Lord of the Lakes Council Meeting Notes June 16, 2020
Members Present: Pastor Kevin Heffernan, Wayne Ludkey, Jeff Jahnke, Jan Olson, Sarah Miller, John Macho, David Wein and Kristen Bjornstad.
Opening Prayer: PK
Devotion: Jeff Jahnke—Things that hold us back
Devotion for July—David
Devotion for August—Jan
Meeting Minutes: John Macho made a motion to approve the minutes from 6/10/20. Sarah Miller seconded. Approved
Pastor’s Report: Pastor Kevin is working on sorting things out and getting things up and running. He was able to finally visit someone who is ill.
Buildings and Grounds: Kate Pfaedtner sent an email…
HVAC: Oshkosh Heating & Air came in May to do preventative maintenance and a check-up of our furnaces and air conditioners.
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- F1, capacitor installed. Invoice amount $269.39
- F2, capacitor installed. Invoice amount $255.15
- F3, capacitor installed. Invoice amount $295.15
- F4, capacitor installed. Invoice amount $254.13
- F5, 2 capacitors and pleated filter installed. Invoice amount $327.14
- F6, elevated carbon monoxide levels caused by a cracked heat exchanger. 2 capacitors installed. Invoice amount $311.28
- The office unit had no freon and it was recharged.
- We received a quote from Oshkosh Heating & Air to replace the F6 unit. There is no sense of urgency to replace this unit at this time as it is not the heating season. The quote was forwarded to Council for approval/discussion. Council has requested a minimum of two (2) quotes from commercial HVAC vendors. Additionally, the contractors have been asked to submit a 5-year plan for the HVAC systems as they reach the end of their design life. Kate contacted Oshkosh Heating & Air as well as GRP Mechanical, Omro and are waiting on their replies.
Retaining Pond – no update but it appears that Dave Klemp has completed the sludge removal project.
Weed control – no update to report. Beverly Raatjes continues to coordinate volunteers.
Railing installation – Kate will contact Brad to ask that the railings are installed on the steps to the altar before inside services resume.
Youth: Youth are planning to start meeting again on 6/17/2020
Fellowship & Life: Team will resume meeting in September 2020. Pastor Kevin asked Jan if the golf outing will still happen. Jan said that the date is tentatively set for August 23, 2020. There were some volunteers from St. Mary’s that said they were willing to take over the golf outing. She will check to see if that is still the plan. In the meantime, Jill can put “TBD” in the newsletter/bulletin.
Pastor Kevin also noted that the fall fundraiser was on the books for this year. He recommends putting it off until next year. Council members all agreed.
The community back-to-school fair will be held on August 11-13. This is where backpacks with supplies will be handed out. The LOL building will be used for distribution.
We Care: Jeff asked if Drew Jaeger can find out what mental health resources are available or what will be available. Pastor Kevin is meeting with the group and will find out more. Sarah was going to check into what NAMI has available as well.
Social Media: Sarah said that there are 274 followers on Facebook. YouTube views are down to approximately 30something (since parking lot services began). Keep sending Sarah information to be posted!
Treasurer Report: YTD surplus is $4865. PPP loan amount is included in that number. Wayne said that he asked Gail if we are drawing down the loan. Jeff said that the way it works is 1) the loan is given, 2) LOL incurs expenses, 3) LOL reports where we used the money. We can use the money for payroll, healthcare, etc. We don’t need to line items. We just need to prove where we spent it. After 24 weeks, the determination will be made as to how much of the amount will be forgiven, and we would have to pay back the remaining amount. It is possible that the entire loan amount could be forgiven.
Pastor Kevin stated that he is incredibly thankful that we’re in the situation that we’re in. He was not expecting a surplus at this time during this situation.
Jan added that it looked like some of the staff had hours cut. Pastor Kevin said that they were trying to keep people where they were, but there were some cuts. However, those cuts have not been significant.
Kristen Bjornstad made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report. Jan Olson seconded. Approved.
Stewardship: Wayne said that LOL has not paid [the ELCA] anything for the stewardship campaign yet. We still need to determine how much we need to pay. Wayne provided a handout detailing the type of giving per week. Council decided that we should look at a monthly report due to the different giving schedules that members have set up. Wayne and Gail are working on determining when/how much we should pay. Jeff suggested that we just set an amount and pay it. Pastor confirmed with Wayne that the amount of payment was supposed to be 10% of the increased giving. Wayne added that the second stewardship program will be starting soon, so we’ll need to sign up. Jeff suggested a $2500.00 payout. Council decided to table this until the next meeting and Wayne will verify what the actual increase has been.
OLD BUSINESS
Employee Handbook: Jeff and David are getting together to work on the Employee Handbook which was previously discussed. They would like to have this to council for approval before Sunday school resumes.
Confirmation: Jeff asked to set a date for confirmation. Pastor Kevin said that he is looking at mid-September or the first week of October. Pastor Kevin will do a refresher over email and is still doing a one-on-one with each confirmation student.
Building Use Addendum: Need to change the bullet point regarding face coverings to NOT be a bullet point, but include in the first paragraph that face masks are “preferred”.
Pastor Kevin asked if we should have more tissues out and available. David suggested that we put hand sanitizer and a waste receptacle by each tissue box as well. Also, each group using the building needs to take all of their trash/waste to the dumpster. Jill will make the changes and send a new copy to council for approval.
NEW BUSINESS
Time and Talent: Jill sent out a copy of the new form to Wayne and Jeff. Jeff will get a letter together and get the forms out to the congregation.
REOPENING:
Phase II is scheduled to begin 7/5/2020. Pastor Kevin wants to hold off on telling people or putting it out there that we will begin holding services back in the building. Jeff thinks that we should announce it this Sunday since 7/5 is only 2 weeks away. Council decided that it can be announced that this is the plan, but that it may change depending on what is going on.
Jan put together a handout with recommendations for in-building worship. These are the changes suggested for the document:
* Eliminate notation about limiting number of people per service
* Ushers will seat groups of people. People should wait to be seated
* Masks are “preferred”
* No coffee fellowship at this time
* One sheet handout available for bulletin
* Suggest singing softly (check with Jody to make sure she is OK with this)
* Continue using individual communion kits for now
* Cleaning crew to clean all solid “surfaces” in Sanctuary. The ushers can do this for now. Once the time and talents forms are returned, a cleaning committee will be formed.
* Prop doors open
* Block hallway to offices, etc.
* Ask people to maintain a 6 foot distance when socializing
* For Small group gatherings/meeting section, refer people to see the building use guidelines.
Pastor Kevin will do the readings for the time being and he will talk to Russ Kohn about setting up the usher schedule.
Jeff added that the service will still be transmitted to the parking lot for those not comfortable coming inside.
Currently, the ELCA is recommending to NOT sing, but to have a soloist or small band. Jan suggested reducing the number of hymns that are being sung and Pastor Kevin suggested singing shorter hymns. Sarah will send Jan the wording that St. Paul’s is using regarding singing in church at this time (singing softly with a mask on).
Phase III (New Normal) handout for in-building worship:
* Don’t commit to a date at this time
* Add a note that if you are ill, please stay home
* Add a note that if you are sick, to please let us know
Jan asked if schools will resume in Fall. Sarah said that it is unknown at this time how that will look. Kristen added that Neenah school district is planning several possible scenarios, but nothing has been decided on yet. Whatever the schools decide will factor into the plans for worship at LOL.
It was suggested that the sanitation team use gloves.
Jan asked if we need to do temperature checks. Council decided that we would not do that.
Jeff requested signage about staying home when you are sick. Pastor Kevin asked if we should have a contingency plan in place if someone comes in and is visibly ill. Council decided that is someone is coughing enough that ushers should politely ask them to go outside of the sanctuary for service.
Jeff wants us to think about the adjustments we will be making and which are temporary and which we will keep in place…
ADJUSTMENTS
Now (list adjustment) Future (keep or remove)
Phase II—switch to bulletin on video Keep (no more paper waste)
Individual communion kits Remove (switch to individual cup
instead of chalice)
YouTube communication Keep for now. Possibly do a
seasonal YouTube message once weekly message is removed.
Closing Prayer – Pastor Kevin
Next Meeting: 7/21/2020 at 6:30 p.m.