Lord of the Lakes Council Meeting Notes September 15, 2020
Members Present: Pastor Kevin Heffernan, Wayne Ludkey, Jeff Jahnke, Jan Olson, Sarah Miller, John Penza, Gail Gardner and Kristen Bjornstad.
Devotion: Sarah—“Anger yields anger, wisdom yields patience”
Devotion for October—Kristen
Devotion for November—Pastor Kevin
Opening Prayer: Pastor Kevin
John Penza made a motion to approve the August 2020 Council Meeting Minutes. Sarah Miller seconded. Approved.
Pastor’s Report: “It has been a very good month all things considered. I am very thankful that we have continued without problems over the last several Sundays. We are of course being very careful. It appears to be paying off. Thanks for all the help and guidance with this.
September brings with it several changes. Youth group will begin again. The Sunday picnic will be this Sunday. (This is an attempt to get people here in a safe way.) Also we will have kickoff Sunday on the 27th. This will include Sunday school.
We have continued with our giving throughout the summer. Christmas in July went very well again this year. And we are currently helping out WACC with their back to school initiative. They have a much more significant need this year (from 30 families -to over 200 I’m told). The church has been able to step in with a significant gift from the Good Sam fund.
Overall we have had a good couple of months throughout the summer. We have some decisions to make as the early service is filling up with people. (Hurray!) I suspect October will be a really great month as well.
On a personal note I am doing Ok. But there are currently quite a few dark situations affecting some of the members of our church. It is a difficult time we are living through. Please do pray for each other, for me, and our church. Especially that we are able to keep meeting regularly and assist and bring hope that so many in our community need.”
Pastor Kevin requests that we pray for people’s patience and anger.
Kristen noted that the Women’s group is meeting with leaders at WAAC regarding the backpack program about how we can help. The women’s group may help with the shopping and packing of the backpacks. Wayne asked if any monetary donations to WAAC should be made through Lord of the Lakes. Pastor Kevin said that it should because then it can be tracked.
Buildings and Grounds: Jeff said that B & G is still waiting on the third quote for the furnace work. Kate Pfaendtner is working with Acuity and told Jeff that they are paying $93,000 for the roof repair/replacement from wind damage. That will be done this Fall. Pastor Kevin added that a new email was received discussing a better quality product and whether or not the church would go with that and just pay the difference for the upgrade. The cost is still being investigated.
Pastor Kevin also mentioned that more information is being pursued in regards to the furnace. There is some question on whether or not there was a recall on the furnace. Jan will be looking back at previous B & G minutes.
Youth: John P. said that Youth group will begin meeting again a week from Wednesday (9/23). The Sunday school classrooms were painted and some shelving/furniture was replaced.
We Care: The first meeting is scheduled for September 17th.
Treasurer Report:
The Operating Budget Total Net Surplus YTD as of August 2020 $18,910
The Operating Budget Total Net Surplus for Month of August 2020 $ 3,591
Total Cash in Operating Checking Account as of August 31, 2020 is $100,728.32
Total Cash in Special Events Checking Account as of August 31, 2020 is $40,944.93 (this includes the $29,500.00 in Holding)
Total in Fortifi Investment Account as of June, 2020 is $19,677.87
Operating Budget Explanation
Our YTD income for Church Operations is lower than budgeted by ($1,381). Our Regular Envelope/Vanco/Credit Card giving is higher than budgeted by $68, our Loose Offering is lower than budget by ($2,635).
We received Scrip proceeds as of August 2020 $3,600 of our Fiscal Year.
Summary
We did budget for a ($13,021) Deficit YTD and our Actual Surplus YTD is $18,910
Gail added that we are doing well at holding expenses down.
Gail will check with Doris because Wayne and John P. are not getting the emails with the financial reports.
John Penza made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report. Kristen Bjornstad & Jan Olson seconded. Approved.
Stewardship: Wayne shared that the endowment fund team had their first meeting on Friday, September 11, 2020. They are thinking of calling this group the, “Legacy Gift Committee.” Anyone thinking of giving a gift would have their gift reviewed by the committee, and the committee would make its recommendations to council. The committee would also take care of all the tracking needed.
Pastor asked if the Stewardship team could just oversee this. Wayne said the stewardship team does oversee the endowment fund. Jan asked if people usually come with a specific idea or gift in mind or do they ask what the church needs? Pastor Kevin said that many times they do have something specific in mind and it would be nice to have a committee to review gifts.
Jeff touched based to make sure the check was sent to the ELCA from the stewardship campaign (see August 2020 minutes). Gail confirmed that a check for $2500 was cut for the ELCA.
OLD BUSINESS
Reopening: Jeff noted that we should work on getting more chairs in the sanctuary. We will still separate the groups of chairs, but we can definitely get more in there. He said that some churches are now opening as the normally would. He suggested getting as many chairs as possible in the sanctuary…while maintaining social distancing.
Wayne said that the radio transmission to the parking lot was off on Sunday when the band played. Sarah said that she would attend on Sunday to review and communicate any changes needed to Ryan.
Council Terms: At the last meeting we discussed extending the term year for council members to 12/31 of the year their term is scheduled to end. Jan checked the by-laws and said that this means that the officers currently in place will stay in their positions until 12/31/2021.
John Penza made a motion that all council member/officer terms will be extended to December 31st of the corresponding year. Sarah Miller seconded. Approved
Constitution: Jan noted that the part of the constitution reviewed starts with Chapter 10…
-The annual meeting was changed to coincide with the fiscal year
*added that a preliminary budged is needed by November (prior to the annual meeting)
Wayne asked if overseeing of the endowment fund should fall under the duties of the treasurer (since there is no business management team). Gail added that she believes that the BMT should be resurrected and that she liked going over ideas with the BMT in the past.
Jan asked if the note about the BMT (C.13.07.d) overseeing the endowment fund should be in the constitution (D.20.j) as she thinks it would be beneficial to establish a road map.
Jeff Jahnke made a motion to accept the amended constitution and send to the synod for approval, see what the synod says and proceed from there. Wayne Ludkey seconded. Approved (unanimous).
Wayne added that we will still need to work on teams, but we need to know what the congregation members’ strengths are. Pastor Kevin noted that sometimes people end up stepping up and falling into the roles. He does not feel that we need anything too structured on paper.
Jeff confirmed that once we get feedback/approval from the synod we will bring the constitution to the congregation.
Employee Handbook: Discussion has been tabled until October meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
Cyber Security: Jeff would like to have all reports sent to a central archive, so that all future council members/staff will have access to past materials. Sarah recommended setting up a Google Business account. Wayne added that it’s pretty easy to do it. Jeff said that this way sermons and QuickBooks with financial information can be backed up too.
Speaking of security, Wayne wondered if there was any update on putting in any security cameras as this had been discussed in the past. Pastor Kevin said that B & G looked into this and the police recommended an outside camera.
OTHER BUSINESS
Women’s Group Service Project: Kristen informed council that four members of the Women’s group attended an orientation session at Day by Day Warming Shelter in Oshkosh on 9/14. We have signed up to bring a meal team in on three different dates and will need to hold an informational meeting for women at Lord of the Lakes to get people signed up to assist with this service project. Kristen will get information to Sarah for social media and Cindy Hendren will write something up for the newsletter once we have decided on a date.
John Penza made a motion to adjourn. Gail Gardner seconded.
Closing Prayer – Pastor Kevin
Next Meeting: 10/20/2020 at 6:30 p.m.