Zion Lutheran Church Council Meeting - 5/17/22
Present: Pastor Steve Sathre, Charlsie Burud, Bethany Jensen, Erica Atkinson, Roger Guttormson, Rich Jensen, John Thompson, John Butgereit, Melissa Helgeson,
Absent: Derek Buss, Annlea Eskelson, Pastor Natasha Woitzel-Kolles
Meeting Called to order at 6:34pm by John Butgereit
Opening prayer by Pastor Steve.
No guests at Meeting.
Approval of Agenda: Charlsie made motion to approve agenda with additions made of C. Call committee to old business, and new business C. Pastor vote in constitution and D. Discussion on Staff Bonus. Roger 2nd motion. Motion carried.
Secretary Minutes: Rich Jensen made motion to approve council minutes from 4/19/22 as written. John T seconded motion. Motion carried.
Pastor Reports: Pr. Steve received information from the synod’s lawyer suggesting updating our constitution based on his assessment in comparing to synod guidelines (initial discussion was had with Pastor John before he left, but no changes were made then to constitution) and also mentioned having a 3 mo review with executive meeting as written in his contract. Rich J agreed to look into synod’s email and Synod guidelines for constitution and will return to council with information. Pr Steve agreed to forward on email to him. Exec committee agreed to schedule a review. Pastor Steve also reported Melody resigned from her position as of last week.
Faith Formation Reports: No faith formation reports were received.
Treasurer’s report - Motion made by Roger to approve report. Seconded by Melissa. Motion carried. Erica (Treasurer) is looking into building account budgeted transfer as she said Mary is working on setting up that savings accounting. Erika also was going to look into our planned budgeted giving to MSU-LCM and Metigoshe Ministries. She said Mary will stay on until we have someone trained in to take over Book-keeping duties. On-target as to estimated budget for the year despite lower Easter week intake as given had been up earlier in the year. Continued responsible utilization of interest earnings from current Endowment funds (like Building Fund) will help aid in better planning and usage of funds going forward.
Old Business:
1. Outdoor Enhancement: Drawings and pamphlets were reviewed. Council agreed to give Chris permission to share information tomorrow to generate excitement/interest and start recruiting for help with manual labor for project
2. Job Description for New Position: job description was approved and job posting was agreed upon. Plan for 3 weeks to post job at current planned salary with total estimated budgeted amount not to exceed 70,000 including retirement benefit. Rich motioned to approve salary range, job description and job posting. Roger seconded. Motion carried. Previous planned and approved budget is still on target for this position. Hiring committee of Pr. Steve, Charlsie, Derek and Melissa approved. Rich agreed to help Melissa post job (Indeed, Jobs ND, Bisman, FB, Instagram, LinkedIn were all suggested in addition to our website).
3. Call Committee has been finalized and congregational voted Sunday. Pastor Steve will meet with them and start the process with the Bishop. John T said he’d like to attend first meeting with Bishop to better understand the process.
New Business:
1. Trust Request: ELCA Young Adult Backpacking Trip - Kortni - Motion made by Bethany to allow request to be passed along to the trust. Seconded by Charlsie. Motion carried.
2. Summer Meal Serving Sign-up - Council members were asked to help serve meals in summer during activities/worship. Sign up sheet passed around
3. Discussion had about whether to consider updating constitution to change from pastors continuing to be voting members of council. In many churches it is not the standard that Pastors are voting members but instead are encouraged to participate, share thoughts and be part of discussion but abstain from voting. We agreed to table any discussion today and can consider further discussion pros/cons when constitution is reviewed.
4. Discussion about our current full time staff and the increased work load. Staff members have gone without any raises due to prior years budget shortfalls and cost of living has increased. Since we are unable to change the budget for raises at this time, Bethany made a motion to do a mid-year one time bonus of 3% of salary. Total cost from General fund will be <$10,000. Charlsie seconded the motion. All were in agreement and Erica said we should be able to do so for June. Motion carried.
8:15pm Adjourned meeting with Lord’s Prayer
Respectfully Submitted,
Bethany Jensen (secretary)
