Parish Planning Council Meeting - May 20, 2019
Attending: Dann Keiser, Chris Rowan, Pastor French, Starlah Smith, Jen Sterrett, Mike O'Donnell, Jake Rogers, Julie Grott, Lynn Beckham, Jerry Ripke, Steve Berman
I. Opening Prayer & Devotions - Board of Elders
Mike O'Donnell delivered a devotional from Paul's letter to the Philippians, the 4th verse of the 4th chapter. He then led PPC in prayer
II. Approval of April 16, 2019 meeting minutes - Pastor French made a motion to accept the April 16, 2019 meeting minutes as presented. Mike O'Donnell offered a second and the motion passed.
III. Unsung Servants - Pastor French nominated Jon Hubner for his outstanding work in caring for the St. James lawn areas. All was in favor and the nomination was approved. At the end of the meeting, but noted here, another nomination for unsung servants was made for all of Amy's Angels for facilitating handicap accessibility improvements regarding Amy Dombkowski’s vehicle and home. This nomination was approved.
IV. New Business
a. Election Slate - Mike O'Donnell shared that nominating is open until May 23rd and the Board of Elders will approve a final slate by May 28th. Mike indicated that the process was coming along. He made a few comments regarding additions and/or removals regarding the Board of Elders and Board of Evangelism. Mike also reported that Parish Ed looks strong and the Board of Human Resources is prime to take off given the added resources and will be able to address some needed work. Next, Mike mentioned that Russ Shoemaker and Jerry Ripke were the only Board Chairs requiring PPC approval to continue beyond two terms. Pastor French made a motion to approve Russ Shoemaker, Board of Church Properties Chair, and Jerry Ripke, Board of Evangelism Chair, to serve beyond two terms. Mike O'Donnell seconded, and the motion carried. Lastly, there was a brief discussion regarding candidates for the Congregation President.
V. Old Business
a. Budget - Dann Keiser began budget discussions by asking some questions regarding projected income. There was some discussion around specific budget lines. Julie Grott presented her numbers (via a projector) and there were some questions and answers. After further discussion there were three PPC actions:
- Jake Rogers made a motion that the PPC approved budget to send to Voters from the April PPC meeting be rescinded and the budget presented at the May 20th, 2019 PPC meeting be approved by PPC and sent to Voters on June 2nd. Julie Grott seconded, and the motion passed
- Jake Rogers made a motion that all executives, and anyone else that has access to the budget file, do not edit or modify the file so the budget goes to Voters on June 2nd as is. The motion was seconded and approved
- Jake Rogers made a motion that Julie Grott have a summary print out of her budget numbers and make it available if needed at the June 2nd Voters meeting. Pastor French offered a second and the motion passed
b. Employee Contracts - There was discussion regarding the National Lutheran School Accreditation requirement of administering employee contracts for teachers and the Board of Human Resources' role to ensure compliance and address any issues. Dann Keiser described we also need to look at obtaining signatures regarding our code of ethics.
c. Survey Update - Chris Rowan gave an update on the Core Values survey that went out. He reported there were between 50 and 100 responses and spoke briefly on the survey results (witness, stewardship, community, vocation, discipleship, etc.)
VI. Financial Report - Starlah Smith
a. Starlah Smith reported that we were not in the line of credit and that we were in better shape going into the summer than we have been in many years.
VII. Board of Stewardship - Vacant
a. No report
VIII. Pastor's Report - Pastor French, Pastor Heckert (not in attendance)
a. Pastor French reported that the major activities in June will be VBS (Vacation Bible School) and SWAM (Summer Worship Arts and Music Camp). He also described that graduation was tomorrow.
IX. Board of Elders - Mike O'Donnell
a. Mike O'Donnell reported on the new acolyte schedules and that the newly confirmed are hanging in there. Mike also reported that we are short on ushers this summer.
X. Principal's Report - Jake Rogers
a. Jake Rogers indicated that he had no written report and commented on several items. He described that the D.C. trip went well. He also shared that graduation was tomorrow at 7:00p.m., Wednesday was the last day of school and there was a staff meeting on Thursday. Lastly, he reported that the school office schedule would be switching to Monday through Thursday.
XI. Board of Christian Education - Lynn Beckham, Heather Brooks (not in attendance)
a. Lynn Beckham reported the Board has been focused on the budget. She also commented on the end of school chapel on Wednesday.
XII. Board of Youth - Karrie Tarter (not in attendance)
a. No report other than Dann Keiser commenting on the National Youth Gathering
XIII. Board of Parish Education - Becky Rowan (not in attendance)
a. Chris Rowan spoke about Paul's Word to Families, an online bible study
XIV. Board of Human Resources - Mark Bunton (not in attendance)
a. No report
XV. Board of Evangelism - Jerry Ripke
a. Jerry Ripke spoke about the Lutheran Hour Ministries Project Connect booklets and the value of these resources. He also spoke about the need to engage our community and mentioned a community dinner as an example of engagement to consider.
XVI. Board of Church Properties - Russ Shoemaker (not in attendance)
a. No report
XVII. Presidents Report - Dann Keiser
a. Dann Keiser reported that Voters will be on June 2nd and the main agenda items will be the budget and elections. Dann mentioned that Chairs should bring their reports. Next Dann described that Dave Winter will not be at the Voters meeting and this prompted a discussion regarding lunch. After some discussion, Pastor French made a motion to not have lunch at the Voters Meeting on June 2nd and Lynn Beckham offered a second. It was not unanimous, but the motion carried to not have lunch at the Voters meeting. Dann then gave an update on the constitutional revisions and indicated that we will have a new constitution and not a changed constitution. He shared that the process should be completed between June and November for Voters to consider in November.
XVIII. Other
a. Chris Rowan shared that Aaron Hubner volunteered to video and take photographs to update our website. He asked PPC to consider this project, give thought to identifying our future website needs and described the need to discuss further at a future meeting.
XIX. Motion to Adjourn and Closing Prayer
a. Jake Rogers made a motion to adjourn, there was a second and the motion passed. Pastor French invited PPC to join him in reciting the common doxology and all of PPC closed the meeting in prayer.