April 2022 Council Reports
CONGREGATIONAL COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
7:00 pm - Call Meeting to Order
7:01 pm - Pastoral Prayer
7:05 pm -Approval of March Minutes
7:10 pm -Old Business to be deferred to May
7:55 pm -Closing Prayer
8:00 pm -Adjourn to Bandito's
CONGREGATIONAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Meeting held in person at CLC
March 22, 2022
In attendance: Cathy Barr (via Zoom), Kelli Chabria (via Zoom), Pastor Ben Dueholm, Ginger Hagens, Sharon Karol, Scott Kludt, David Marshall, and Connie Uhri (via Zoom)
Not in attendance: Angela Carden, Mark Lamb, Ashley Mahon, Greg Nelson, Gail Rolseth and Don Rowland
Other Attendee: Veronika Czutor, Matthew Breitenstine, Sam Kitchens and Greg Smith
Sharon Karol
PASTOR’S REPORT
April 25, 2022
I will walk at liberty, because I study your commandments
Psalm 119:45
Normally I conclude my reports with any personal matters that are relevant to my work or the business of the congregation, but this month I will address two matters at the top. First, as you’re all by now aware, my father-in-law died on April 6 after about three weeks in the hospital and a lengthy prior battle with heart and kidney issues. His memorial service was held in Olathe, Kansas on Friday, April 22. Though he had been ill, we were not fully aware of the extent of his health problems and his death was not entirely expected. Following the death of my mother-in-law in 2017, his passing leaves my wife with no living parents and my children with no grandparents on that side of their family. Along with the unfortunate timing at the cusp of Holy Week and another family transition, this event kept both our home and work lives unsettled for all of April to this point. We are all very grateful for the kindness and support shown to us by this church during this time, and I ask your continued prayers for my wife and her family.
Second, you probably all encountered Havanna, the child we were fostering, at some point this spring. On February 7, I had to take her to the emergency room because she was making suicidal threats. This led to a referral to a partial hospitalization program, which she began on February 21 (after failed intakes on February 17 and 18). From February 21 through March 29, she was spending every weekday from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Children’s facility near Parkland. For practical reasons, it made sense for me to do nearly all of the picking up and dropping off, along with the extensive communications and meetings required for participation. We were told that very few foster families ever do this program, and in hindsight I can see why. It was an enormous undertaking, it interfered with my work, and while it helped her tremendously, she had enough lingering symptoms that it was not safe for my own children to continue caring for her. On Wednesday, April 20, she was moved to a new placement. We are deeply grateful for the love and support shown to her and to all of us through the hardest foster placement we have ever had. We are taking an extensive break from new placements for the time being.
As your pastor, I pride myself on keeping my work separate and distinct from the obligations of my personal life. In these cases, I was simply not able to do this, at least not to my own satisfaction. I am grateful for the patience and forbearance of this community.
Holy Week and Easter
Our staff, volunteers, partners, and worshipers made a beautiful and well-attended Holy Week celebration happen this year. From the palm procession to the end of the Easter Sunday services, everything was done well and we reached a lot of people who had not been to church in a while or who were new to our community. There were some six hundred and twenty (!) worshipers in our building from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. Many thanks are due to Vicar Veronika for conceiving of a Maundy Thursday service for the preschool (which had almost 120 participants, both children and parents) and connecting us with Emanuel Lutheran Church and their wonderful musicians for the Easter Vigil. She preached very well on Maundy Thursday, the Rev. Joan Copeland preached on Saturday, and I preached Friday and Sunday.
The whole experience involved a huge amount of work from many, many people, but I want to highlight a couple of things that stood out:
I believe we can build on this as we go through the rest of the year.
Follow Up and New Members
Vicar Veronika and I made follow-up contacts to every person who left us contact information during Lent and Holy Week. I didn’t track the numbers but there were several. We also reached out with individual invitations to the new member group that met in March and April. This ultimately yielded six new members (plus two associate members in Jacob and Molly Smith), who participated in varying degrees with congregation members in the five-week Christian Basics class. Many thanks to everyone who came, who spent time with our new members, and who shared their experiences and insights.
A few things we learned:
Mount Olive Partnership
We welcomed our friends from Mount Olive on April 3 and April 16 (the Easter Vigil). In addition, I preached and presided at Mount Olive on March 27.
Along with our ongoing relationship through their outreach programs, these worship events help build our relationship with this historic community and our common witness to the Gospel in Dallas. We have tried with limited results to push the synod to make collaborative plans for the future of Mount Olive’s building, mission, and partnerships. But these joint activities have put us in a good position to be at the center of plans for the future of ELCA ministries in central Dallas.
Wednesday Night Worship
For the first time in my ministry career, I watched Wednesday night attendance during Lent increase over the course of the season! The food was wonderful, the new (or unused-for-some-years) vespers setting was nice, and the youth did a great job with the drama. It was never a huge event; attendance varied from 23 to about 40. But it is worth asking whether, how, and when we might commit to Wednesday night programming, either as an extension of confirmation/youth learning, as a way to do different things and reach different people with worship, or to enhance fellowship opportunities.
Coming Up
I have tentatively rescheduled the retreat I postponed in February for the week of June 20. This is the first week I can reasonably plan to be away for this. Unfortunately, it means that I will go straight into vacation time from June 27 through July 9. Thanks to our dedicated and competent intern, I feel I can do this with confidence. But it will require some advance work.
Dates to be aware of:
May 22: First Communion
May 28-June 1: Pastor Ben out of town for family reunion
May 29: Single service at 10 a.m. begins
June 3-6: Vicar Veronika in Minnesota for seminary graduation
June 5: Confirmation
June 7-13: Global Mission border immersion trip (Vicar Veronika out)
June 20-26: Pastor Ben on retreat
June 27-July 9: Pastor Ben on vacation
July 10: Vicar Veronika’s last day (as intern)
Pastoral Activities
March 16: Pastoral conversation (office)
Pastoral call (phone)
Lent Evening Prayer and Dinner
March 17: Meeting to plan Easter Vigil with staff
Meeting on council agenda and member request
March 20: Preach and preside at 8:30 and 11 a.m.
Sit in on Sunday School
March 27: Preside at 8:30 service
Open adult education
Preach at preside at Mount Olive
March 28: Meeting with Joanne
March 29: Conference meeting, New Life in Christ
Vigil planning meeting with Pastor Ringlaben and Vicar Veronika
Preschool board
Church council
March 30: Staff meeting
Prayer meeting
Lent dinner
Youth and family meeting
March 31: Pastoral care check-in (text)
April 3: Preach and preside at 8:30 and 11 a.m.
Council installation and thank-you
New member class
April 5: Intern supervision meeting
Visit to homebound member
April 6: Staff meeting
Lent Evening Prayer and Dinner
April 7: Bulletin planning meeting
April 9: Church clean-up day
First Communion planning meeting
April 10: Preach and preside at 8:30 and 11 a.m.
New member class
April 12: Internship supervision
Internship check-in with Luther Seminary
April 14: Maundy Thursday preschool service
Maundy Thursday liturgy
April 15: Good Friday noon liturgy
Good Friday evening liturgy
April 16: Easter breakfast set-up and prep
Easter Vigil rehearsal
Easter Vigil liturgy
April 17: Preach and preside at 8:30 and 11 a.m.
April 20: Meeting with Vicar and Sergio
Zoom call with new intern
April 25: Meeting with intern
Pastoral care check-in (text)
Meeting on council agenda
MUSIC DIRECTOR’S REPORT
March/April:
Dr. Hando Nahkur
Director of Music
CLP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Many thanks to the Congregation and Youth & Family Team for including the Preschool families in Sunday School and the Egg Hunt on Palm Sunday. Families and children who attended expressed their appreciation and shared that they had so much fun (and enjoyed the numerous treats they took home!)
Maundy Thursday was also a wonderful day for CLP! A Special Chapel service was held for the children and their families and was well attended. It was such an inspirational time for all who were there. The service began with a joyful Parade of Palms as the children entered the Sanctuary, waving their palms and clapping. Pastor Ben and Vicar Veronika led us in prayer, singing, and worship. As the children sang, parents readily joined them in singing songs familiar to them from their childhood. Benjamin Bullfrog helped us reflect on how much God loves every part of us. The oldest class of Cardinals and Eagles had the opportunity to wash one another’s feet, following the example of Jesus. It was moving to witness the willingness of children to love and serve one another (and be open to being served by one another) as Our Lord has commanded us.
We are blessed to be part of this community! In our joys and challenges, we are thankful for the Presence of the Spirit working among us and asking for continued guidance.
Staffing remains a work in progress. The assistant teacher hired in March is no longer working at CLP. A teacher we hired to begin in April was a no-show. We remain persistent in conducting phone screens and scheduling multiple interviews. We are excited to welcome an assistant teacher starting April 19 who will be primarily assigned to the Bluebird room. Our total number of staff remains at 18. We will continue to work to fill the remaining staffing vacancies. There will be a need to use substitutes when they are available, to staff appropriately, when regular staff is out for scheduled vacation and sick time. The CLP Admin team also assists in classrooms when needed.
Enrollment for this school year is currently at 66. A family with two children recently moved out of state. Openings remain in the Sparrow, Cardinal/Eagle (PreK), and Hummingbird (Preschool-3) classrooms for the current school year 21-22. Enrollment for the 22-23 school year is still open; currently, we have 68 enrolled for fall.
The PTA will hold Muffins with Moms event on Friday, May 6, from 7:30 AM to 9 AM to share information about the PTA with CLP parents. The event will be held in the Courtyard, weather permitting. The Narthex will be used as a backup if needed.
A group of parents has expressed their concerns regarding the decision to return to our previous practice of mixing age groups. Concerns are mainly those whose children will be placed in Cardinal/Eagle multi-age PreK class. This will be addressed in a parent forum to be held on April 21. Preschool Ministry Team members were invited to attend this forum to hear feedback from this group of parents. The team will follow up with any needed discussion to further address parent concerns at their regular meeting on April 26.
We received our first quarterly payment of $77,108 from the 2022 Child Care Relief Funding. To continue receiving the remaining three quarterly payments for the year, we will be asked to report how the funds were spent. Melissa Dvorocsik and Jim Rice are working with Joanne to formulate a proposal for the Council detailing a plan to use these funds.
Action Requested of Council: review and approve a proposal for the use of 2022 Child Care Relief Funding
Respectfully submitted,
Joanne Osterland, CLP Executive Director
YOUTH AND FAMILY MINISTRY REPORT
March 30, 2022
Members Present in person: Nici Bremer, Angela Carden, Vicar Veronika Czutor, Pastor Ben Dueholm, Suzanne Dunkelburg
By video-conference: Sarah Dzygun, Cindy Irons, Bonnie Tollefson, Kjerstine Nielson-Pelto
The Vacation Bible School theme for the year is “Monumental.” Suzanne has already ordered the theme pack and online access. VBS will be held on several Sundays over the summer (6/19, 6/26, 7/10, & 7/17). VBS Sunday will be determined later. Suzanne will coordinate the volunteers and help lead the team in hosting VBS.
Mission Trip - The team discussed the upcoming summer youth trip. The Synod is planning a Thursday evening through Sunday morning event. Nici will check on updates. Connie Uhri has offered her lake house as a retreat as well. Angela will reach out to her for more information. ****Update from Nici and Angela: the Synod trip is not the same dates as the ELCA Youth gathering. Many CLC families have already set aside those dates. The team decided to plan a youth mission trip based out of the Uhri home in Wimberly, TX using the original dates: 7/21-7/24/22.
High School ministry – Angela asked if there were any members that the team could reach out to in order to identify several mentors to work with that age group. Pastor mentioned a few possibilities. He and Vicar will reach out to those people to see if they are interested.
Utilizing the Parlor as a Nursery – Cindy mentioned there is a small table and chairs in the attic. There is also a small kitchen in the closet in the Sunday School room. Angela will consult with the CLC design team and well as the IT team to work to make the Parlor a safe and welcoming space for families with young children who need a break from being in the sanctuary.
Palm Sunday – Cindy would like to gather the children in the narthex for a story prior to the Easter Egg Hunt and move the adult coffee social to the patio. Pastor and Vicar will teach the attendees how to make crosses out of palm fronds.
Respectfully submitted by Angela Carden
COMMUNICATION COORDINATOR REPORT
Deadlines:
Sergio Peña
ADMINISTRATION MINISTRY TEAM REPORT
Personnel
Added Nici Bremer to Personnel Committee – members are Nici Bremer, Ginger Hagens, Laura Haynie, and Gail Rolseth.
Property/Admin
Respectfully submitted –
Ginger Hagens
COMMUNICATIONS MINISTRY TEAM REPORT
COMMUNITY LIFE MINISTRY TEAM REPORT
CONGREGATIONAL LIFE MINISTRY TEAM REPORT
FINANCE MINISTRY TEAM REPORT
The Finance Team met on April 19, 2022, and discussed:
SPIRITUAL LIFE MINISTRY TEAM REPORT
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
7:00 pm - Call Meeting to Order
7:01 pm - Pastoral Prayer
7:05 pm -Approval of March Minutes
7:10 pm -Old Business to be deferred to May
- Administrative Delegation & Support (placeholder to be discussed later)
- Automation of Calendars, Meetings, Website, (SharePoint Calendar)
- Calendar on Share Point for the 2022-23 Church Year
- Adapting CLC Sanctuary for Children (placeholder to be discussed later)
- Update on New Member Outreach
- New Council Orientation - Ginger
- Council Election - Ginger
- The Process
- Slate the Exec Committee prior to the meeting
- At meeting, Council votes the entire Exec slate up or down
- Current Council members can request to stay in their current roles
- For remaining roles, new members and existing members who want to change can list their top 3 ranked choices
- Exec goes into another room and slates the remaining members, trying to meet everyone's preferences
- Executive Committee Slate
- President -Mark Lamb
- Vice President -Lisa Nelson
- Secretary - Gail Rolseth
- Treasurer-Greg Nelson
- Financial Secretary-Greg Smith
- Committees
- Communications - Internal and external communications and technology support
- Community Life - Activities outside the Congregation, such as outreach
- Congregational Life - Activities within the Congregation, ie. celebrations and receptions
- Preschool Board - Liaison with CLP
- Spiritual Life - Worship and music, adult Christian education
- Youth and Family - Activities and Christian education for our children and youth
- Pastor Ben's Report
7:55 pm -Closing Prayer
8:00 pm -Adjourn to Bandito's
CONGREGATIONAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Meeting held in person at CLC
March 22, 2022
In attendance: Cathy Barr (via Zoom), Kelli Chabria (via Zoom), Pastor Ben Dueholm, Ginger Hagens, Sharon Karol, Scott Kludt, David Marshall, and Connie Uhri (via Zoom)
Not in attendance: Angela Carden, Mark Lamb, Ashley Mahon, Greg Nelson, Gail Rolseth and Don Rowland
Other Attendee: Veronika Czutor, Matthew Breitenstine, Sam Kitchens and Greg Smith
- Call Meeting to Order: The meeting was called to order by Ginger Hagens at 7:15 PM.
- Referencing the fig tree arable, Pastor Ben asked us to think about a time when we gave up on something, gave it one more attempt, and it worked, followed by a reading from Luke 13.
- Approval of minutes: Sharon Karol made a motion to approve the February 22, 2022 Council Minutes which was seconded by Kelli Chabria and the motion carried.
- Old Business – Tabled for later discussion
- Administration Delegation and Support
- Automation of Calendars, Meetings, Website (SharePoint)
- Calendar on SharePoint for the 2022-23 Church Year
- Adapting CLC Sanctuary for Children
- Review of Constitution and Bylaws
- Administration Delegation and Support
- New Business
- Youth and Family update – Pastor Ben – Marc Hatcher resigned which will be effective June 12th to complete the current confirmation group process. The Youth and Family Ministry will be meeting shortly to make a recommendation to Council on management and distribution of the balance of Marc’s responsibilities including, but not limited to, VBS, summer youth trip, and day-to-day tasks.
- Pastor Ben Retreat rescheduled date – Pastor Ben will reschedule his previously planned February retreat to June.
- Synod Assembly Delegates – Pastor Ben – The Synod Assembly will be held from 12:30 PM Friday April 29th through 4:15 PM Saturday April 30th at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Dallas. CLC can send two delegates in addition to Pastor Ben. Ginger Hagens and Greg Smith will represent Christ Lutheran Church and Connie Uhri will serve as an alternate, if needed.
- Nursery/parlor proposal – Pastor Ben – Pastor Ben met with two mothers of young children who are relatively active in church who had expressed an interest in making worship more accessible for young children and their parents. While there is an available space in the pre-school area, it is behind a keypad-locked door, separately locked, there is no signage or wayfinding to help people access it and it has no sound or video from the service. These mothers expressed their preference of an easy-to-reach nursery as important and hearing/seeing the service as essential. Pastor Ben suggested to (i) adapt the current parlor into a room suitable for parents and small children during worship, (ii) install clear and visible signage in the cross hallway, fellowship hall, and outside the main sanctuary entrance, and (iii) install speakers or a screen to allow parents whose children need a break to continue engaging with the liturgy. The Council agreed with the concept and recommended the Youth and Family team and the Design team be engaged for suggestions on configuration, which is expected to be at a nominal cost.
- Church Work Day – Pastor Ben – Pastor Ben suggested April 9th as a church work day prior to Easter sprucing up the property. Project lists of indoor/outdoor tasks will be provided by the property committee and the Altar Guild.
- Council training and elections at April meeting – Ginger Hagens – Ginger thanked the members rolling off council: Angela Carden, Scott Kludt, David Marshall, Don Rowland and Connie Uhri. The new council will elect officers and make committee assignments at the April meeting. Ginger will also provide training on council responsibilities and Sharepoint at this meeting. The new Council Installation will occur on Sunday, April 3rd, at the end of the first service and the beginning of the second service. Members rolling off council will also be recognized for their service at this time.
- Council Retreat – Mark Lamb – tabled for future meeting.
- Border Mission Trip – Connie Uhri – CLC is joining St. Luke’s on a global mission, border immersion trip to the border at El Paso on June 7th-13th. Connie Uhri, Madge Earnshaw and Vicar Veronika Czutor are planning on participating in this mission trip. Connie Uhri moved to have the registration fee of $350 for Vicar Veronika be paid out of the budget, Sharon Karol seconded the motion and the motion carried.
- Other – Member Use of Facilities – Ginger Hagens – A member has requested the use of the parlor for private music lessons twice a week, or approximately 5 hours/week. Connie Uhri moved to allow this usage in accordance with the policy, Sharon Karol seconded and the motion carried.
- Adjournment: Sharon Karol moved to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by Pastor Ben Dueholm and the motion carried followed by a prayer from Pastor Ben. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM.
Sharon Karol
PASTOR’S REPORT
April 25, 2022
I will walk at liberty, because I study your commandments
Psalm 119:45
Normally I conclude my reports with any personal matters that are relevant to my work or the business of the congregation, but this month I will address two matters at the top. First, as you’re all by now aware, my father-in-law died on April 6 after about three weeks in the hospital and a lengthy prior battle with heart and kidney issues. His memorial service was held in Olathe, Kansas on Friday, April 22. Though he had been ill, we were not fully aware of the extent of his health problems and his death was not entirely expected. Following the death of my mother-in-law in 2017, his passing leaves my wife with no living parents and my children with no grandparents on that side of their family. Along with the unfortunate timing at the cusp of Holy Week and another family transition, this event kept both our home and work lives unsettled for all of April to this point. We are all very grateful for the kindness and support shown to us by this church during this time, and I ask your continued prayers for my wife and her family.
Second, you probably all encountered Havanna, the child we were fostering, at some point this spring. On February 7, I had to take her to the emergency room because she was making suicidal threats. This led to a referral to a partial hospitalization program, which she began on February 21 (after failed intakes on February 17 and 18). From February 21 through March 29, she was spending every weekday from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Children’s facility near Parkland. For practical reasons, it made sense for me to do nearly all of the picking up and dropping off, along with the extensive communications and meetings required for participation. We were told that very few foster families ever do this program, and in hindsight I can see why. It was an enormous undertaking, it interfered with my work, and while it helped her tremendously, she had enough lingering symptoms that it was not safe for my own children to continue caring for her. On Wednesday, April 20, she was moved to a new placement. We are deeply grateful for the love and support shown to her and to all of us through the hardest foster placement we have ever had. We are taking an extensive break from new placements for the time being.
As your pastor, I pride myself on keeping my work separate and distinct from the obligations of my personal life. In these cases, I was simply not able to do this, at least not to my own satisfaction. I am grateful for the patience and forbearance of this community.
Holy Week and Easter
Our staff, volunteers, partners, and worshipers made a beautiful and well-attended Holy Week celebration happen this year. From the palm procession to the end of the Easter Sunday services, everything was done well and we reached a lot of people who had not been to church in a while or who were new to our community. There were some six hundred and twenty (!) worshipers in our building from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. Many thanks are due to Vicar Veronika for conceiving of a Maundy Thursday service for the preschool (which had almost 120 participants, both children and parents) and connecting us with Emanuel Lutheran Church and their wonderful musicians for the Easter Vigil. She preached very well on Maundy Thursday, the Rev. Joan Copeland preached on Saturday, and I preached Friday and Sunday.
The whole experience involved a huge amount of work from many, many people, but I want to highlight a couple of things that stood out:
- Partnerships. Deliberate outreach to the preschool and to neighboring congregations bore fruit.
- Involving people. The Knights of St. John were back on Maundy Thursday, greatly enhancing the stripping of the altar. Our youth absolutely crushed their reading at the Easter Vigil. We reached out to some new or less frequent readers for that service and for Good Friday.
- Interaction. People responded well to the processions, the special rites like the laying on of hands, washing feet, and veneration of the cross.
I believe we can build on this as we go through the rest of the year.
Follow Up and New Members
Vicar Veronika and I made follow-up contacts to every person who left us contact information during Lent and Holy Week. I didn’t track the numbers but there were several. We also reached out with individual invitations to the new member group that met in March and April. This ultimately yielded six new members (plus two associate members in Jacob and Molly Smith), who participated in varying degrees with congregation members in the five-week Christian Basics class. Many thanks to everyone who came, who spent time with our new members, and who shared their experiences and insights.
A few things we learned:
- Follow-up with visitors needs a volunteer leader plus one or two (or more) helpers to ensure everyone who gives us contact information hears promptly from church members (not just the pastor).
- In addition, the organization of the new member class (using my curriculum or another) needs a volunteer leader to work with the staff.
- Inviting the whole congregation, and involving our regular adult education participants, is a good way to do new member classes and we should plan to do it in the future. Finding time outside of our usual Sunday morning/Wednesday evening program hours will be difficult, concurrently leading more than one group will be even more difficult, and the process is clearly enriched by a wider participation and welcome from the congregation.
Mount Olive Partnership
We welcomed our friends from Mount Olive on April 3 and April 16 (the Easter Vigil). In addition, I preached and presided at Mount Olive on March 27.
Along with our ongoing relationship through their outreach programs, these worship events help build our relationship with this historic community and our common witness to the Gospel in Dallas. We have tried with limited results to push the synod to make collaborative plans for the future of Mount Olive’s building, mission, and partnerships. But these joint activities have put us in a good position to be at the center of plans for the future of ELCA ministries in central Dallas.
Wednesday Night Worship
For the first time in my ministry career, I watched Wednesday night attendance during Lent increase over the course of the season! The food was wonderful, the new (or unused-for-some-years) vespers setting was nice, and the youth did a great job with the drama. It was never a huge event; attendance varied from 23 to about 40. But it is worth asking whether, how, and when we might commit to Wednesday night programming, either as an extension of confirmation/youth learning, as a way to do different things and reach different people with worship, or to enhance fellowship opportunities.
Coming Up
I have tentatively rescheduled the retreat I postponed in February for the week of June 20. This is the first week I can reasonably plan to be away for this. Unfortunately, it means that I will go straight into vacation time from June 27 through July 9. Thanks to our dedicated and competent intern, I feel I can do this with confidence. But it will require some advance work.
Dates to be aware of:
May 22: First Communion
May 28-June 1: Pastor Ben out of town for family reunion
May 29: Single service at 10 a.m. begins
June 3-6: Vicar Veronika in Minnesota for seminary graduation
June 5: Confirmation
June 7-13: Global Mission border immersion trip (Vicar Veronika out)
June 20-26: Pastor Ben on retreat
June 27-July 9: Pastor Ben on vacation
July 10: Vicar Veronika’s last day (as intern)
Pastoral Activities
March 16: Pastoral conversation (office)
Pastoral call (phone)
Lent Evening Prayer and Dinner
March 17: Meeting to plan Easter Vigil with staff
Meeting on council agenda and member request
March 20: Preach and preside at 8:30 and 11 a.m.
Sit in on Sunday School
March 27: Preside at 8:30 service
Open adult education
Preach at preside at Mount Olive
March 28: Meeting with Joanne
March 29: Conference meeting, New Life in Christ
Vigil planning meeting with Pastor Ringlaben and Vicar Veronika
Preschool board
Church council
March 30: Staff meeting
Prayer meeting
Lent dinner
Youth and family meeting
March 31: Pastoral care check-in (text)
April 3: Preach and preside at 8:30 and 11 a.m.
Council installation and thank-you
New member class
April 5: Intern supervision meeting
Visit to homebound member
April 6: Staff meeting
Lent Evening Prayer and Dinner
April 7: Bulletin planning meeting
April 9: Church clean-up day
First Communion planning meeting
April 10: Preach and preside at 8:30 and 11 a.m.
New member class
April 12: Internship supervision
Internship check-in with Luther Seminary
April 14: Maundy Thursday preschool service
Maundy Thursday liturgy
April 15: Good Friday noon liturgy
Good Friday evening liturgy
April 16: Easter breakfast set-up and prep
Easter Vigil rehearsal
Easter Vigil liturgy
April 17: Preach and preside at 8:30 and 11 a.m.
April 20: Meeting with Vicar and Sergio
Zoom call with new intern
April 25: Meeting with intern
Pastoral care check-in (text)
Meeting on council agenda
MUSIC DIRECTOR’S REPORT
March/April:
- Services/rehearsals
- Preludes, hymns, liturgy, offertory/communion pieces, postludes
- Lenten midweek services
- Soloists' accompaniment parts
- Holy Week - music planning, rehearsals, services
- Rehearsals with soloists
- One License, CCLI - online reporting
- Audio monitoring - 8:30 AM services
- Soloists/Cantors/Choir schedule - April/May
- Guest singers - scheduling, rehearsal
- Choir/Soloist videos - production/editing/mixing
- Christ Notes article
- Music ministry report
- Meetings: Staff, Spiritual Life, music planning with Pastor Ben
- Communication with members
- The following soloists led worship with a variety of repertoire in March/April: Sanctuary Choir, Suzanne Dunkelberg, Don Rowland, Liam Neuhoff, Kevin Bernauer, Betsy Lintel, Colleen Oates, Romali Fernando, Brad Spellicy, Ashley Mahon
Dr. Hando Nahkur
Director of Music
CLP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Many thanks to the Congregation and Youth & Family Team for including the Preschool families in Sunday School and the Egg Hunt on Palm Sunday. Families and children who attended expressed their appreciation and shared that they had so much fun (and enjoyed the numerous treats they took home!)
Maundy Thursday was also a wonderful day for CLP! A Special Chapel service was held for the children and their families and was well attended. It was such an inspirational time for all who were there. The service began with a joyful Parade of Palms as the children entered the Sanctuary, waving their palms and clapping. Pastor Ben and Vicar Veronika led us in prayer, singing, and worship. As the children sang, parents readily joined them in singing songs familiar to them from their childhood. Benjamin Bullfrog helped us reflect on how much God loves every part of us. The oldest class of Cardinals and Eagles had the opportunity to wash one another’s feet, following the example of Jesus. It was moving to witness the willingness of children to love and serve one another (and be open to being served by one another) as Our Lord has commanded us.
We are blessed to be part of this community! In our joys and challenges, we are thankful for the Presence of the Spirit working among us and asking for continued guidance.
Staffing remains a work in progress. The assistant teacher hired in March is no longer working at CLP. A teacher we hired to begin in April was a no-show. We remain persistent in conducting phone screens and scheduling multiple interviews. We are excited to welcome an assistant teacher starting April 19 who will be primarily assigned to the Bluebird room. Our total number of staff remains at 18. We will continue to work to fill the remaining staffing vacancies. There will be a need to use substitutes when they are available, to staff appropriately, when regular staff is out for scheduled vacation and sick time. The CLP Admin team also assists in classrooms when needed.
Enrollment for this school year is currently at 66. A family with two children recently moved out of state. Openings remain in the Sparrow, Cardinal/Eagle (PreK), and Hummingbird (Preschool-3) classrooms for the current school year 21-22. Enrollment for the 22-23 school year is still open; currently, we have 68 enrolled for fall.
The PTA will hold Muffins with Moms event on Friday, May 6, from 7:30 AM to 9 AM to share information about the PTA with CLP parents. The event will be held in the Courtyard, weather permitting. The Narthex will be used as a backup if needed.
A group of parents has expressed their concerns regarding the decision to return to our previous practice of mixing age groups. Concerns are mainly those whose children will be placed in Cardinal/Eagle multi-age PreK class. This will be addressed in a parent forum to be held on April 21. Preschool Ministry Team members were invited to attend this forum to hear feedback from this group of parents. The team will follow up with any needed discussion to further address parent concerns at their regular meeting on April 26.
We received our first quarterly payment of $77,108 from the 2022 Child Care Relief Funding. To continue receiving the remaining three quarterly payments for the year, we will be asked to report how the funds were spent. Melissa Dvorocsik and Jim Rice are working with Joanne to formulate a proposal for the Council detailing a plan to use these funds.
Action Requested of Council: review and approve a proposal for the use of 2022 Child Care Relief Funding
Respectfully submitted,
Joanne Osterland, CLP Executive Director
YOUTH AND FAMILY MINISTRY REPORT
March 30, 2022
Members Present in person: Nici Bremer, Angela Carden, Vicar Veronika Czutor, Pastor Ben Dueholm, Suzanne Dunkelburg
By video-conference: Sarah Dzygun, Cindy Irons, Bonnie Tollefson, Kjerstine Nielson-Pelto
The Vacation Bible School theme for the year is “Monumental.” Suzanne has already ordered the theme pack and online access. VBS will be held on several Sundays over the summer (6/19, 6/26, 7/10, & 7/17). VBS Sunday will be determined later. Suzanne will coordinate the volunteers and help lead the team in hosting VBS.
Mission Trip - The team discussed the upcoming summer youth trip. The Synod is planning a Thursday evening through Sunday morning event. Nici will check on updates. Connie Uhri has offered her lake house as a retreat as well. Angela will reach out to her for more information. ****Update from Nici and Angela: the Synod trip is not the same dates as the ELCA Youth gathering. Many CLC families have already set aside those dates. The team decided to plan a youth mission trip based out of the Uhri home in Wimberly, TX using the original dates: 7/21-7/24/22.
High School ministry – Angela asked if there were any members that the team could reach out to in order to identify several mentors to work with that age group. Pastor mentioned a few possibilities. He and Vicar will reach out to those people to see if they are interested.
Utilizing the Parlor as a Nursery – Cindy mentioned there is a small table and chairs in the attic. There is also a small kitchen in the closet in the Sunday School room. Angela will consult with the CLC design team and well as the IT team to work to make the Parlor a safe and welcoming space for families with young children who need a break from being in the sanctuary.
Palm Sunday – Cindy would like to gather the children in the narthex for a story prior to the Easter Egg Hunt and move the adult coffee social to the patio. Pastor and Vicar will teach the attendees how to make crosses out of palm fronds.
Respectfully submitted by Angela Carden
COMMUNICATION COORDINATOR REPORT
Deadlines:
- May 24, 2022
- June newsletter announcements and May council reports are due.
- Wednesdays by 5 PM.
- Bulletin/Weekly E-mail announcements are due.
Sergio Peña
ADMINISTRATION MINISTRY TEAM REPORT
Personnel
Added Nici Bremer to Personnel Committee – members are Nici Bremer, Ginger Hagens, Laura Haynie, and Gail Rolseth.
Property/Admin
- Obtained final bid for roofing repairs and scheduled for April 26-27
- Completed deep cleaning in some areas to address preschool bug problems
- Participated in CLC cleanup day and discussed making that a semi-annual regular event
- Completed tree trimming
- Made some changes in the parlor to serve also as a Sunday nursery; Cheryl Kowalczik (Design Team) and Angela Carden (Youth) are working together on planning
- Worked with Gail Rolseth to gather data needed for Workers Comp insurance renewal
- Ongoing – EFI Work Order system interface, preventative maintenance schedule, and procedures; kitchen appliance inventory; interior painting
Respectfully submitted –
Ginger Hagens
COMMUNICATIONS MINISTRY TEAM REPORT
COMMUNITY LIFE MINISTRY TEAM REPORT
CONGREGATIONAL LIFE MINISTRY TEAM REPORT
FINANCE MINISTRY TEAM REPORT
The Finance Team met on April 19, 2022, and discussed:
- March Financials (church)
- Proceeds from the forgiven PPP loan are reflected in the March financials.
- We noted that salaries are $2,500 over budget this month – this is a one-time catch-up for staff raises that were approved by the congregation in late February but were retroactive to January 1
- Income exceeds expenses by $13K in the first three months, even ignoring the proceeds from the forgiven PPP loan.
- March Financials (Preschool)
- Proceeds from the forgiven PPP loan are reflected in the March financials.
- We've made a profit of $15K in the first three months, even ignoring the proceeds from the forgiven PPP loan.
- Melissa Dvorocsik is working with Joanne Osterland and the Preschool team on additional Child Care Relief Fund requests. We received more than $72K from this fund in 2021, and this year's amount could be even more substantial.
- Intern Program Advocacy
- We have raised $70,075 and need only $1,925 to reach our goal and fund two additional interns.
- We're making a final appeal in the Friday email newsletter and the Sunday services.
SPIRITUAL LIFE MINISTRY TEAM REPORT