Also Present: Tammy Johnson, Treasurer; Crystal Cooper, Acting Senior Center Director

St. John-St. Matthew-Emanuel Lutheran Church
Congregation Council Meeting –Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Present: Susan Greig,Barbara Gruenberg, Gene Hiigel,Eric Johnson,Brian Kurtz, Kirstie Pendergrass, Sarah Sampson,Aaron Thompson, Kuye Youngblood, Pastor David Parsons. A quorum was present.

Also Present: Tammy Johnson, Treasurer; Crystal Cooper, Acting Senior Center Director.

Devotions: Devotions were led by Pastor Parsons beginning at 7:35 pm.

Approval of Agenda: A resolution was moved, seconded and adopted to approve the agenda as presented but with the addition of a discussion of the possibility of publishing Council minutes.

Approval of Minutes: A resolution was moved, seconded and adopted to approve the minutes of the Council’s meeting of June 13, 2017, as amended.

Resignation of Council Member: It was announced that Georganne Karvunishad resigned from the Council for personal reasons leaving a vacancy. The members of the Council will seek a Congregation member to fill the vacancy until the next annual meeting of the Congregation.

Reports:

Senior Center: Crystal Cooper, who took over as Acting Director of the Senior Center following the untimely death of Carla Zecca, reported to the Council. Crystal, who had been the office manager for the Center, reported that she has begun the process of looking for someone to take over the office manager position. After that position is filled, she with the help of the Church will begin to look for a permanent Director for the Senior Center. Crystal hopes to retire relatively soon and is not a candidate for the permanent position.

Crystal also asked for the Congregation’s assistance in seeking volunteers to provide routine clerical assistance until such time as a new office manager is found. The volunteers would be most helpful if they could work a couple of hours per week.

Financial Reports: Financial reports for June, July and August 2017 were presented to the Council by the Treasurer.

Pastor’s Report: Written and oral reports were presented to the Council by Pastor Parsons.

Property: The Pastor reported that it is now expected that the construction on the front of the church will be completed by September 29, instead of August 28 as previously estimated. The painting of the parsonage interior has been completed.

After e-mail discussions with Council during the summer and after receiving a bid well within the amount approved by the Congregation, as well as an anonymous donation of one-half the cost of the work, the second phase of the air-conditioning of the sanctuary was installed. Although not dispositive, it was reported that attendance for July and August was up 22% over 2015 (the last summer prior to the installation of any air-conditioning in the sanctuary).

The Pastor further reported that he has been meeting with an architect and with a vendor of stair lifts about accessibility options that might be undertaken by the church.

Outreach/Communications: After discussion, it was decided that the belief, mission and vision statements drafted by Susan Greig on the basis of suggestions from the Congregation during the first phase of the Congregation’s self-study would be distributed to the Congregation. The statements will be revisited upon the completion of the second phase of the self-study. Volunteers will be sought to help in the second phase of the self-study.

After discussion, it was decided that in the interest of openness Council minutes will be posted on the church’s website as soon as possible after they are approved by Council.

Unfinished/Continuing Business:

Sanctuary Congregation: There was further discussion on becoming a sanctuary congregation for immigrants facing deportation. Besides the possibility of becoming a sanctuary congregation, the possibility of training sessions for volunteers who could escort immigrants to immigration hearings was discussed and the opportunity will be announced by the Pastor. It was decided that the question of becoming a sanctuary congregation should be raised with members of the Congregation with the possibility of bringing the question to the Congregation at a Congregational meeting. It is hoped that an information meeting on the process can be held in October.

Bookkeeping. A letter from a candidate to provide bookkeeping and payroll services to the church was distributed. The pros and cons of changing software vendors for the church books were discussed.

Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Council was scheduled for October 10, 2017.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 pm with the Lord’s Prayer.

Submitted by:

Gene Hiigel

Secretary