November 21, 2024 | Deacon Meeting Minutes
Attendance: John Genskow, Denny Denk, Del Polzin, Chuck Falch, James Martin, Gail Graese, Bruce Winkler, Aaron Libner, Adam Urberg, Erika Zank.
Absent: Mark Oldenberg
Ex-Officio: Pastor Ethan Luhman, Pastor Mark Schulz, Pastor David Forke
Recording Secretary: Adam Urberg
Meeting Opening
John Genskow called to order at 6:31 PM.
Devotion/Opening Prayer
Gail shared a devotion from Jesus Calling and read from John 15.
Consent Agenda
- Pastoral Report
- September 5, 2024 Minutes
Denny made a motion to approve both consent agenda items; Erika seconded. Approved unanimously.
Financial Report
- Budget Status. Called Staff Adjustments will be shown in next month's financial report.
Chuck moved to accept; Bruce seconded. Accepted unanimously.
John reminded that with the three new calls our deficit for the year has gone up, but this addition was approved by the congregation, and it would be taken from cash on hand. James clarified the staff should not feel pressured to reduce expenses to cover this.
Pastor Mark brought up the possibility of sharing Peace pastors part-time with another congregation to bring in additional revenue, now that three pastors are on staff. Will follow up in the new year.
Review Action/Follow-up Items
- BOD Team Leaders to review charter and goals.
This has been postponed until the next meeting.
- James and Pastor Mark to settle on an electronic security plan and execute this FY
James to share this during the training section of this meeting.
- Name tags for Deacons
Is this something the Deacons would be interested in. It was agreed that it would be useful for Deacon visibility for the congregation on Sundays.
- Deacons to share my faith journey on the website
Deacons encouraged to reach out to Kristin Brantner to schedule.
- Congregational get-together
Looking for ideas for bringing people together, lookout for opportunities as we go into the Winter season. Pastor Ethan’s installation service and dinner turned out great.
- Leadership Book Study
Pastor Mark shared there will be an upcoming book study that Deacons will be invited to, the book has not yet been chosen.
New Items
- Review of Proposed Policy Changes
Policy A3 - The Process and Timeline for Nominating New Deacons:
Made a few clarifications.
Policy B1 – Board Practices:
Added a new section regarding BOD visibility for each deacon.
Policy C1 – Communications Policy:
Changes from Kristin Brantner. This policy has been approved by the Staff Lead Team.
Aaron motioned to approve the policy changes; Chuck seconded. Approved unanimously.
- Staff HSA Donations
Budget for HSA contributions was originally for five, but now only four are now eligible - Mark, David, Sue, and Kristin.
Gail motioned to approve the $500 contributions to the four eligible; Chuck seconded. Approved unanimously.
- Called Staff Housing Allowances for 2025 calendar year:
o Mark $40,000
o David $33,000
o Ethan $46,000
o Caleb $39,200
o Anna $15,000
James motioned to approve; Chuck seconded. Approved unanimously.
- Non-disclosure Agreement Policy
NDAs are common practice in private business to keep trade secrets, however in a church setting we want to lean on being open, honest, and transparent. Previously, the board had entered an NDA without visibility to the staff or congregation.
Discussed we should not completely remove the ability to enter an NDA, as we cannot predict if needed. Should set a policy that they are strongly discouraged, cannot be used for anything abuse or crime related, and should be visible for the congregation to see if we enter one. The Board has made many policy changes to improve transparency with the congregation and to guide future boards, we would like to continue those efforts.
The Policy Committee has been asked to draft language with help from Personnel Committee and bring it back to The Board in March.
- Peace Prayer Path
Lynette Schulz shared a proposal to add a Prayer Path on the Peace property that would include 12 prayer stations with benches. Funded by donations. Would be available for both the church as well as the community. Next steps will be to start sharing plans with the congregation. In spring there could be a call to the congregation to gather and help install the stations. Lynette will be following up with Staff Lead Team.
Training
- Board of Deacons Information Technology: Peace Share Drive, Deacon E-mails, Electronic Security
Peace will be contracting with KnowBe4 for three years to provide cybersecurity training and test phishing campaigns for Staff. Deacons will also be included as they will now have Peace emails.
James reviewed the Peace Share drive and login information with the Board.
Additional Comments for the Board and Requests for future agenda items, new discussion topics, and staff presentations
James requested all our called worked are invited and encouraged to come to the Deacon Meetings as ad-hoc members, as defined in our constitution. With a specfic suggestion to invite Caleb to present his goals to the board at the January Meeting and Anna to present her goals at the March meeting.
Aaron welcomed Pastors to provide any feedback on anything The Board can improve on.
Closing Prayer
Aaron closed in prayer.
Chuck motioned to adjourn; Aaron seconded. Passed unanimously.
