Sunday October 20th 2024 

Present: Pastor Erika Breddin, Andrea Boose, Elaine Hammer, Lori Miller, Sally Myers, Mary Sand, Marcy Seible, Betty Spence, Tina Varney (phone)

 

Absent: Blake Halverson

 

Call to Order: 11:15 a.m. by President Elaine Hammer

 

Devotions: Lori Miller

 

Approval of September 2024 Minutes:

• Motion to Approve Lori Miller

  • (With a revision to remove the sentence about $-31,000):

• Seconded: Sally Myers

  • Motion passed.

 

Approval of Treasurer’s September 2024 Reports:

• Motion to Approve: Lori Miller

• Seconded: Sally Myers

  • Motion passed.

 

Congregational Vote on the Annual Budget for 2025:

• Date set for Sunday, Nov. 17,2024

 

Committee Reports:

 

1. Old Business

   1. Treasurer’s Position: No one has volunteered to step in as treasurer. Mary will continue to assist as needed.
       

2. New Business

   1. Insurance: Church Mutual is the new policy holder for St. Ansgar.
       

   2. Mitten Tree: The tree is filling up, but we could still use more donations.
       

   3. Cookie Exchange: Tina asked the council about a Christmas cookie exchange for the congregation. She will ask WELCA if they are interested in doing this.
       

3. Property:

   1. Printer: The old printer will be picked up this week. The charge is $300.
       

   2. Snow Removal: Dan Varney will contact our snow removal person to discuss plans for this year.
       

   3. Pop Cans: The council discussed and agreed that collecting and redeeming pop cans would be an easy way to earn a little money for the church. The redemption center on Lafayette charges $7.00 to pick up cans. Elaine volunteered to return cans to save that fee. We will need to get a large box to hold the cans.
       

4. Outreach/Fellowship:

   1. Trunk or Treat: People have expressed interest in doing this, so it will take place this year.
       

   2. Fall Fest:

      1. Food: Andrea reported that we have received several food donations. The board with Post-it notes of items to purchase worked well.
          

      2. Raffle: We are still in need of donated raffle prizes.
          

      3. Rummage Sale Room: Marcy reported that we are getting a lot of donations, but we could always use more. She will bring in additional items and spend time organizing/pricing what is there. Following the event, Elaine and Marcy will take care of removing items and donating to Goodwill.
          

      4. Vendor Room: Tina reported that not many vendors have signed up. We will go with what we have and adjust room assignments as needed.
          

      5. Kitten Room: Tina reported that she has been in contact with someone. People who would like to adopt can fill out an adoption form that day. Kittens will be available for play/meeting in the old book room during Fall Fest.
          

      6. Next/Last Planning Meeting: Sunday, Oct. 27 after church.

 

1. WELCA:

   1. Brown bag lunch set for Oct. 22.

 

1. Worship:

   1. Music: Elaine will plan a contemporary music service and communicate this with Pastor and Tina.
       

   2. Communion:

      1. Wine: We went through our latest supply of wine rather quickly. This impacts our budget as we must purchase more sooner than expected. Council members suggested saving wine not used during service for the following week. Pastor Erika noted that to do so, we must use wine that is at least 17% alcohol to be sanitary. It was agreed to try this. Altar guild must be notified of the change.

      2. Glasses: The council also discussed using the glass communion cups instead of plastic to save money. It was agreed to try this for a couple of weeks. Altar guild must be notified of the change.
          

2. Joint Church Committee (St. Ansgar & Zion):

   1. Elaine has been in touch with Zion’s president. They would like to resume conversations about combined church activities. Elaine will propose a 7:00 p.m. for St. Ansgar’s Christmas Eve service.
       

3. Children & Youth:

   1. No report.
       

4. Pastor’s Report:

   1. Pastor Erika reported that it’s been a busy few weeks with her attending conferences and performing funerals. She will continue visiting people who are sick and who have lost family members.

   2. She noted that we had a few visitors to church lately: one student from Hawkeye Community College and a Haitian couple.

   3. She also noted that we are experiencing streaming issues during the service but this is getting looked into. The church phones are working again.
       

5. Adjournment: 12:20 p.m.
    

6. Next Meeting: 

   1. Sunday, Nov. 10 after service.
       

 

Council minutes respectfully submitted by Marcy Seible.