Meeting was held on Sunday, June 12 both in person and via Zoom.
The Council greatly appreciates everyone who joined us today, whether in person or via Zoom. This is important work in an important time in the life of Trinity Lutheran Church and Schools. Thank you!
We encourage everyone to read the 2022 Annual Report. We highlighted a few recent developments:
Mark Schmidt reviewed the status of Mutual Ministry Committees which are constitutional committees that act out of mutual concern for the pastor and congregation. Mutual Ministry Committees provide confidential support during transition, education, reflection, and accompaniment. Our pastors feel this will be very valuable.
Pastor Hector let us know that Joelle Dudak has been selected as the new Director of the Trinity Preschool. Joelle will be shadowing Kris for the next few weeks and mentored by Nanette Erban.
We reviewed the slate of candidates for council and committees.
We took a moment to thank the outgoing members of the council and committees for their service. Thank you, each of you!
Mark Schmidt then led us through the work by the Constitutional review team. We went through a list of the different edits provided in the document. The work we reviewed was focused on aligning our constitution with the current ELCA model constitution for congregations.
David Fox gave us an update on the budget. A key element: in order to maintain our current model we need an increase of giving of approximately 10%. We have several key pressures on our budget: significant increases in utilities (natural gas, electricity, etc). We have cash reserves that will see us through the end of this fiscal year. Our review included the financial performance of the preschool and child development center. Please see the Annual Report for full details.
In addition to our budget shortfall, our roofing and siding need significant repairs. The expectation is about $1.7 million for those repairs. Our status-quo is not enough to make these repairs, nor bridge the gaps. The Council is recommending that we launch a stewardship campaign in order to bridge these shortfalls. David Fox reviewed the process that we undertook to select our recommended company: Generis. They were highly recommended by the references we contacted. Our goal is to approach stewardship holistically - to focus on life-giving generosity.
The voting results were:
Slate of candidates: unanimous yes
Constitutional amendments: unanimous yes
Moving forward with Generis: 73 yes, 4 no, 5 abstain/didn’t vote, motion carried
It has been a privilege to serve as your Secretary these past two years. I look forward to continuing to serve on the tech team.
Respectfully submitted by Carl Setzer, Council Secretary.