 of the women who come are members of other churches.  1/3 of them are members of Lord of Grace and a 1/3 of them are unchurched.  We are always looking for more volunteers to help with our Moppets program.  We are starting to plan ahead for the future and looking at moms that would be interested helping with the steering team.

 

Property Report November 14, 2006

 

1.      Budget submitted for CY2007

                                                   i.      $41,003

2.      Ceiling Cracks

                                                   i.      Pastor Andrew arranging a meeting with Chestnut Construction (Bob Sisly) to discuss options