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MGLC Congregation Meeting Minutes January 22, 2006 President Todd Treml called the meeting to order at 12:45 pm. Pastor Durk opened with prayer. Pastor's Remarks
Pastor Chris stated that she loves sharing with the congregation. He is near. He is here. Christ is here at MGLC and she sees it every week, every day in ministries! Last week was the 9th grade retreat—the kids planned, prepared and lead worship. These kids took risks sharing messages. Dick Dahlberg was a wonderful leader, sharing a message and answering questions. Jon Brandon too shared a wonderful faith message. Christ’s spirit is working—a lot of time the congregation doesn’t get to see that. Other examples that show Christ’s spirit at work:
Be encouraged that Christ is here! President's Remarks
Facilities Team Update The team is committed to meet—they have interviewed two architects and will interview two more on Monday. They looked at their projects and all did a walk through of our building and were given the same information. The #1 project is to build a sanctuary, followed by fellowship space and education space. Another step is to do a building audit of our current facility. Teri presented a vision summary of their task and offered that there is a special website with updates about their progress – http://building.mglc.org/ Add your e-mail to this site and you’ll receive an update as they are made available. She asked that members please pray for the committee and the church. Steering Committee Update Organizational Task Force Over one year ago the Organization Review Team began and this was the springboard for this task force and a new organizational structure. The team members are Jennifer Hale, Lisa Herwers, Jim Lann, Melinda Nelson, Pastor Peterson, Kurt Schwedler and Todd Treml. They began meeting in early September and meet every week. Their job will conclude with the transition. Current situation:
Recommendation:
Benefits of change:
Showed new MGLC Organization Structure Chart. Congregation—Highest Legislative Authority responsible for all matters pertaining to the life of the church, meets twice annually and as needed.
Council—Members include Pastors, Past President, President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and 4 at-large members – three year rotating terms. Worship Committee—The Worship Committee supports all aspects of our congregation’s worship life in which we are “called by Christ” to give honor and praise to God in Jesus Christ. This is the committee least affected by the changes. Discipleship Committee—The Discipleship Committee empowers our congregation to “live the Word” by enriching our understanding of the Bible and our faith in Christ. Parish Life Committee—The Parish Life Committee supports small group ministry and fellowship events for the purpose of building relationships and creating a sense of belonging within the congregation. Outreach Committee—The Outreach Committee supports efforts to “share God’s love” by spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ through invitation and serving the needs of people beyond our congregation. Caring Ministries Committee—The Caring Ministry Committee “shares God’s love” by facilitating spiritual, emotional, and physical well being to people in need. Operations Committee—The Operations Committee supports the infrastructure, organization, and administration of our ministries. All committees follow these guidelines:
Ministry Teams:
Staff—“Called by Christ to live the Word and share God’s love.” Recommended Organizational Structure:
Timeline:
Todd asked for a motion to support the proposed organization structure and changes to the by-laws—Mike Branch motioned, Steve Meydell seconded. Discussion Question about staff—and the proposed staffing—worship leaders and gifts director? Where do the dollars come from to support the ministry teams? Todd responded that the team labored over Tanya’s concern—stewardship didn’t get its own committee not because of lack of importance. Stewardship is more defined under discipleship in terms of growing our faith and giving. Could we have stewardship committee too? Our belief is this is where it belongs today in this model. Regarding staffing—some positions exist, some are goals—can’t tell you if those positions will happen. It is all about priorities and dollars we have to work with. We are not asking you to vote on staff positions, these are simply goals and we have heard requests for all of these positions from the congregation. Gladys Nelson asked—Is it used in other churches successfully? Churches our size or bigger use the term boards or elders. We have seen this used successfully. Rick Moultin wanted to compliment the task force for their work. Ministry teams can act without a lot of bureaucracy, but still be accountable. It will free up motivated people to accomplish tasks. Mike Branch made a clarification of discipleship regarding wording—stewardship is part of being a disciple. Curt Grimley asked about the budget and the categories of the old structure. When we transition toward ministry teams will the funds transfer to that group—a lateral transfer of funds? Melinda and Steve have mapped out a plan to do this. A ballot vote was taken on the motion on the floor: “I support the proposed organizational structure and changes to the by-laws.” 74 agree, 1 disagrees, 1 abstains—motion passes. 2006 Budget and 2005 Financial Overview The role of council is to help to see that this happens. We use the pledged or historical dollars to prioritize and allocate spending. Today we are presenting a balanced budget. Steve Wagner highlighted items from his Treasurer’s report for year ended December 31, 2005. This year we operated in the red. Actual pledged offerings for 2005 came in at 91% of the amount pledged. Benevolence budget was 9.5% of general offering. Expenses were about $14,000 below budget. We ended 2005 with a new deficit of approximately $20,000—this was the result of $45,000 in pledged amounts not being made. The debt payments on the mortgage are and will continue to be paid with the dedicated capital account. $15,000/month through August 2007 will come from the capital fund, NOT the general fund. August 2007 the note comes due. The budget for 2006 reflects a 6% increase in pledged offerings based on 2006 pledges compared with pledged contributions actually made in 2005. We are budgeting at 100% of pledges. It is exciting to note that for those who pledged both in 2005 and 2006, the average increase in those pledges is 18%—this is huge! Thank you for your continued support and faithfulness! Balance Sheet—as of December 2005: $275,280 cash in the bank. $252,894 is designated gifts, which leaves us with operating cash in the bank of about $23,000. $1,105,915 is our total equity. Capital Fund Recap—as of December 2005: We are in the third year of our capital appeal. $141,130 was paid to us by the city of Maple Grove for easement for the expansion of the highway. Mortgage payment is $15,00 a month. Architect fees were paid early in the year and fundraiser fees were paid to Kairos all from this account. Steve asked for any questions on balance sheet or capital fund. Assets on balance sheet page = our cost – net value. 2 million is on both properties—hope is that we will earn enough with the sale of the land to pay off all our debt, but this is all speculative. Jim Vaughn asked why would you want to budget at 100%? If we say we don’t expect you to give 100% that you pledged—what does that say? 2005 was below our historical at 91%. We have also built in a cushion in our non-pledged. 2005 actual was $102,000. More are signing up for Simply Giving. Many who do this didn’t submit pledge, but still give. Need to remind them not to forget to renew their pledge. There is a trend through churches toward non-pledged giving—creates a challenge for budgeting. We are tight on our assumptions with revenue side. Statement of Activities—as of December 2005: First budget run through we were $180,000 deficit for the year. Ministry areas are modest. Aside from administration, benevolence is one of the largest areas—we had to look at it. Some expenses had to be cut back. $550,000 pledge and non-pledged—we didn’t have the funds to do the 10% goal. We decided to offset this by offering special appeals to maintain benevolence. Need $20,000 in special receipts. Discussed with Social Concerns and Missions—is it a great answer to the problem—No, but a resolution they could be comfortable with. We committed $34,000 to benevolence with an additional $20,000 through special appeals. Important to remember that in 2005 we had $23,000 of special gifts for administration, which was dedicated for our associate pastor position. Without the special gifts, we would have had a $43,000 deficit. In 2006 we want to have a balanced budget. In 2004 we received a special gift of $62,000 to help fund our operating—this allowed us to bring on staff—problem is that those dollars run out. In 2006 we are proposing a balanced budget with NO special gifts. We have been living a false reality the last few years. Administrative costs—budgeting flat, less that cost of living expense for increases, health care costs are up 10-12%. Budget reflects a 20-hour cut back in the secretarial position and continues to budget the youth director position as in the past. Adult category changes as items were moved from administration into adult and Youth items were also reclassified into adult. Paul King asked—are we setting us up for failure? Steve responded—we struggled with this—non-pledged at $120,000—it is the wrong message to send to not expect the dollars—it’s an issue of presentation. Patty Bahl asked why aren’t we reflecting what we are doing? Chad Thomas responded that the church operates in a vacuum. You have no idea where pledges will come from. We need a different cycle process. Show leadership—pledge and give to that level! What does it take to be a light? Look at the process differently—get to the heart or expect less. Pledged versus non-pledged—These are variables that we don’t have any control over. Pledge offering amount include every dollar that we know of. If you are a pledged member and give more it goes into pledged offering. Jaci Jones asked why her statement is off every year—Steve will discuss with her. Dick Halzle uses Simply Giving and encourages others to try it. Rick Moultin said his statement is always right on. Steve Meydell asked what happens in six months if we are falling behind? Or if we are ahead? What is the plan? This is no different than running our homes or a business. It is a plan, not an entitlement, to be reviewed every month, make adjustments and make them early on. We want a balanced budget. We try to budget on seasonality. Ken Turnquist—with the changes in structure and bylaws, new ministry will be funded within committees. This budget doesn’t leave extra dollars from what has been spent in the last year. How do we deal with it? Not having ministries? Replacing? Todd—we are dealing with dollars available. If dollars don’t increase to give to ministry areas, team may have to hold off until dollars are available. We are budgeting very flat. Steve Wagner—it is important to remember the positive—this is the first time we are paying all of our own costs. Prior we haven’t had the money. This year we are self-sufficient, supporting our operational expenses. Tanya Peplinski commented that three years of ministry budgets not growing are a negative trend. Question and challenge to the congregation—How are we getting people passionate to give? How are we teaching stewardship? What are we going to do? Steve Wagner—congregation has given us what we have—this is what we have to work with. Todd commented that according to the ELCA we have the highest per average giving. Durk advised that it is the job of the stewardship team to educate. Often during an appeal capital and general dollars will increase. Jim Vaughn—concern about budget problems we have had in the past—cut staff, but hired more staff on the other side? Does this make sense? It is a matter of priorities. 70% of the budget goes to salaries, 10% to administration. We reduced 20 hours a week of office staff. We hired Todd Grover, which was a budgeted position in 2005. We haven’t added any budget dollars to this area. Paul King—should we approach the congregation about giving, to increase their giving? Steve Wagner said we are going back to the congregation somewhat through the special appeal. Mike Benson asked how successful in relation to '04 and '05—there are changes we are not considering, like no For Sale sign in our yard. Things are changing; anticipate that we will build a new sanctuary. The current budget shows where we are at today for this year. George Boufford commented that a $45,000 deficit on pledges is a concern. Not as many are moving away, current members aren’t giving their pledges. Steve Hanson said we could go back to the congregation regarding general and capital appeals. Motion made by Mike Koterba to support the 2006 budget, seconded by Steve Meydell. Took a ballot vote—70 in favor and 5 opposed. Congregational Representative to Synod Assembly Open Council Positions and Committee Positions Approval of Congregational Meeting Minutes New Business President Todd said thank you very, very much to everyone for a great meeting today! We feel like we are making responsible decisions on your behalf. Give us your feedback. Meeting adjourned at 2:35 pm and 76 confirmed members were present. Respectfully submitted,
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