Draft minutes
Present: Jacy Boldebuck, Pastor Phil Haslanger, Damon Smith, Janine Bessemer, Ryan Estrella, Sarah Fritz, Jan Klawitter, Orion Jetzer. John Van Overbeke, Rebecca Malke. Gary Johnson, John Rosch, and Dean Baumgardner attended first part of the meeting.
Absent: Josh Gormley
Opening meditation offered by Pastor Phil.
November Council minutes were approved after Sarah made the motion and Orion seconded.
Financial report – John Van Overbeke reported that numbers continue to be similar to last month. We are ahead of budget by $104 for the month, and year-to-date by $10,955. Pledges are behind schedule for year-to-date by ~$8,500. Current tally for Silent Auction and Raffle is $5,500, with few donations still coming in. There was a little higher expense for lay staff because of overlap of office managers for training purposes during the transitions. Jan moved and Ryan seconded to accept the financial report. Passed.
Trustees report – John Van Overbeke reported $7,500 has been donated for taking down the Building Fund debt. The Trustees approved $500 for Prison Ministry from the Endowment Fund. Endowment has $3,677 left to spend for this year. All Giving Locally Funds have been spent for this year. $1,285 was used from Memorial Fund to update the CE rooms, however this amount was replaced in that fund with extra money from Buildings and Grounds budget.
Annual Budget: Gary Johnson shared the proposed budget for 2017. 2016 is projected to have $7,335 surplus, despite originally budgeted for $3,200 loss. For 2017, proposed loss is $8,174. We will have ~$2,000 less income due to Lifelink no longer renting our space. Additional expenses were added for Special Events due to 100th Anniversary celebration and Pastor Phil’s retirement. Additional expense was added under “Other leadership” for supply pastors, which will be needed after Phil’s retirement and prior to new pastor beginning. Salary for new pastor is not yet determined.
Pastor Phil’s report:
- The Longest Night service will be held on Dec 21 at 7:00. This evening will include 3 leaders each from Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths.
- Christmas Eve services will be at 5:00 and 7:00 pm. Since Christmas is on a Sunday, there will be one 10:00 service that morning. New Year’s Day will have the normal two services.
- Committee reports deadline is changed to Dec 22, due to oversight in contacting chairs. Liaisons to committee are reminded to share this information with their respective committee chairs.
- Phil requested feedback regarding cancelling last Sunday service due to inclement weather. A few people did come for time of prayer. Phil did a shortened worship service on Facebook as well.
- Jo Turner requested considering a Thanksgiving potluck at church next year for those who want to celebrate together and don’t want all the work of the big feast. The idea was appreciated and will be considered next fall.
- Phil will be gone the week after Christmas but will be back by New Years Day.
- Phil will be doing a “pulpit swap” with Ann Beaty at First Congregational on Jan 8.
- We will have 3 new members in December, plus a baptism in January.
Faith Development Director’s Report: Rebecca Malke
- Rebecca organized attending an “Evening of prayer” at the Sikh temple in Middleton. Two people attended from MUCC. They were very welcoming and she is planning on doing this again if there is interest.
- “Prayer in Color” group was attended by 9 adults and children. They can still use more help in finishing the coloring, which will create a Nativity scene for our Christmas decorations.
- Nifty Gifty was attended by 20 children, plus volunteers. There was general feedback that this is a fun event that is now anticipated by many children. It is a time that children can make gifts for family or friends.
- Rebecca and family will be in India for the month of January. Lydia Westphal will manage the nursery with Kaitlin Young as contact. Sarah Fritz agreed to be the contact for Sunday School teachers.
- Sunday school for the next session is staffed with teachers, except they need one more for the 2nd-3rd
- Advent wreath lighting is being done by teachers and kids this year during the 10:00 service.
Search Committee Report – John Rosch and Dean Baumgardner
Search committee has a preliminary draft of the church profile, which they handed out to council members. The will be requesting congregation feedback regarding specific questions related to the profile. Feedback can be given on the website, or by contacting any of the committee members. The Pastor Position Description is also in progress. Janine agreed to be council rep to meet with Amy Boutelle and Mary Holtshopple (from Search Committee) in finalizing the position description. The full Search Committee will meet with Council on January 10 to discuss the search process at length. At that time, it is hoped that the revised Church Profile and Pastor Position Description will be ready for approval by council. Once the final drafts are completed, they will be sent to Joanne Thompson. Discussion took place with council tonight, and previously with the Trustees regarding pastor salary.
Committee Reports:
Faith Development – Sarah had nothing to add beyond Rebecca’s report.
Special Events – Janine reported that the Silent Auction and Raffle was successful; there are a few items in the office that still need to be paid for and picked up. Music Fondue was added this year, which was fun and went over well. If we do this again next year, clearer instruction for bidding and money collection will be needed, as there was some confusion. Cookie and Craft Sale brought in over $2,000 with good turnout.
Membership – Ryan reported 9 care packages were sent out to college students. Pew pads will be reinitiated.
Outreach – Jan Klawitter
- $250 was donated to each of the following: Madison Area Urban Ministry, Allied Drive Eviction Fund, Open Doors for Refuges, and Jail Ministry.
- For Christmas giving, we will collect $25 gift cards for Open Doors for Refuges. These can be to places like Target, Shopko, Goodwill, or grocery stores. They prefer not to use Walmart. (See below for more information on Open Doors)
- John VanOverbeke informed us that Auntie Ann’s Bakery will be donating bread and rolls for Luke House, which is very appreciated. John also reported that they have a good problem in that they have too many volunteers for serving at Luke House. They will be discussing a plan/schedule to allow people to volunteer while not overwhelming the kitchen and the patrons.
Worship – No report
Building & Grounds – Damon reported that they met to discuss Budget for next year. Reportedly the new people hired for snow removal have done a very good job so far this winter.
Old Business:
Refugee support: Jewish Social Services and Lutheran Social Services are providing support for refugees for the first 90 days. Open Doors for Refugees is a new group trying to coordinate efforts to help them early as well as beyond the 90 days. Jim Hornik is taking the lead from our church. He has already worked to organize and clean out storage.
Immigration: In light of recent elections and insecurity felt by local undocumented workers, discussion took place regarding the New Sanctuary Movement. This is a network for immigrants at risk of being deported. It was generally agreed that council discussion will need to be more in depth in future months. If council recommends proceeding further, it should be brought before the congregation for a vote.
New Business:
Pastor’s Housing Allowance for 2017: Motion approved for $25,000 for pastor housing allowance after Damon motioned and Sarah seconded.
Council members: Josh and Damon will be completing their terms on council. Jacy will ask a few people to be on the nominating committee with task of finding two new council members. Nominating committee will be approved by email vote of the council.
Move to adjourn by Jan.
Next meeting Tuesday Jan 10 at 7 p.m.
This meeting will include meeting with Pastor Search Committee.