September 19 , 2024 | Deacon Meeting Minutes
Attendance: John Genskow, Erika Zank, Aaron Libner, Del Polzin, Denny Denk, Chuck Falch, Mark Oldenberg, Adam Urberg, Bruce Winkler, James Martin
Absent: Gail Graese
Ex-Officio: David Forke
Secretary: Sue Gumz
John Genskow, chair, called the meeting to order at 6:31 pm.
Opening Devotion and prayer was shared by Bruce Winkler. He used a devotion from Jesus Calling. As God’s leaders in the church, people are watching us. We need to lead by example, and we are held to a higher standard because of our position.
Consent Agenda (John Genskow)
Del Polzin made a motion to approve the September Pastoral Report and the minutes from the September 5 meeting. Chuck Falch seconded. Motion carried.
Financial Report – August (John Genskow)
Our CD matured yesterday, Sept. 18. The recommendation of the Finance Team is to roll the CD into another 9-month CD.
The goal for the 2025-26 fiscal year is to remove our debt. John Genskow would like to set up a building fund for future additions, updates, or new vision of ministries to get involved in. It would be great to have a financial cushion plus have a plan. Bruce Winkler made a motion to approve the financial statements and extend the CD for another 9 months. Chuck Falch seconded. Motion carried.
Review Action Items (John Genskow)
Faith Journey recording of Deacons – let Kristin know when you are ready. We will also have a slide up in worship so people can put names and faces together.
The staff has tentatively set Installation services for Caleb Haack and Pastor Ethan Luhman to be Sunday, Nov. 3. Caleb Haack would be at 10:15 am, congregational luncheon at 11:30 and Pastor Ethan Luhman’s service would be at 1 pm. This is all dependent on Pres. Dwayne Lueck and Pastor Ethan and his family to be available as well as Caleb Haack to say yes to his call at Peace. This would qualify for a community building event within our church.
Follow-up Items (Mark Oldenberg & Pastor David)
Pastor Search update: No update from Mark Oldenberg, but anticipating that Pastor Ethan would be here mid-October, with or without his family.
DCFM Search: Caleb Haack is hoping to receive the call from Peace and will most likely accept it.
Youth Ministry Director: We had two candidates come to visit this week. The Youth Ministry Call Team hasn’t had a chance to meet but they are expecting a call to come out of these interviews. Start date would be Dec. 1, which is when Allie will be done.
Reconciling Zoom Meeting and Minute approval with by-laws (Bruce Winkler)
Article VI, Section F in the bylaws addresses electronic voting by the Board of Deacons. We don’t need this section anymore. Written voting is also not needed. The Policy Team would like to recommend striking sections F (electronic) & G (written) out of our bylaws. The policy team is looking for a yes or no from the board to move forward on this. The Board approved this change and for Bruce to move forward on this.
New Items
Review of Proposed Policy Changes (Bruce Winkler)
Aaron Libner made a motion to approve the proposed changes. Adam Urberg second. Motion carried.
Peace Deacon Covenant (Bruce Winkler)
Clarification was made that the number of meetings a Deacon may miss is 3 within a fiscal year. There was some discussion about adding the Deacon covenant into the policy manual. Aaron Libner made a motion to approve the recommended changes in the covenant with the minor modification of missing 3 meetings, and for the deacon covenant to be added to our policy manual. Chuck Falch seconded. Discussion: Bylaws state that the deacons need to sign a covenant. Motion carried
Facility Use Agreement: First Position School of the Arts (Pastor David)
An agreement was drafted for First Position to use our facility 3 nights a week from September 2024- May 2025 to include space for storage. Jim Moldenhauer reviewed the agreement. The cost for their usage was cut in half since the organization is non-profit. Pastor David was not sure if deacon approval was needed, however, John Genskow and Mark Oldenberg (officers of the congregation) were needed to sign the agreement. Denny Denk made a motion for the officers to sign the form. Erika Zank seconded. Motion carried.
Leadership Book Study (Pastor David)
This study is primarily for called staff and deacons. The deacons are encouraged to participate in this. There was no action needed at this time.
Deacon Training (Bruce Winkler)
Peace Constitution and Bylaws – training complete
Peace Policy Manual Training – will table to next meeting
Board of Deacons Information Technology (James Martin)
Bruce, Mark O, John G, and James currently have access to Share Point. There was discussion about having each deacon have read-only access so Bruce and Tonya wouldn’t need to attach files. Aaron Libner shared the philosophy behind Microsoft SharePoint. The best practice is to share a link versus sharing a document.
The board asked James to come back with a recommendation. If we change our usage, we will then need to use 2-step authentication.
Additional Comments for the Board and Requests for future agenda items, new discussion topics, and staff presentations
Non-disclosure agreements will be discussed later.
Deacons attending the staff luncheon on Monday, October 21. Aaron Libner and Bruce Winkler will be in attendance. If anyone else can come, please let Sue Gumz know.
Harvest of Hope Banquet next week
Pastor Mark, Pastor David, and Erika will be attending the luncheon from 12-1:30. Pastor David has one more ticket available. This is one of the missions we support. If interested in attending contact David.
Chuck Falch closed the meeting in prayer.
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting. Seconded. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 8:11 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Gumz
