Peninsula Lutheran Church Leadership Team (LT) Meeting
Monday, February 15, 2016, 7 PM
LT Members present: Ann Meacham, Suzanne Chaille, Flavia Rodside, John Ellickson,
Don Cooper, Gail Otto,
Pastors present: Pr Phil Nesvig & Pr Art Sortland
Other church members present: Lisa Marinkovich, Charles Morningstar
Opening devotion: Prayer led by Don.
Old Business:
Personnel - Charles began discussing the current position descriptions for the Music Ministry which will ultimately be dictated by the outcome of the work of the Worship and Music Committee efforts. Charles noted that the position descriptions, with the exception of the Music Director have been completed and, based on the Worship and Music Committees work to date, it should be pretty close to accurate. Once the Worship and Music Committee completes their report and the proposal for the Music Ministry is approved by the LT, Charles will distribute the position descriptions as they currently stand, to the LT members for review and recommendations.
During the discussion about the Music Ministry, some specifics in regard to possible options for director were discussed, i.e., Nate, Kathy Eggleston, Chris Kollar. It was determined that this was all premature dialog but Chris is not an option as Musical Director.
Charles then addressed the Bookkeeper position which is in Suzanne's hands at this time for interviewing. Suzanne has an interview scheduled with Robert Elery on Friday and is working on getting one set-up with Jeanine O'Connell. Suzanne seems confident one of these two will work, barring any surprises during the interviews.
Next on Charles docket of items for the evening was the three outstanding position descriptions which remain to be completed; Senior Pastor, Youth and Family Ministry Director, and Music Director. At this point in the meeting Charles stated he had sent an email to his teammates, Ron in particular, addressing letting Charles stand up before the congregation to make an announcement when Ron felt it broke proper protocols. Charles' also expressed in his email to his teammates, he would like more participation on their part.
The LT decided to look into the PMT's charter to see if there are any obstacles or required protocols to added members to the team. Term limits were also offered up by Pastor Phil as a possibility to avoid burnout on the team. The question arose if the PMT’s charter needs to be modified
Charles wrapped up with a summary of what the LT's priority list is for the PMT at this time. It was determined that the number one priority is the Senior Pastor position description, second is Youth and Family Ministry Director position description, and a close third is the Musical Director position description."Suzanne will be interviewing bookkeeper applicant this Friday and still has another one she would like to set up an interview with.
February 1st & 7th, 2016 Minutes: Suzanne moved to approve, John seconded, and all voted in favor.
Treasurer’s Report: Suzanne reported that giving is down in January. She brought up the possibility, that maybe we should consider delaying hiring of anyone at this point due to the low giving.
- She will be giving a monthly update to the congregation via the bulletin on where we stand in our giving.
- She would like to take the restricted Pastor’s Fund and move it to the Call Team for expenses. John moved to unrestrictthe Pr Fund and have it go to the Call team, The Mission Outreach LT Fund to be moved to Misc. Flavia seconded the motion and it was approved.
- Gail Otto will check with Jan Coen to see if the $1000 from the restricted Lutefisk fund could go to some other fund since we no longer have the Lutefisk dinner.
Pastor Report: Pr Art announced that he will be here month to month as needed. He would also be willing to step away if needed.
He believes that PLC needs to speed up the process of finding a new pastor. We should have our new Senior Pastor in place by Sept 1, 2016.
He will be focusing on stewardship in the coming weeks. There will be a Baptism coming up next month.
Pastor Report: Pr Phil
Marj Olason Director of Visitation MinistriesReport
Here is my written report for the previous month. I will not be in attendance at the LT meeting on Monday night.
This time in the Church has indeed kept me busy and I am blessed to be given the increase in hours to provide pastoral care for the people of PLC. I continue to work alongside Flavia Rodside and the Health Care Ministry Team. The decision was made last month to combine the Health Care Ministry Team and the Faith Community Nurse Team (formerly known as the Parish Nurse Team). Being the hands and feet of God, as I am called into people’s lives at some of the most difficult of times, continues to be a privilege and blessing.
A typical day for the Lord and I involves phone calls setting up visitations which most often include some or all of the following; praise, music with Amanda Robinson, fellowship, home communion, prayer and a blessing. In essence, we bring to them the Worship service most of them are unable to attend at this time of their lives. Hospital, nursing care and assisted living facility visits comprise the rest of my time and days as the need arises. I also follow up prayer requests, concerns of one congregation member of another with phone calls and visits.
The Women’s Bible study is going very well as is the Women’s Huddle that meets weekly. It’s exciting to see how all of us have grown in our walk with the Lord as we learn from His Word and each other how to trust him with our lives.
If given the opportunity, I look forward to working alongside our new called pastor in developing other ideas that I have for the people of PLC. These are ideas that the congregation members have come to me with and are excited about. Thanks be to God!
In His service,
Marj Olason
Associate in Ministry
Director of Visitation Ministries
Peninsula Lutheran Church
Messianic Jewish Church -
Messianic Jews Building Use UpdateFeb. 4, 2016
- Messianic Jews have been meeting and worshiping on Saturdays at Peninsula Baptist Church (PBC) for the past five years (or more).
- Rental payment period has expired and PBC has some program changes requiring Saturday use of their own facility.
- Messianic congregation seeks use of the Fellowship Hall on Saturdays from 11am – 4pm. This includes kitchen area and bathrooms. They clean afterwards.
If PLC has a service requiring use of Fellowship Hall, Messianic Jews understand and accept this possibility, and will find alternate site for their needs.
- Payment: a member had made a large donation to pay for the rent for 5 years at PBC. This amount was about $50/hour (according to Pastor Paul Jones of PBC). A figure of $125.00/session each week was also given (Rabbi Emery).
- When asked, Pastor Jones said the Messianic congregation had been good renters, although there were times they would continue past the 4pm ending time. Pastor Jones also said he would rent to them again if it were not for the Baptist congregation needing their own space.
Discussion: Rental of Fellowship Hall to Messianic Congregation
Amount of rent: ______/hour OR ______/session
Recommendation: Create rental agreement, no further action needed
Pr Art recommended that we proceed with caution. John Ellickson suggested a 1 year lease.
Worship and Music Subcommittee
Organization and Staffing Proposal to the Leadership Team
February 15, 2016
Active Members: Ron Parrish, Carrie Selby, Gail Otto, Ann Meacham, Flavia Rodside, Nancy Ellickson
Advising Pastor: Pr. Phil Nesvig
2016 Budget: $31,000 (to be confirmed by Suzanne)
Current Staffing: Interim Accompanist, Ad-Hoc Accompanist, Interim Praise Team Leader, Bell Choir Director, Chancel Choir Director
Music Style: Based on the December 2015 Congregation Survey results, and the fact that our current numbers support only one worship service, the Subcommittee proposes a blended music service that incorporates the following music styles:
- Traditional - Hymns and organ
- Contemporary – Global songs, from this era, but not music heard on Christian radio
- Praise – Music heard on Christian radio
Focus for PLC’s Music and Worship Program:
- First and foremost, serve the gospel and empower for mission
- Participation(as opposed to performance)
- Voice should be the primary instrument
- Unityamong musicians, clergy, and church members
- Encourage and facilitate overlapping musician participation in Praise Team, Chancel Choir, and Bell Choir Communication
- Involve all ages, with a special emphasis on growing our youth members
- Combine paid positions in order to foster cohesiveness and maximize our budget
Proposed Organization and Staffing:
- Worship and Music Committee:
- This will be comprised of up to 7 members, who will plan and implement the music and worship at PLC:
- Pastor (mandatory member)
- Director of Music (mandatory member)
- 3 lay persons from the congregation representing all ages – 1 youth, 1 adult, and 1 senior (to be selected by the LT if more applicants than positions)
- Employed musicians (elective members)
- The lay person positions will be staggered one-year terms
- The Committee will be led by the Director of Worship and Music
- Staffing
- Director of Music: The Personnel Committee is in the process of developing a job description for this position. The Subcommittee envisions this person will supervise all aspects of music and worship at PLC. Other duties and necessary attributes include,
- Works well with people/good communicator;
- Will be the main contact for all things pertaining to music at PLC;
- Will supervise all paid and volunteer music positions;
- Requisite musical training/skills.
- Accompanist: There will be one accompanist who can work with all styles of music and play both the piano and organ. This person will support the Chancel Choir, Praise Team, and Bell Choir (as needed).
- Praise Team Leader: This person will lead the Praise Team, be the lead vocalist in the Praise Team, and may play an instrument.
- Additional Praise Team Musicians: To the extent the budget permits, the Praise Team Leader may request additional musician(s) for the Praise Team.
- Chancel Choir and Bell Choir Leader: This person will lead both the Chancel Choir and Bell Choir.
Next Steps:
The Subcommittee is in the process of visiting churches with blended music services to determine what works and what does not work. The Subcommittee will meet again to brainstorm what the substance of PLC’s worship and music should look like and to prepare a proposal to the LT by the March 7 meeting. Musicians will likely be included in the process at this point.
Contemporaneously, upon LT approval of the current Proposal, several things can or should occur:
1.Personnel Committee should revise job descriptions.
2.Personnel Committee should determine and propose to LT staff wages (hourly?).
3.LT/Personnel Committee must communicate future staffing plan with current employees.
4.LT/Personnel Committee must assess compensation of current employees and adjust as warranted.
5.Personnel Committee can search to fill the positions, conduct interviews, and arrange trial performances.
After the “substance” proposal is made and approved, the LT should present the new church music and worship vision to the congregation and solicit members for the new Worship and Music Committee.
New Business:
Call Team: The team selected Darrel Dietz as facilitator. The team will be meeting every Tuesday starting tomorrow.
Website Looking into putting something up on the website that says under construction/being revised. Isaac Alexander and Matthew Jurgovic were names talked about of people who could get involved. Gail Otto will be talking to Matthew about this.
Next Meeting Monday March 7th at 6:30pm
Brief Executive Session: At the end of the meeting, the LT members went into a brief Executive Session.
Closing Prayer.
Meeting Adjourned.