Minutes of the Executive Council
July 11, 2017
Attendees:Mel Stolzenburg, Marie Friedemann, Garth Englund III, Pr. Gary, Jean Scott, Brian Rulla
Absent: Mary Brook
Opening devotions were offered by Marie Friedemann.
The meeting was called to order at 6:36 pm by President,Mel Stolzenburg.
A motion to approve the minutes of the MayCouncil meeting, the Congregational Meeting, and the Special Council meetingwas presented by Jeanand seconded byMarie.The motion passed.
STANDING COMMITTEES / REPORTS:
Pastor’s Report – Pr. Gary. Pr. Gary presented the attendance comparison and noted that the trend has remained steady over the past several months. It will be interesting to see the attendance comparison as he approaches his one year anniversary.
Personnel Committee – Garth. The new Youth Music Director and Communications Manager started this past week. Interviews are currently underway for replacement for one position to fill openings from Tory and Jason. Pr. Gary added that we are committed to finding the right fit, even if that means that the position is not filled before the fall.
Ministry Council – Jean. Jean noted that there is a lot going on Bethany even though it is summer. The Worship Committee is looking for members interested in serving as Sacristans. The Service and Welcome team is also looking to form a welcome committee for visitors.
Generosity – Pr. Gary. Pr. Gary is interesting in gathering a larger team to look at all the ways Bethany brings in and disburses money. The intent would be to have representatives from the Bethany Foundation, Executive Council, Stewardship Committee, Benevolence, Renewal for Growth, and the Global Mission team meet to better understand criteria for how and why funds are disbursed. Pr. Gary noted that it is likely that vast majority of the congregation is not familiar with how the Global Mission and Benevolence teams manage those funds. The goal is to better understand what each group is doing, coordinate calendars, and discuss the philosophy for giving (e.g. breadth of giving vs focused giving). An invitation will be sent to each group to send two representatives, likely the chair plus one other team member.
Pr. Gary also mentioned the possibility of transitioning “Be the Blessing” to “Living the Blessing.”
The Renewal for Growth Team met on Thursday. At present the campaign has about 53 family units that have donated. Those commitments along with proceeds from the garage sale and bequests total about $830,000 committed, about half of the $1.6 million goal. The Renewal for Growth team will be presenting the campaign on Sunday July 16th and it will be reintroduced in September.
TheRenovation Team invited bids from six architecture firms for the redesign of the Fellowship Hall. Four firms submitted bids. After reviewing the four bids, the team is recommending that the Church hire the Bryant and Flink with a contract for the architecture services.
The projected time table for the fellowship hall is in flux, and will take into account the best time for labor expense. It is not expected that the work would begin before February. The new organ console and pipe cleaning should be completed by September. The next phase of fundraising will be in August with Pr. Gary hosting donors at his house with an opportunity to preview the architectural renderings. A congregation member has donated the painting services of the sanctuary which will result in additional out-of-pocket savings.
The goal for the campaign is $1.6 million with500 family units participating. The 500 family units is intended to correspond with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Progress toward this goal could be tracked via a puzzle or some other demonstrative, as opposed to the typical thermometer that is common in these scenarios.
Pr. Gary presented a motion to adopt the recommendation from the Renovation Team that the Executive Council accept the bid from Bryant and Flink as the architecture firm for the Fellowship Hall and approve a budget up to $60,000.00. Mel seconded the motion, which passed.
Pr. Gary also briefly discussed the office space renovation as his office is moved to the current conference room.
OLD BUSINESS:
Alcohol Policy – Pr. Gary. Pr. Gary has found an attorney that will review the policy for us. He has the policy and will be circling back with Pr. Gary regarding his recommendations for the policy.
Annual Meeting - Mel. The Council discussed the Annual Meeting held in May. Everyone agreed that Abby did a very nice job with the opening devotion, and it was nice to see the youth of the congregation take that role. Mary also did a very good job discussing the budget. It was noted that it was challenging at times to interpret some of the questions from the congregation and provide a response.
Be the Blessing – Jean. Overall “Be the Blessing” was another success. There were 398 members that registered, 450 members participated serving 25 different organizations. There were also 20 racers in the BECC 5k. Upon returning from Germany Jack Lindsey pointed out that during one of their stops on the trip, the Choir raised money for musical instruments for underprivileged children, thus adding to the overall participation in “Be the Blessing.”
Dreaming for the Future – Pr. Gary. Pr. Gary presented the idea of an “All Committee Night” for the church. The idea is to schedule an evening where all committees would meet as a large group before breaking up into their individual committees. This format would allow for cross-collaboration between committees for planning purposes. Pastoral staff would meet with the committees they are principally responsible for an abbreviated time. This format would also mean the pastor would need to have a conversation with the committee chair prior to the general meeting. This concept would require a year commitment to see how it would work in practice.
Financial Report – Pr. Gary. (report attached) Pr. Gary reviewed the financial reports as Mary was not present. June was a green light month. Contributions for June were lower overall from last year due to efforts that were made last year to cover a budget shortfall. Although the collections for June were down year over year, the amounts received in June are more consistent with norms.
Pr. Gary also noted concerns with the bookkeeping at BECC. Specifically, the Church is not getting sufficient and timely financial reports from BECC. In addition, bills are being paid in arrears and payments from families are not being processed timely. This is especially problematic in situations where a family may be receiving public benefits. If public benefit payments are not properly and timely processed BECC may be precluded from collecting those funds. Bethany had to issue refunds of $2,000 to families that have withdrawn their children but the auto pay has not turned off.
After discussing these issues Council reached consensus that the President of the Executive Council will address the concerns with the Treasurer and President of BECC, as well as Pr. Brigette.
Nominating Committee – Maire. The current positions that remain open are a representative elect for Service and Welcome, two positions on the BECC board, and President elect for the Executive Committee. Pr. Gary has offered to take candidates to lunch to discuss the opportunities to serve in these roles. Kim Finnin will join the August meeting. After the August meeting Brian will transition to the VP of Personnel position and Kim will assume the Secretary position.
The meeting was adjourned to Executive Session at 8:40 pm.
The meeting wasreturned to regular session at 10:00 pm.
The closing prayer was offered by Garth Englund.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:03pm by Jean.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Rulla
Council Secretary
Executive Council Minutes1July 11, 2017