Present: Pastor Dave Berg, Frank Fawcett, Tim Olson, Wes Niemitalo, Cynthia McLaren, Lori Bates, Sheila Bennett, Erik Schlicht, Steve Howe, Scott Kruse, Jen Woodford, and Donna Caflisch.
The meeting was brought to order by President Jen Woodford. Pastor Dave Berg led the devotions and chapter two of “Reclaiming the L Word” was discussed.
Motion to approve the agenda and July meeting minutes was made by Sheila & seconded by Scott. Motion carried. The July financial report showed income exceeded expenses by $2500. Two students and two leaders from the Confirmation class were present to learn about how the church council holds the meetings. The students were Anna Manges & Jessie Sankey. The leaders were Sandy Koster & Rita Howe.
The need for a second pastor was brought up by Jen Woodford. It was noted by Frank that the need for a second pastor was realized in 2004 with the enlarging of the facilities and now is the time to seriously pursue it. A handout , “The O 2 Model” was given out., which outlines the situation GSC is in and why a second pastor is necessary for growth at GSC. After discussion a motion was made by Frank and seconded by Scott to have a congregational vote to approve a second pastor, as long as this complies with the GSC by-laws. The vote would be on September 23. Motion carried.
With Mark Hannon leaving the search for a new youth coordinator has been started. One application has been received so far. This will be a half time position. In the mean time, Pastor Dave assured the council that the youth will be cared for by staff and volunteers.
Tim Olson and Pastor Dave talked about plans for the upcoming Consecration Sunday. They have the stewardship plan in place and a leadership dinner will be served on November 11 with the tentative date for handing out the giving cards November 18. All council members are urged to attend.
Cynthia requested to use $300 out of the $700 available from the music fund. She has found a person that looks good as a replacement for Diane Carr & can hire her temporarily to the end of the year to see if it works out. A vote was not necessary since the money was already designated for that purpose.
Jen noted that Michele Saack needed to write Mark Hannon a check for his final pay within two days after his last day at work.
Sheila inquired, after talking to police officer Dave Satzke at the National Night Out event, whether it would be okay to give a GSC key to officer Dave Satzke. He needs a place to write reports, use the bathroom, & use a land line phone occasionally and in return will patrol the parking lot and GSC neighborhood. It may be beneficial to have a patrol car in the area and there wouldn’t be any cost to GSC. This would only be until the new fire station opens because there will be a designated area for the police to use there. After discussion a motion was made to give an outside door key to Officer Satzke by Sheila and seconded by Steve. Motion carried.
Cynthia inquired about whether GSC has donated money to the flood relief. It was noted that Thrivent will match donations if they are given now so after discussion a motion was made by Frank and seconded by Lori to donate $2500 out of the approximate $8000 in the Other Relief fund. Motion carried.
Cynthia reported that all the Sunday School spots are filled and they are ready to start.
Jen noted that she had received a request from Marlene Sabatke that the hospitality/ funeral volunteers would really like to get a new coffee machine and are willing to donate several thousand dollars towards it. This will require some changes to the electrical wiring and a cabinet so someone needs to do some hard research on the cost before a vote can be made. Also, it will mean that we can no longer use Fair Trade coffee. Steve said they can handle the property part once specific needs are established. The Welcome Center should be in place by Rally Day.
The new copier has arrived and seems to work great!
Dave Kostrzewa from Liturgical Publications reported that while they are still about ten ads short of filling the quota, he feels that they are in great shape and things are going as anticipated with the newsletter. Donna asked about when the deadline is for the first newsletter and Jen said she would check on it and let people know.
Thank you notes were written to Jeff and Jackie Brown for their service work and to Ellen Herder for Mark Hannon’s going away party.
A motion to adjourn was made by Scott and seconded by Lori. Pastor Dave led the closing prayer.
Respectfully submitted,
Wes Niemitalo