Church Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, September 20,2022 6:00 – 8:00 PM Present: Judy Evans, Tom Bernth, Pam Shaw, Steve Bauer, Kristin Crawford, Pastor Luther Paul Karl, Erlinde Beliveau
Welcome Back to Pastor Luther: Pastor will be with us on Sundays and Wednesdays and lead the Wednesday morning adult class as well as have a role with the students in confirmation classes. We Gather In God’s Name Opening Prayer
- Blessings
- Devotions - Tom Bernth
- Thank You Cards to Pastor George Koch, Pastor Dave Dalzell as well as our musicians
- Meeting minutes – August 18, 2022 – attached and accepted
We Celebrate and Give Thanks for the Past
- Treasurer Report - See report.
- Secretary Report - No report
- Ministry Team Reports a. Serve the Lord – Paul Karl: See Sunday bulletin with report b. Grow in Faith – Tom Bernth: See report c. Come Together – Pam Shaw: No report
We Seek God’s Direction for our Church – Follow-up • Call Process Update - Meeting will be held in person with Pastor Steve Wilco on Monday Sept. 26th at 7:00 • Leadership for Property Team – update: no new information regarding property team chair. • Plan to update by-laws: Have not been updated since 2006-06. Judy and Steve will contact Russ to initiate a by-laws committee to begin this much needed work. • Cross for the Sanctuary: on hold for now. • RIC update: Committee has dissolved; however looking for an annual date to celebrate RIC Sunday. • Coffee Making - To increase number of members who can make coffee; directions will be written out so any member can follow them to assist in coffee making on Sunday mornings. • Adult Education - Pastor Luther will talk to Mark Edwards and Russ Hilliard. He plans to begin a class on Sunday October 16th.
We Seek God’s Direction for our Church – New Business • Safety Concerns - Police Officer met with Judy and others and shared a safety plan that included defining a safe place to meet outdoors after exiting the building, with the key component regarding safety being to exit as quickly as possible, no matter what the emergency is. Various options were discussed, such as educating some members to become safety officers (who are aware of all exits to direct others to safety) o Fire Evacuation Plan o Active Shooter Evacuation Plan - o Safe Church policy – draft from 2018 attached, link to ELCA guidance - will contact the SYNOD to determine present Safe Church Policy. https://www.elca.org/About/Churchwide/Office-of-the-Secretary/Legal-Issues/Sample-Policies • Homeless person concerns: Pastor Luther will assist in guiding people in need of food and shelter who come to our church for help. There has been an increase more recently. • Stewardship brochure - question if the brochure was for new members? • Upcoming Events October 23: Stewardship, Time and Talent Sunday, Work day at Operation Blessing
We Look to the Future • To-do’s for next month: • Agenda Items for next month: • Next Council meeting – October 18, 2022 • Council Retreat will be held October 29th at Manchester by the Sea and led by Pastor Luther.
Closing Prayer