St Andrew Council Meeting 11/10/10 Minutes Draft
President
Bernie Orris asked Pastor to open the meeting with prayer.
A quorum
being present, Bernie opened the meeting at 6:55pm. Present: Bernie Orris,
Pastor Rust, Gail Pethia, Bob Morrissey, Jeff French, Lauren Hudgins, Sarah
Hall, Craig Schadewald, Ollie Beall, Egon Lippert, Eleanor Lockhart, Barbara
Riegel, Ed Blakelock, Karen Ellenberger. Visitors: Mike Corriher,
*Devotions
were presented by Gail Pethia.
Special
Business: Mike Corriher- The “committee wanting to leave the ELCA”,
after getting the council recommendations about a bi-partisan committee,
decided to petition church members on their own. They decided that if a “committee
wanting to stay in the ELCA” was to be formed, that would need to be
done by someone else, not their group.
The petition stated:
1. Our request is to bring before the
congregation a vote to leave the ELCA. The below is the process and timeline we
want to proceed with.
a. Form a committee of like minded members to
research the options we want to pursue.
b. Present this information at a scheduled
congregational meeting. If council wants to have any other committees present
to present reasons to stay in ELCA, we welcome the opportunity for them to
present their view at said meeting.
2. We request that council include such
request listed above as a motion in the minutes of the November council
meeting.
3. Listed below is a
tentative timeline.
a. February-schedule a congregational meeting
to present information our committee has researched to all the members of the
congregation.
b. March- schedule a congregational meeting
to take a vote to leave the ELCA.
c. June- schedule a second congregational
meeting for the 2nd vote to leave per our church constitution.
The petition was
signed by Johnnie Orris and Mike Corriher, and had 58 signatures attached.
Discussion
& questions ensued. Pastor stated that these procedures should be carried
out in a calm, peaceful manner. Motion was made by Egon Lippert, 2nd
by Bob Morrissey, to allow the “Leave the ELCA” committee to continue their
research, along with a “Stay in the ELCA” committee organized by council. There
will be 2 congregational meetings in February, for education of church members.
Both committees will status with council each month, beginning in January, to
keep council informed. The meeting to hold the first vote to leave the ELCA
will be held on March 20th. Motion carried with one abstention.
Pastor Rust- stated he is a conservative
pastor, as he has made well known, but he is not ready (for his family and
himself) to leave the ELCA at this time. He does not agree with the recent
decision by the ELCA on the sexuality issue, but feels that most of the things
the ELCA does are good.
Bernie- stated that questions that church
members may have need to be vocalized to give to both committees to research.
Pastor- people need to avoid being small,
petty, or conflicting- his goal is to keep the church together as a whole as
much as possible. His view is that the church should stay in the ELCA.
Lauren- thought the Faith Statement meant
we were opposing the homosexuality issue; if we aren’t preaching the teaching
of homosexuality- why leave the ELCA?
Bernie- one of the reasons we need this
vote is for the benevolence we give to the ELCA.
Pastor- In life we have to make hard
decisions. We need to resolve how this congregation feels. We need to conduct
ourselves as Christ-like as we can. Both sides need to accept that differing
viewpoints are ok. He hopes this does not become a negative chapter in St
Andrew’s life.
Bob
Morrissey read a letter from a member who stated he wanted to know what our
church’s vote would be before he pledged. (per Ollie-
the member did pledge).
*Minutes- Motion
to accept minutes from the October 13th meeting was made by Ollie,
2nd by Egon. Motion Carried. (Later in meeting Pastor asked that a correction
be made as to the payment for the Large Print Hymnals- These were paid out of
Saturday Worship funds, not SOD)
*Treasurer’s Report- Ed Blakelock- Operating Funds MTD
$36,673.65 YTD 332,534.136
Restricted
Funds MTD 4042.02 YTD 60,66.68 Receipts: MTD 40715.67 YTD 392,600.81
Mortgage
Balance beginning: 675,543.52 Regular
paymt 3585.11, addt’l payment 1600.00 End balance 670,358.41
*Evangelism- Eleanor- no report
*Finance-
Ollie- see report. Question by Barbara R. has the
Auditor- Ed
sent a letter to Jeff Hale along with the ELCA audit guidelines. Jeff will send
back an engagement letter. Ollie will speak with Larry Matthews, Chuck Shaw on
being on the audit committee, to receive the audit from the external auditor.
Bernie- Benevolence payment for 2011 will be 10%. Other discussion about the
2011 proposed budget ensued. Motion to approve the 2011 budget as
amended, to present to the congregation for vote in Dec, was made by Gail
Pethia, 2nd by Sarah Hall. Motion carried.
*Confirmed
membership applications- per Pastor: Brian & Laurie Franco & children,
Al and Margie Serpie.
Motion to accept was made by Bob Morrissey, 2nd
by Gail Pethia. Motion carried.
Nominees
for council are: Jeff Ogonowski, Glenn Kaijala, Barbara Barden, and Paul
Miottke (2nd term) Motion to accept these nominees to take to
Dec Congregation meeting made by Pastor, 2nd by Ollie. Motion
carried.
Pastor
spoke of hospitalized members- Wade Roach, Frank Hebscher (now home), and Phil
Geib. Funeral for Martha Kaiser is
Sunday at 2pm, Baptism of Hunter Edmundson at 10:45 service.
*Youth-
Craig- continuing monthly youth gatherings will share a Thanksgiving meal.
Bernie- on Saturday 12/18, need
youth to help put up the Christmas tree at 4pm.
*Personnel-
Egon- Constitution update is going to Synod for review on 12/3 & 4.
*Stewardship- Bob- see report
*Christian
Education- Sarah- Daryl Anderson has cleaned up the Sunday School
office computer access. There will be a Children’s Christmas program on Sat
12/18 at the 6:30 service.
*Fellowship-
Lauren- For the December 5th congregational meeting, after the 10:45
service, sub sandwiches will be served.
*Social
Ministry- Barbara- Walter Reed and team will be working with the Salvation Army
from Dec 10th – 20th.
We will be
participating on 2/10/11 for the souper bowl to
support RCS.
*Memorial
Committee- Jeff French- 26 thank you’s
were sent in October (24- debt reduction, 1 Micah Bkpk,
1 Stain Glass). The Memorial plaques were hung back up by Swartout &
Weeks. French & Weeks spoke to the
LMIM at their Sat breakfast about the wish list for playground equipment
(table, benches, trash can)
*Worship & Music- Gail- no report
*New
Business- Bernie- Lifeline Medical Screening will host a screening again in Jan
2011 at St Andrew.
Announcements:
Final budget will be sent to Terry on 11/12. The Dec 5th congregational
Budget mtg will be after the 10:45 Service. December
council meeting (with the new council members) will be on Thursday 12/9 at 7pm.
Officers will be elected. (Council will now be held on 2nd Thurs of
month)
Annual
Committee Reports need to get to Terry by 12/9. Please keep report to minimum
as possible.
Motion to
adjourn was made by Bob Morrissey, 2nd by Sarah Hall at 8:50pm. The
meeting was closed with The Lord’s Prayer.
Respectfully
submitted,
Karen
Ellenberger, Secretary