February 15, 2024 | Deacon Meeting Minutes
Attendees: John Reagan, Anne Hartman, Bruce Winkler, Chuck Falch, Paul Weinke, Gail Graese, James Martin, Vince Maro, John Genskow, Kristi Lambert, Kathy Sahlhoff
Ex Officio: Mark Schulz, David Forke
Absent: Dean Gumz, Secretary
Recording Secretary: Anne Hartman and John Reagan
The meeting was held virtually via Zoom and was opened at 6:31PM by John Reagan
1. Chuck Falch provided the opening devotional and prayer.
2. The Consent agenda was approved which included the most recent Pastoral Report, October BOD meeting minutes, and the year-end financials. All of these were sent previously to the BOD for review.
3. Mark Oldenberg, Chair of the Pastor Search Committee, provided an update on the call for a new pastor. The committee recommended that we should now start searching for a “Lead Pastor Elect” instead of an Associate Pastor who could grow into the lead role. This was recommended because there have not been any candidates that wish to leave their current called positions for an associate role and Mark Schulz’s time until retirement (June 2026) warrants the change to a lead pastor search. The Lead Pastor Elect position is still intended to allow time for overlap between Mark and the new pastor if the call timing allows. The Board of Deacons (BOD) agrees with this approach.
The Pastor Search Committee will meet on Sunday, February 18, 2024, to discuss the interview process of two potential call candidates and to provide guidance on a memo to the congregation updating the pastoral search and change in approach. A memo is intended to be released before February 25, 2024, jointly by the BOD and the Pastoral search committee.
4. The BOD Mission Team goals were reviewed, and the discussion was led by Anne Hartman. Further actions were recorded in the action item list found at the end of this report.
5. Gail Graese provided an update on financial training recommendations that will be finalized by April 15, 2024. Kathy Sahlhoff provided input on ensuring any new training requirement is sensitive to the potential overload of staff.
6. Kristi Lambert and James Martin are up to develop a short video for the congregation to provide background on themselves and perhaps on their Christian journey. This is intended to provide deacon visibility to the congregation and promote approachability to the BOD. Kristi and James were encouraged to contact Kristin Brantner to complete this.
7. James Martin led a discussion on Wednesday night dinners and how we might remove barriers to coming, such as not charging kids for meals or perhaps lowering costs for kids. David Forke took action to discuss this idea with the Wednesday night dinner team and come back with recommendations on how to respond to this idea.
8. The status of deacons planning to run or not run in June for the next deacon term was discussed. Below is the status of deacons whose terms end in June.
- Dean Gumz will not be returning as secretary.
- John Reagan not running for another deacon term.
- Vince Maro will not be running for another deacon term.
- Kristi Lambert will not be running for another deacon term.
- Paul Weinke is willing to run for another term if needed.
- Chuck Falch is running for another term.
- James Martin is still undetermined if he will run for another term.
- Gail Graese is still undetermined if she will run for another term as treasurer but has an additional year as a deacon.
Bruce Winkler will head the nominating committee as he has done in the past. Thank you, Bruce!!
9. Bruce Winkler brought forth the policy team’s three policies with relatively minor changes for review and approval. These were sent to the BOD ahead of the meeting.. The Policy Team and Personnel Team have also agreed to move 4 HR policies from the Policy Manual into the Employee Handbook These were both approved by the board.
10. The BOD and pastors agreed that no pledge commitments will be needed for this year. However, the topic of giving will be highlighted as appropriate during Sunday sermons. The deacons did appreciate that Mark and David always thanked the congregation for their generosity each Sunday.
11. Anne Hartman suggested we consider additional money for the Women’s ministry for next year’s budget.
12. There was a discussion about the next congregational get-together with help from the BOD. Four deacons volunteered to help but a lead is needed to coordinate this activity.
13. Mark Schulz encouraged the BOD to complete the “My Faith Journey” input on the Peace website. The BOD will follow up in the April BOD meeting.
14. A request was made to have an update on the Children’s Ministry position. David will follow up with Allie to ask her to update the board at the April BOD meeting. Also, Mark will ask Marlee Forke to provide an update on her work at the May 2024 BOD meeting. The board wishes to acknowledge Marlee’s continued strong contribution to Peace Church.
It was suggested that these staff updates continue into the next fiscal year and that they be added to the yearly BOD plan. John Reagan added this to the BOD planning template on 2/15/2024.
15. A complete list of current action items is below.
16. Mark Schulz closed in prayer.
17. A motion was made by Paul Weinke to adjourn the meeting and a second was offered. The meeting ended at approximately 8:20 PM.
Minutes submitted to the BOD on 2/16/2024 by John Reagan
