Church Council Meeting



Date: December 1, 2024


December 1, 2024
Attending: Darryl Bentz, Deb Buffington-Recording Secretary, David Engle, Deb Hogeland, Susan Long -Lay Leader, Pastor Scott Paradise, Jennifer Rosengrant, Stephanie Seldomridge-Treasurer, Dara Wolfe-Secretary
Susan Long opened the meeting.
Pastor Scott provided devotions.
Dara Wolfe will provide the next meeting’s devotions.
New Business
Due to attendance of multiple congregation members, the meeting jumped to the budget.
This budget was not easy to prepare; it took hours to complete. A special budget committee was recently formed in an effort to work on the budget.
The proposed budget was handed out so it could be reviewed in an effort to show what our true deficit will be. Steph used graphs to show that the church has been operating at End of Year Deficits going back to 2020. Steph reviewed changes that were made to certain line items in an effort to build a cohesive budget. Church attendance has been low ever since Covid. MLC is trying to find ways to increase revenue for the church. Another committee was recently formed (Strategic Planning Committee) and includes Pastor Scott, Stephanie Seldomridge, Jen Rosengrant, David Engle, Roy Hoglund, and David Staaby. They have met a few times and Roy has been creating graphs that will be used to hopefully give a better understanding of our budget situation during the council meetings and Congregational meeting..
Some of the budget areas reviewed:
-Comcast amount was reduced thanks to Susan.
-Faith Commitment line item was removed. It was decided that a quarterly collection would be taken.
-2 additional line items removed are the payment to the Financial Secretary and Treasurer.
Insurance-Currently the Pastor and his wife, Christine receive health insurance that is paid 100% by MLC. It was suggested to decrease payment of Christine’s health insurance by 50%. Steph did look at other churches and the private sector to support this choice. If Christine were to obtain an outside job that offers insurance, she could receive a stipend from MLC.
-Also suggested removing the HSA (Health Savings Account) payment of $1200 for the pastor. Steph again looked around and found that the employees usually paid for their own HSA.
-$10,000 received from Hart Beaver-still need to decide what will be done with this gift. Steph would like to see it put back into Thrivent due to good dividends.

Steph discussed the depletion of the money in the Thrivent account due to having to move money over to our general fund frequently to cover expenses.
Opened the floor for questions: One question was whether we are losing money by renting out the church. The answer to that question was ‘No”. We recently revamped our rental agreement and also show decreased electric distribution since adjusting costs in that area as well.
Susan Long and Jen Rosengrant will get together to come up with something to tell the congregation at the Hanging of the Greens luncheon, alerting them to the budget issues and also letting them know that the issues are being looked into.
Before continuing with the council meeting, those congregation members in attendance were invited to join church council.


Treasurer’s Report: Stephanie Seldomridge
Checkbook Balance: Northwest as of 11/30/2024=$2,098.54
Nov Deposits=$11,828.84
Nov Expenses=$13,336.23

Restore and Renew Campaign: as of 11/30/2024=$4,716.57
RENEW & RESTORE CAMPAIGN
Nov Deposits=$125.00
Interest Oct=$1.47

Mission Plus account (Money Market): as of 11/30/2024=$21,761.23
Interest Nov=$8.92
Undesignated funds in Money Mkt=$413.52
Designated Funds=4,993.41
Designated Funds=$6,000.00
Deposit-R. Hart Beaver (to be designated)=$10,354.34



Income:
Miscellaneous income
-Recycling=$53.60
-Coffee=$28.00
Memorials
-Hart Beaver=$150.00
Collected for ELCO Needy=$440.00 (In/Out)
Received 1st & 2nd disbursements from ERC credits-Total received=$2409.16. Interest outweighs 15% fees
-1st=$508.83 -$484.00 + $97.29 - $72.46
-2nd=$1900.33-$1823.00 + $350.73 - $273.40

Expenses:
County Line Pest Control=$140.00 (Spider eggs found in back multipurpose room and around mowers)
Audit Premium w/c=$8.00 (original bill was $330.00-doubled our figures)

Pastor’s report: Pastor Scott
Pastor’s Report was handed out
Discussed the lighting of candles on Christmas Eve. Suggested receiving communion, then taking a candle from a box at the end of the pew and lighting it from an acolyte’s candle.
Council Meeting Minutes
No changes.

Jen Rosengrant made a motion to accept the consent agenda.
David Engle seconded it.
All approved.



Unfinished Business
Communion Schedule -David Engle made a motion to accept the communion schedule. -Jen Rosengrant seconded it. -All approved.
Proposed cell tower -Jen Rosengrant made a motion to move forward with the plans for the proposed cell tower. -Darryl Bentz seconded the motion. -Deb Hogeland shared her opposition due to the proposed location.
Homeschool Music Program
-will finalize the agreement. It was noted that they are already advertising their use of the church. -David will send out an email to his contact with the program.

Door Locks -A new quote is needed which David will take care of.

New Business
-Susan reports receiving a letter of retirement from Linda Sheetz which will be effective Friday February 28th. -Will need to find a replacement, huge shoes to fill!

Committee Updates
Youth: Pastor Scott -multiple activities are planned
Evangelism Committee: Dara Wolfe -No printed minutes available from November meeting
-Sympathy cards sent out: Britt Saitta (Hart Beaver) Bob Blumenshine (sister) Keith Griffe (Terry Griffe)
-Spang Crest has been sold to a “For Profit” organization. The future of the “Friends of Spang Crest” program is not certain. 2 residents will still receive Christmas presents from MLC. -Will be sending out cards to members of MLC who are veterans following the meeting. -Next meeting tentatively scheduled for February 12th @ 2pm.
Property Committee: Susan Long -Still working on fixing the cap on one of the lights coming up the hill. Bob Blumenshine made a new cap, just have to work out the installation. Scaffolding will be needed, so it was discussed renting scaffolding and then changing all of the light bulbs at the same time. Deb will ask Dan to speak with Karl Keath.
Music and Worship: Pastor Scott -Nothing to report
Christian Education -Nothing to report


The meeting closed with The Lord’s Prayer.
The next meeting will be on January 5, 2025
Respectfully submitted,
Debra Buffington, Recording Secretary