Church Council Meeting

Church Council Meeting

February 20, 2017

President JoAnn Meyer called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. All members were present. Rev. Haas opened the meeting with a prayer. The minutes from the January 16, 2017 and January 22, 2017 meeting were reviewed. Walter Himly made a motion with a second by John Eixmann to approve the minutes. Motion passed. The Financial Report was reviewed. Sandra Flarity sent Council an e-mail explaining some of the Financial issues. Property Tax should be Property Insurance. The telephone and copier supplies/services went down from the 2016 budget. Brett Lamensky, CPA, is helping Sandra at the moment with Quick Books. Something will be placed in the HELPER asking for someone who knows Quick Books to be Sandra’s back-up. The budget was short $2340.43 for January. The registration for the Scout trailer is due. The cost is $77.75. Sandra was asking what line item it should be paid out of. The December 2015 financials should have the answer. Tim Riha made a motion with a second by Leo Niemeyer to approve the Financial Report. Motion passed.

Church Committees/Organizations

Women’s Guild: Four bake sales are being planned (March, May, September, November) for the first Sunday of the month. The Women’s Guild members will be providing the baked goods. The proceeds will be going to the Improvement Fund. The Guild will be helping with the Spring Fun Day on March 17. They will also being going for lunch at the Blue Café at Needville High School on February 28. The Guild will also provide the Good Friday lunch and the Easter Sunday brunch and egg hunt.

Brotherhood: Chili supper went well.

Education: Vacation Bible School will be August 7 -11.

Family Ministry: We have five shut ins at five different facilities. The group goes monthly to Cambridge Square and every other month to Reliable Oaks. Since Family Ministry began on March 1, 2011 the group has provided an average of one service a day.

Monday Morning Men’s: Four – eight men show up faithfully.

Boy Scout Pack 309: The Boy Scout Pack is doing great. Rev. Haas and Bob Ray met with the Cub Scout leader Rudy on January 17, 2017. The bank records were received. Ron Gutowsky gave the books to Ron Sikes and the Audit Committee to conduct an audit. St. John’s is holding the Cub Scout money.

Building and Grounds: John reported there are a lot of leaks. There are three roof leaks and one door leak. The leaks are in the store room, under the AC in the Educational Building (AC was installed in 1968), the bell tower and in Rev. Haas’ office. Other problems are the masonry is coming off at the entrance to the church; there are cracks in the Narthex above the door leading to the restroom; crack in wall in the Parish Hall; cracks on the wall behind the altar; and the roof in the Parish Hall needs replacing. John suggested there be an Improvement Fund drive. He suggested there be some type of visual aid for the congregation to follow to meet the goal of the repairs needed. The AC is ancient. The furnace in the choir loft is the oldest. The AC outside the sanctuary (West Street side) is really old. It would cost $10,000 for that one unit. The AC in the Educational Building was installed in1968. Paul Gutowsky said Centerpoint offers incentives through the SCORE program. The units would have to be installed and then a check would be sent. He will check if churches are included in the program.

PASTOR’S REPORT

Rev. Haas handed out his monthly report to Council. Jeremy Albers is the interim Director at Slumber Falls. The German Institute for the Southwest will hold their classes in March, April and May. Ron Gutowsky is working on the Spring Fun Day. Rev. Haas is working on the Painted Churches Tour. Something new for Lent Rev. Haas is introducing is the Rice Charity Fast. Participants would only have a bowl of rice for the day and pay $5.00 for the rice. The money is then donated to a charity (Helping Hands).

OLD BUSINESS

Audit: Ron and Alice are on the committee so far. One more person is needed. The audit will be held in March.

German School Update: Rev. Haas gave a report.

NEW BUSINESS

Sandra has notebooks for anyone on Council who needs one.

Everyone should have keys. If you don’t have a key see Sandra to get one.

John gave a tour of the buildings to let everyoneknow what needs to be done on Sunday mornings for lock up. 1st Sunday – John, Margie; 2nd Sunday – Cisco, JoAnn; 3rd Sunday – Patsy, Tim; 4th Sunday – Walter, Leo; 5th Sunday – Paul.

Job Descriptions as well as By Laws and Constitutions were handed out.

Covered Dish Dinners were discussed. Council should think about this and it will be discussed again next month.

Financial Giving was also discussed. John suggested Cisco come up with a chart showing what the budget is and the monthly financial giving. Visual aids are always helpful. John agreed to help Cisco with this project.

Walter made a motion with a second by John to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 8:00 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Patsy Kubes, Council Secretary