Church Council Meeting



Date: May 1, 2022

Approved Church Council Meeting Minutes
May 1, 2022
Attending: Dale Bentz, Daryl Bentz, Deb Buffington, Nancy Deiter, David Engle, Gene Flory, Deb Hogeland, Scott Johnson, Karl Keath, Pastor Scott Paradise, Mary Ream
Absent: Brady Keath, Stephanie Seldomridge
Nancy opened the meeting.
Scott Johnson provided devotions.
Dale Bentz will provide next meetings devotions.

Gene Flory made a motion to accept last month’s minutes.
Scott Johnson seconded it.
All approved.

Treasurer’s Report: Stephanie Seldomridge
Checkbook Balance: Northwest as of 4/30/2022=$3,819.75
April Deposits=$17,809.98
April Expenses=$14,583.50
Special Projects/Renew and Restore: as of 4/30/2022=$10,549.55
RENEW &RESTORE CAMPAIGN
April Deposits=$340.00
April Interest=$16.53
Restore & Renew Expenses=$50,728.00
Mission Plus account (Money Market): as of 4/30/2022=$16,004.96
April Interest=$4.79
Thrivent Investments: as of 4/30/2022=$144,216.14
4/30/2022-mutual fund decline=$-8,074.61
4/01/2022-transfer to Operating fund=$-6,000.00
4/30/2022-transfer for partial roof invoice=$-14,000.00
Due to Stephanie’s absence, the Treasurer’s report was not approved. Approval will be obtained at the next council meeting

Income:
Lenten offerings: $1,415.00
Sweet 2nd Sunday: $280.00
Periodical income: $21.00

Expenses:
Building insurance: $1,803.00
Workman’s Comp insurance: $131.79
Shepherd’s Land-expense for domain name (annual fee): $237.06
Fuel oil: $593.47=($4.899/gal)
All 1st quarter payroll taxes have been paid to agencies
Hackman Fire Extinguisher-Annual inspection: $183.00
Restore and Renew: Bachman Roofing-remainder of bill paid: $64,728.00

Pastor’s report: Pastor Scott
Zoom presentation was held at the end of April, with the Director of Evangelical Missions for our synod, Pastor Richard Jorgenson.
Another meeting is scheduled for May 19, 2022 to discuss the continued visioning for the Lebanon Conference.
Areas of focus:
-Pastoral care
-Youth
-Overall witness
Looking to help encourage Lutherans in the county with ideas as to how we can help with our Lutheran presence in Lebanon County.
Zion United Methodist Church in Myerstown will hold an informational session about the new Global Methodist Church on Sunday May 22, 2022. The Global Methodist Church is much more restrictive. It is unclear whether Zion will be breaking off or not.
Nancy stated that she felt the Easter services were nice.

Youth
Nothing to report

Christian Education
Charlie Lindermuth and Arianna Robertson received their 1st Communion during this morning’s church service. They baked the bread that was served with Pastor Scott yesterday.
Scott Johnson inquired as to whether plastic eggs could be used for the egg hunt next year. The wet grass caused dye to get all over everything. It was discussed that maybe the majority of eggs used could be plastic with hard boiled eggs possibly used as prize eggs. It was also suggested that the Girl Scouts could do the eggs. Another suggestion was that while the children are gathering in the church and waiting to be disbursed that a sing a long could occur.

Evangelism Committee
Minutes from their April 13th meeting were handed out and reviewed by council.

Property Committee: Nancy Deiter
Nancy inquired as to the status of the thermostat in Mrs. Bentz’s room, Karl did not yet have the chance to check it.
The roof is completed, and the bill was forwarded to Stephanie.
Karl stated that he will check with Brown Signs for progress on the sign.
Dale Bentz reports that he positioned the drains under the down spouting, so that the rain doesn’t destroy the mulch.

Music and Worship
It is felt that the Easter season went well. The Healing service was a very thoughtful, meaningful, and moving service.
Scott Johnson reports that he purchased the video camera for the church. He is still trying to iron out the kinks and is in the process of learning how to use it.

Unfinished Business:
Council discussed the issues regarding the summer schedule that were tabled from last month’s meeting. Items discussed were:
1. Location-Will the services be held in the sanctuary or in the multipurpose room, or will we ‘flip-flop’? Pros and cons were discussed.
2. Time-Will the service time change to 9 am as it has for many years, will it change to 10am, or will it stay at 10:15 am?
One of the issues affecting the decision was the issue of being able to set up the multipurpose room with the proper equipment to keep it in the style of a church.

Another issue was with the acoustics in the multipurpose room and some of the congregation having difficulty hearing portions of services when held in the multipurpose room. It was discussed that if the speakers used when the services were held outside are set up, then the headphones used in the sanctuary can be used. The phone patch will also be able to be used as well.

Each council member, (except Nancy) voted.
• The votes were unanimous to keep the time of the services at 10:15 am, thus allowing time for the multipurpose room to be set up for the service, when held in the multipurpose room.
• It was decided that the 10-day AccuWeather forecast will be monitored, and we will worship in the sanctuary if the temperature is predicted to be below 90 degrees.
• If the 10-day AccuWeather forecast predicts the temperature will be above 90 degrees, we will worship in the air-conditioned multipurpose room.

The decision regarding when to end the Sunday school season for the summer will be left up to the Sunday School Superintendents and teachers.

David Engle reports that he is still looking into the prospect of the ornamental grass, since it will be a fall project.

New Business: Nancy Deiter

Nancy reports that she, Dara Wolfe and Stephanie Gahres plan to begin cleaning the Sunday school closet. She reports that while cleaning the large Sunday school room, it was determined that the folding partition door is very dirty and has not been used for many years, therefore could it be removed? Dale and Darryl Bentz report that they are the ones who took down the similar folding partition doors in the multipurpose room. They will gather a group of people to take down the door and dispose of it.

Nancy reports that the Girl Scout troop are interested in doing a service project. They will get ideas together and will present them to council.

The meeting closed with The Lord’s Prayer.

The next meeting will be on June 5, 2022.

Respectfully submitted,
Debra Buffington, Secretary