LORD OF GRACE COUNCIL
Meeting Minutes
October 17, 2006
Members Present: Vicki Shearer, Pandora Larsen, Pastor Moe, Don Lawler, Ron Paul, Mike Stein, Carol Buuck, Chris Pendleton, Corliss Jenkins-Sherry, Dan Scott, Joan Travis, Pastor Hermansen
Not Present: Andrew Schlecht
I. Call meeting to order
Vicki Shearer called the meeting to order at 7:00
Welcome to Dan Scott
II. Opening Prayer: Pastor Dale
III. Modifications to and approval of Minute: Carol Buuck
Joan moved to accept the minutes as written. Ron 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. Continue Will be discussed at next property meeting.
IV. Pastors’ Reports: Pastor Moe/Pastor Hemansen/ Andrew Schlecht
Pastor Moe:
See attached report
Pastor Hermansen:
Chris discussed the need for using funds to enhance worship. Dale suggested establishing a Worship Enhancement team to explore all the various aspects of worship and outreach.
Chris encouraged the council to set deadlines for the Facilities Development Team as well as establishing a Worship Enhancement Team.
Dale, Chris, Don, Vicki will establish a Worship Enhancement Team by next council meeting.
Andrew Schlecht:
See attached report
V. Treasurer Report: Ron Paul
2007 Budget input forms were handed out. The forms must be returned by November 5, 2006. Ron will complete the budget proposal by the November council meeting. If a council member knows of an end of the year expense please put in so that it will be paid in this year’s budget and not held over to next year’s budget.
VI. 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
Chris and Dale will preach three sermons on stewardship. Don will be sending out letters and pledge cards to members.
Worship/Stephen Ministry:
No report submitted
Education: Pandora Larsen
See attached report
Fellowship: Joan Travis
See attached report
VII. Old Business
The following members are willing to serve on the Facilities Development Team:
J.D. Larsen, Dan Heston, Dan Sherry, Bob Heyer, Wayne Lundeberg, Patti Nathan, and LuAnn McCarty. Andrew, Pandora and Mike will be the council liaisons and non-voting members of the committee
Chris Pendleton moved to accept the Facilities Development Team. Dan Scott seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
VIII. New Business
Don moved to declare Lord of Grace a smoke free zone. Chris Pendleton seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Don has ordered No Smoking signs.
Carpets will be cleaned on Saturday October 21, 2006. Mike asked that staff please pick up as much as possible on Friday.
Council still needs to approve the wedding fees.
Don moved that charges for non-member funerals will be at the pastor’s discretion. Joan seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
PAC 219 wants to sell popcorn this Sunday October 22, 2006. Since this troop is charted by LOG, it was approved for them to sell the popcorn. The scouts will be asked to set up a table outside the narthex.
The next council meeting will be moved to November 14, 2006 due to the Thanksgiving Holiday.
VIII Closing Prayer/Adjournment
Dale moved to adjourn the meeting. Pandora seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Pastor Dale Moe’s Council Report—Oct. 2006
1) Ten year anniversary celebration—a true blessing. Thanks Vicki Shearer and the steering team for all your fine and dedicated work—truly splendid!
2) Communion assistance—Bread: “The body of Christ, given for you.” Wine: “The blood of Christ, shed for you.” It may be that on any given Sunday we are short a person or two to assist with communion and in those particular situations please
3) Facility development team is crucial and just as crucial is our continuation of our ongoing giving and growth giving; thus, consecrations Sunday on Nov. 5th. Our giving to our general fund will need to be strong as we seek to grow our facility/ministries. One is a spring board to the other. Debt reduction equals mission advancement. One cannot shift giving from one pocket to the other rather this is a splendid time for growth giving, tithing, etc. Onward, forward for Jesus! Also, the council/staff will need to take the lead in making some significant decisions of our savings and using it as a spring board for advancement—program, facility, etc.
4) A reminder in that our budget is really our Mission plan. Mission plan is that which presents our ministries both near and far.
5) Organ fund—people giving graciously to organ fund. Budgetary item or not? Council should give this some thought.
6) Pack 219 would like to sell their annual popcorn this Sunday following services. Just a heads up.
7) New Member Classes continue. I ask the council to be the presenter’s on Sunday night Oct. 22nd as I will be escorting Pastor Chris home from Via de Cristo that evening. Intern Andrew will be present during class time to fill in the gaps if there are any. The EDGE service precedes this and Intern Andrew will be leading this service that evening. The schedule is as follows:
Council Visitation Night. Sunday Oct. 22nd New Member Night
6:30p.m. Open and Greeting by Vicki Shearer (council president) & Andrew Schlecht
6:35p.m. Youth—Chris Pendleton
6:40p.m. Treasurer, Financial Secretary & Script—Ron Paul, Shannan Heston & Lori Brown
6:50p.m. Property—Mike Stein
7:00p.m. Fellowship—Joan Travis
7:05p.m. Chancel Choir—Dawn Calkins
7:15p.m. Education—Pandora Larsen
7:20p.m. Outreach—Corliss Jenkins-Sherry
7:25p.m. Worship—Dan Scott
7:30p.m. Stewardship & Closing Greeting (Lock-up)—Don Lawler & Andrew Schlecht.
8) A number of pastoral ministry situations continue as is common—hospital visits, baptisms, weddings, counseling, etc. Working with some upcoming baptisms—end of Oct. (Frank family and Faulk family). Christeen Moore funeral/memorial will be Nov. 11. There have also been some dire situations within our faith community that has meant some in-depth counseling. People are coming to the church to sequester funds—these are mostly transients—it is that time of year. All in all, we are an extension of His love.
9) Vacation days. Pastor Dale—Monday, Wed. and Thursday of this week—Oct. 9th, 11th and 12th as I have both my parents and in-laws here visiting for the 10 year anniversary. Then I will be using my final week of vacation for this year—the week after Christmas Eve.
10) Children’s Christmas program has begun their practices—Melissa Elias is heading this up along with Phyllis Teager. This play looks to be wonderful—Haley, Chelsee and Alex are all participating in one way or another and I have been hearing the musical CD played at home and it is really good.
11) Internship supervision is going great. Andrew has been wonderful and Pastor Chris has also been very supportive of this process.
12) Staff continues to meet weekly—Fridays at 11:30a.m. I provide an agenda and we consider those things/events that pertain to ministry here at Lord of Grace. We are continually gauging the ministries that are before us—pastoral, missions, visionary, educational, etc. We as staff are continually seeking ways to build-up the body of Christ here at Lord of Grace—it is in our DNA.
13) Many new ministries happening due to the wonderful leadership of our staff—Pastor Chris has been meeting with a young adult/college age group on Wed. nights. Intern Andrew has the prayer group and grief support group up and running. Excellent leadership by both of them. We will continue to ask: “Who are others (lay leaders) we can empower to also lead these ministries?”
Pastor Chris Hermansen’s Council Report
1. I will be gone at "Via de Cristo" this weekend.
2. I will be using up the remainder of my vacation between Christmas and
New Years.
3. Starting October 30th I will be the head coach of the Marana High
School
boys varsity soccer program.
4. Gina and I got engaged earlier this month. Our wedding date is
February
17th.
5. Letter to the council.
Dear Council,
As I have been preparing to preach on November 5th, our Stewardship Sunday,
I have been continually concerned about one issue that I feel hinders our
ministerial growth. Almost a year ago I shared my thoughts about the
rather
large amass of funds that we have accumulated in our savings account. The
reason this concerns me so much is because I feel we are not reinvesting
into our exciting ministries, the key word being reinvesting. For many it
is hard to understand that the church operates different than a household
and different than a business. For a household there is justification to
have a "nest egg," a business sets a budget and must stick to
it. The
biggest difference I see in the church is that we operate on faith.
To compare and contrast the business and household models a church sets a
budget but is by no means limited to it. Earlier this year we had a $5000
expense to repair one of our air conditioning units. We were very
fortunate
that we had the funds to cover that repair but if those funds had not been
there is there any doubt that the congregation would have stepped up and
given in excess to cover that need. For most of us there is a level of
comfort that we feel when we have a sizable amount of financial resources at
hand if a need ever arises. As a church our comfort should come not from
a
bank account but from our faith.
When I preach on November 5th and encourage our people to consider what
their giving should be to the church, what I will be focusing on is
faith.
I will be asking our people to put their faith in God knowing that even if
they stretch their budgets beyond their comfort zones they can trust in
their faith knowing that God will provide from them in their time of
need.
If I am going to ask that of our people I feel the leadership of our church
should be stepping out in that same faith. Instead of sitting on six
figures in the bank we need to address the immediate needs of our faith
community and act, we need to reinvest in what we are already doing.
When I shared these thoughts a little less than a year ago the greatest
criticism was that these requests were made without a plan. After being
with you for thirteen months I feel I have a greater sense of the needs at
Lord of Grace and can see many areas where our ministry could be instantly
affected, many of these we have discussed before but with little
development. We have talked about purchasing a bus or van for the
church.
From my work with the youth I can see vividly how this would enhance our
ministry. We have talked about adding elements to our worship space to
enhance our ministry. I have said that our Sunday morning worship is the
closest thing the church has to a product and if this is the first
experience that someone has with our church we want to put our best foot
forward. These needs could include but are not limited to; a third
projector for the back wall so that those who lead worship can do without
music stands or printed materials, a more sophisticated lighting system that
would allow better viewing of our existing projectors and draw greater focus
to the speakers, musicians, etc, and a stronger computer that could handle
power point and DVD's that would allow a smoother and more pleasant worship
experience.
The text that I have chosen for November 5th comes from Matthew 25. In
this
parable Jesus speaks of a wealthy man who sets out on a journey. Before
he
leaves he calls three of his servants to him. He entrusts to each of
these
servants a portion of his wealth. While the wealthy man is away two of
the
servants invest what was given to them and what they invested doubles, but
the third servant buries what he was given. When the wealthy man returns
the first two servants share with their master what he had given to them and
the increase that they had made but the third servant has nothing to show
for what he was given. Of these three servants which one do we identify
with? Are we reinvesting what God has given us or are we burring it and
prohibiting it from growing. I pray that we trust in God and his passion
for our lives. I pray that we seek to give back what has so graciously
been
given to us, knowing that, without a doubt, God will double and triple our
efforts and the ministry of this place.
We have been blessed; now let us continue to be a blessing.
Pastor Chris
Intern Pastor Andrew Schlecht’s Council Report October 2006
1) I continue to visit members and nonmembers at the hospitals (Northwest, UMC and TMC) as well as some shut-ins.
2) Grief support group has been meeting on Mondays at 11:00. Carolyn Nichols has been an extraordinary blessing! Received very positive feedback from attendees.
3) Prayer chapel is up and running on Wednesdays at 8:00 am. Everyone is welcome to join us for a brief time of worship and prayer! Attendance has been around five to six, although new people have been showing up each week.
4) Continue to work with Pastor Chris on Trunk or Treat. Set for October 31 from 5 to 7.
5) Leading chapel every third week for the preschool and MOPS. They are great fun—so open and loving.
6) Assisting Pastor Chris and Pastor Dale with confirmation; will lead 8th grade class this Wednesday, October 18.
7) Assisting with adult Lectionary Bible study; will be leading class this Wednesday, October 18.
8) Attended second new membership class on Sunday, October 15; will assist council members with final class on Sunday, October 22.
9) Offered to assist with building expansion committee to study options if desired by Council. Briefly reviewed site plan.
10) Attended the meetings of the Monday Ministers and the Worship Committee.
11) Coordinating volunteers for the EDGE service from among the youth.
12) Gathered info on creating a safe community for children. Will distribute copies to those who are interested.
13) Discussed cracking of drywall with members of property committee. Contacted contractor who stated he will come out and look at the problem. So far he has been non-responsive. Discussed some storage options with Mike Stein.
14) Hoping to put together another visit to Craycroft Towers in November.
15) Attend seminary classes every other Saturday.
16) Tenth Anniversary Celebration was wonderful! Thanks to Vicki and all the committee members for doing an incredible job putting it together. What a blessing! God is good…all the time!
October 17, 2006 Property
1. Property Committee Meetings
· Met September 28 and October 9
· Attendees: Bob Heyer 9/28, 10/9), Don Lawler (9/28, 10/9), John Salaz (9/28), LaVern Schwandt (9/28, 10/9), Dan Sherry (9/28, 10/9), Mike Stein (9/28, 10/9)
· Recommendations:
i. Storage
1. Hold off on executing bid on storage cabinets
2. Look into other storage options (i.e. putting in cabinets ourselves, enlarging storage room and increasing height of cabinets).
ii. Pastor Andrew has some suggestions
· Ceiling Cracks
i. Pastor Andrew arranging a meeting with Chestnut Construction (Bob Sisly) to discuss options
Outreach Council Report October 17, 2006
1. The clothes drive is continuing until November 15th.
2. There will be an Angel Tree party around Christmas time. The
date has
not been
set.
3. Outreach is planning another Tucson house birthday party -- November
29th.
4. Kim George was invited to be
part of the Outreach team since she is
organizing
meals and visits for those who have had surgery, or are sick or injured.
5. We are planning our food baskets for the holidays.
Submitted by,
Corliss Jenkins-Sherry