Bethesda
Life-Line
Worship Services*
Sunday 8:30 & 10:00AM
Service of Holy Communion is celebrated on the First and Third Sundays of each month.
Coffee fellowship is held in the fellowship room following the Sunday Worship service. All are invited to share in conversation and warm fellowship.
Dec. 4 Sunday Worship 9:00 AM AM
Communion
Dec. 11 Sunday Worship 9:00 AM
Dec. 18 Sunday Worship 9:00 AM
Communion
Dec. 24 Christmas Eve Worship 3:30 &5:00 PM
Dec. 25 Sunday Worship 10:00 AM
Bethesda Mission Statement:
We willLIVEandSERVEthroughFAITH
we willACTwithLOVEandKINDNESS
we willGIVEhope andSUPPORTto all
Upcoming Events
Dec. 5 -Church Christmas Party
Dec. 10 WELCA Christmas Luncheon.
Dec. 18 Cantata 9:00 one service only until Spring
2016
Christmas Day Potluck Dinner
If you find yourself alone this Christmas Day, why not join others in the same situation. Plan to participate in a Potluck Dinner in the Fellowship Hall following the 10:00 a.m. Christmas Day Service. A sign-up sheet will be in the narthex with a suggested menu or feel free to bring your favorite dish to share. Ham will be provided
The choirhasbeenbusy practicingour cantata for the upcoming Christmas Season. We will be presenting a Christmas Musical “The King of Love" on Dec. 18th at 9:00 am.It is awonderful inspiringCantatawith a few of our choir members singing solo's. Make sure you put this on your calendar for Dec 18th at 9:00 am.It will be a wonderful way to startthe Christmas week and celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I wish a Merry Christmas to all of my Church family here at Bethesda. Thank you for all of your support to our wonderful choir and to myselfthroughout the year! God Blessall of youwith a wonderful Christmas season and a Happy & Healthy 2017! SheilaPenoyer/Choir Director.
Orders for poinsettias to be placed in the sanctuary
Christmas poinsettia tree will be taken through Sunday Dec 4. A member of Altar Care will be in the Fellowship Hall between church services to take orders.
From the Interim Pastor
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As we move into the work of Interim Ministry, Three Questions focus the energy of our journey together.
Two of these Interim Questions are:
“What is God’s hope and dream for you (Bethesda Lutheran Church of Malmo)?”
Or, in other words,
“Why do you exist, and for whom? What would someone who observes you from the outside conclude about your sense of purpose and mission?”
“In what ways are you strong and unique?”
Or, in other words,
“What are you clearly good at? What ministry activities bring out the best in you and seem to be valued by others?”
These two questions are 2/3 of our Interim Work! The third question comes a little later. For now, please put on your “Identity and Purpose” hat (question #1) and your “Gifts and Resources” hat (question #2) because we are about ready to answer these questions. Please mark your calendar for the First Interim Conversation on Sunday, December 4, 2016. We will worship at 9:00am and gather in the Fellowship Hall at 10:00am. Please make every effort to participate in this conversation! We will be working together to discern the top priorities for BLC looking at the Five Functions of the church (see below). Take a look at the ministries under each of the Five Functions of the Church. You will be asked to choose what ministries are most important to you. This will be fun! You get to vote and share your opinions around the table with your friends in Christ. The conversation will be reported to our Call Committee and be used to complete our Ministry Site Profile that prospective pastors will review before being interviewed for Call to BLC.
So, here we go! BLC’s Interim has begun!!
Pr. Terry
What is most important for you as a person Worshiping in this church? Pick 5 in each area.
LEARNING
Sunday School & VBS
Catechism (Confirmation)
Adult Education (Bible Study & Forums)
Youth Ministry
Christian's Ministry
Young Adult Ministry
Retreat Ministry
Mission Statement and Vision Ministry
Lutheran Living (ELCA Publication)
Men & Women's Ministry
Small Group Ministry
Fellowship
SUPPORT
Proportional Giving (Tithe)a sign of mature Stewardship
Benevolence
Staffing for Growth
Adequate Facilities
Leadership Training
Stewardship Education
Mutual Ministry Committee
Current technology tools and office support
SERVICE
Work Projects
Nursing home visits/worship
ELCA Disaster Relief Offerings
World Hunger
Work Camp (Youth & Adult)
Elder Care
Community Support and Leadership
Ready to Act when need is presented
Working with other congregations
Pastoral Care
Helping Hands
WITNESS
Community Outreach
Children's worship resources
Community Marketing & Advertising
Member Participation in Service Organization
Global Ministry
Welcome Visits
One on One Visits
Using Facility for Others
Door to Door Visitation
Parish Nurse
Care of the Environment
Quilting
Website
Neighborhood Care Group
WORSHIP
Music
Liturgy
Liturgical Drama
Lectors (reading God's word)
Preaching
Prayers
Silent Meditation
Holy Communion
Holy Baptism
Blessings
Children Sermons
Staffed Nursery
Sharing the Peace
Altar Committee
Acolytes, Ushers, Greeters
Bethesda Lutheran Church of Malmo
Excerpt from Monthly Treasurer's Report
OCTOBER 2016
Month YTD
Income Actual $ 23,289 $76,562
Income Budgeted $16,333 $32,667
Expense Actual $7,704 $48,451
Expense Budgeted $13,793 $27,586
Over/(Short) $15,585 $28,111
Bethesda Lutheran Church of Malmo
Minutes of November 15, 2016 Council Meeting
In attendance: Randy Tofteland, Mary Braun, Lee Forrester, Craig Kullberg, Melody Lackner, Pastor Terry Frovik, Ron Mehlhop, Tom Christenson and Judie Birk.
The meeting was called to order by council president, Randy Tofteland.
Secretary's Report:
Motion was made to accept the minutes of the October meeting by Mary Braun, seconded by Lee Forrester, and passed.
Treasurer's Report:
Mary Braun is now the liaison for the Stewardship and Finance committee. A motion to approve the recommendation for changes to the financial statement and that Mary Braun and Randy Tofteland will work with the Stewardship and Finance committee to finalize the details was made by Tom Christenson and seconded by Melody Lackner and passed. Financial view and current month activity for October was presented by Mary Braun. Motion was made by Lee Forrester to accept the treasurer’s report, seconded by Craig Kullberg and passed.
Interim Pastor Terry Frovik Report:
Pastor Terry talked about being an interim pastor and about tools that a congregation can use. On December 4, after the 9 am service, there will be Interim Conversations with the congregation in the Fellowship Hall. Explanation along with a ministry site profile will be in the December newsletter. The transition team is Joanne Stueven, Pat Becker, Sandy Pullen, Darlene Christensen, George Smith and Gene Whipple. Pastor Terry will work with transition team on some visual tools for this congregational discussion.
DATES: Sept. 7 – Nov. 15
WORSHIP SERVICES
Sunday Morning – 12
Holy Communion Services – 6
Sermons – 12
MEETINGS – 16
Interim Synod, Duluth Oct. 6th
Fall Theological Conference, Grand Rapids, Sept. 26th
VISITATIONS Health Care Centers – 4
CLASSES TAUGHT
Bible Study – 2
Confirmation – 2
SPECIAL EVENTS Jamboree, Sept 23rd
Bazaar, Oct. 29th
Old Business:
Nov. 20 Special Congregation Meeting:
1. Finalize meeting agenda and format (Randy showed us an example of estimated annual costs with and without a parsonage that we will share with the congregation before the vote.)
2. The ballet wording was approved
3. Members list was discussed
4. Finalize voting process – assignments were given for handing out and counting ballots.
5. Review supporting documents (annual operating costs, etc.)
6. Discuss and finalize actions post vote
A motion was made to approve the ballot as written by Mary Braun, seconded by Tom Christianson and passed.
BLCM Action List — Discussion on how we use this tool will be discussed more at our December meeting.
Web site design — Content has been added and the team is working on finalizing the design. We hope to be up and live soon.
New Business:
Constitution — Review Chap 12 – Congregation Council Responsibilities — Randy Tofteland asked that the council review the current constitution and especially Chapter 12 on council responsibilities. He will championing this process to make recommendations to our current constitution leading up to next year’s annual meeting.Fellowship Hospitality Sign-up — It seems we’ve been struggling to get people to sign up for the hospitality between services. One suggestion was to have the church purchase cookies and/or donuts. Judie Birk will bring this to the Mission and Evangelism committee for further discussion.
A van for shut-ins and outings — An outreach ministry was brought up for council to consider. We will add this to the BLCM Action List for future discussion.
The Giving Tree — Pastor Terry brought up an idea of a Giving Tree 2017 where the congregation would share God’s unconditional love every day throughout the year. It was suggested that we try this during the 2017 Lenten period and work out the logistics. We could then apply it for the whole year of 2018.
Committee Reports:
Randy asked that each committee representative report on what are the challenges or highlights in a verbal report to the council.
Mission & Evangelism:
November 9, 2016 – Members present: Pastor Terry Frovik, Sue Samuelson, Sandy Pullen, Judie Birk, and Joanne Stueven
1.We shared our job description and 2016 annual report with Pastor Terry.
2. We explained the "Assessing your Hospitality" survey that is being completed by committees and individuals.
Pastor Terry thought this would be a valuable tool in helping the transition team collect information for the Internal Inventory portion of the Ministry Site Profile.
3. Mary Vukelich suggested we consider looking at lessons available . This is in conjunction with celebrating the 500 anniversary of the reformation.
Pastor Terry would like to study Luther's Small Catechism in the 21st Century with adults and confirmation students Wednesday evenings during the Lenten season.
4. Pastor Terry is going to contact staff at First Lutheran Church in Aitkin to see it there are youth activities that could extend the experiences of our four confirmation students. We are willing to offer volunteers or donations to support their programs.
5. This Christmas season we will offer Heifer International Gifts and ELCA 's Animal Gift Program. Displays will be set up in Fellowship Hall.
Sue and Judy will set up the Aitkin area Christmas Giving tree collecting mittens, hats, and gifts for local families in need.
Our traditional Christmas Caring and Sharing Outreach will be asking for suggestions of names of of people who could use food gift cards over the holidays.
Stewardship & Finance:
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM STEWARDSHIP AND FINANCE COMMITTEE
Within the Statement of Financial Position:
Recommend closing out fund 340 Endowment/Memorial net asset account and moving the $6,339.69 into Liabilities under Restricted Memorial (total) $1882.00 and Unrestricted Memorial (total) $4457.69. Fund numbers to be set up by Mary Braun. The restricted account will give a summary of designated giving.
Within the Statement of Activities
Recommend setting up an expense account for Memorials (There is an income fund at present but no expense account. By establishing an expense account it will be easier to see what expenses are attributed to memorials)
Other items we are considering and will discuss at the December meeting:
The Edward Jones Fund 108 General Fund there are four categories : Endowment, Memorials, Scholarship and General Fund. The fund has a total of $25,345.52 with a breakdown of Scholarship of 3% ($3,346.77), Endowment of 10% ($2,514.92), Memorials of 22% ($5,555.00) and 55% General Fund. Question: Should the fund be left as is? Should there be restrictions on some of the funds to only use the interest generated? Should some of the funds be pulled out and moved into Liabilities?
Pat Becker, Chairperson
Worship & Music:
Members Present: Pastor Terry Frovik, Randy Tofteland, Paula Spetz, Sharon Whipple, Wally Swenson, Carol Bakken, Tom Christensen, Jim Christensen, Pat Kullberg, Julie Swaggert,
The meeting was held on November 3 and begin with an opening prayer by Randy Tofteland. It was announced that Jim Christensen has accepted the recently created position of Digital Music and Technology Coordinator. Much of the meeting focused on the committee’s review of the Committee job description. It was agreed further work needs to be completed to get the job description up to date on current and new responsibilities and systems put in place to track and manage those responsibilities. Discussion was held regarding the need for someone from within the committee to step up and assume the committee chairperson role. Randy Tofteland is currently filling this role on an interim basis, but he explained that needs to end in December. The committee discussed the need for someone to schedule readers for the worship service lessons and Psalm. Until someone is appointed for this role Carol Bakken agreed to schedule the November readers and Paula Spetz the December readers. The committee discussed multiple changes and additions that are planned for worship services. It was agreed that Pastor Terry would explain the intent of these changes during upcoming services and that this will help the congregation understand and deal with ongoing change. The committee selected hymns for the month of November and adjourned the meeting after praying the Lord’s Prayer.
Motion was made to adjourn by Judie Birk, seconded by Tom Christenson, and passed.
The next council meeting will be December 13, 2016 at 5:30pm.
Respectfully submitted by
Judie Birk, council secretary.
The Special Congregational Meeting, to vote on whether the church continues to own a parsonage or not, came to order at 10:00 am on November 20, 2016. The meeting was brought to order by council president Randy Tofteland. Pastor Terry Frovik led an opening prayer. We did have a quorum, as there were 95 church members who voted. Randy began with an explanation of the ballot and process. The ballot had two items to vote on, as follows:
___ My vote is to continue to provide our Pastor a parsonage and to approve the church council to make a final parsonage building decision for up to $200,000 along with the appropriate financing to complete the project.
___My vote is to not provide a Parsonage to our Pastor and in lieu of that, pay our Pastor a housing allowance that is in-line with the then customary Synod guidelines which is currently 30% of the Pastor’s base salary.