Congregation Council
COUNCIL HIGHLIGHTS – JANUARY 2012
January 9
•Pastor Jim led devotions. (6:36 p.m.) The Purpose Statement of OSLC was spoken aloud by all the Council. Then, introductions of the council were made for the benefit of our newest members.
•Upcoming Dates were discussed.
•Compliments included how well the Choir Cantata and the Children’s Christmas Program went; Ken Diehl shared his thanks for Christmas bonus from the congregation, as did Pastor Jim.
•Council approved all reports that were submitted.
•Correspondence read – Marjene Chapman’s note of thank you for her Christmas gift from congregation; from Patti Hembre, also, a note of thanks for her Congregational gift from the congregation.
•End of Year Financial Report (w/o Richard’s complete input) showed that OSLC ended in the red around 6-8 % off of budget (like years’ past). As usual, December was an extremely good month, giving-wise!
•In general conversation, “What can we do to minister to the changing community around us?” (Which is a focus for the upcoming retreat) In this conversation many ideas were shared and gathering information about “who we are” in this area can be gathered through the most recent US census. The Vision Team has been looking into these ideas, along with many other items.
•Tom Loveday moved that the church council open an account at Eastman Credit Union as a business account at least for the purpose of annual Christmas gifts and any other gifts during the year when appropriate. Bob Hembre (President); Aaron Hanson (Vice-President); and Ken Diehl (Treasurer) will be the authorized signatures for this account. This was approved by the Council through a unanimous voice vote.
•Safe Sanctuary discussion – The Policy Statement has been distributed to the Council. This is a policy strongly suggested by the ELCA and is designed simply for the safety of our children while involved at OSLC here and on ministry that takes them away from this building. This is a need for our parish as a protection of our children as well as our adult leaders. This policy will be voted on at the February 13 Council Meeting. Everyone read thoroughly through this document.
•Ann Smith was nominated for Praising Ministry Council Rep. position replacing Mark Aaroen. Approved.
•Next meeting: Retreat on February 4 from approximately 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at Winged Deer Park.
•The OSLC Vision Statement was spoken, and the Lord’s Prayer prayed in adjournment (8:06 p.m.)
VISION: OSLC Major Goals 2009
Where there is no vision, the people perish. - Proverbs 29:18a (KJV)
Because we want to GROW in CHRIST, we are challenged to:
1. Support new initiatives to reach the un-churched or de-churched with a goal of increasing our worship attendance by 21 people (10%) by the end of 2009.
2. Improve communications
3. Develop a two year Strategic Plan
4. Upgrade facilities for handicap accessibility, safety and friendliness
5. Improve visibility of the church building to reach passersby
6. Begin an intentional small group ministry program to build deeper faith and connections
7. Actively seek outside groups to use the building to bring more people into our Christian environment
8. Strengthen our ministry to children, teens and young adults
9. Improve record keeping on members
10. Create a plan for having a multi-event evening on a weekly basis that has at least some events designed to reach out to the community
11. Actively reach out to members who are uninvolved to make connections
12. Foster spiritual gifts recognition and facilitate better use of our members' gifts.
This Vision 2009 Statement was prayerfully designed by the Congregation Council at their retreat and following meeting in February. Some items will be multi-year initiatives, some will always be part of a vision, and others will be completed this year. We invite all to participate in achieving these goals. Please offer your feedback and suggestions to any member of the Congregation Council.