Minutes
Jesse Lake/Suomi Parish Council Meeting
Hosted by Suomi Evangelical Lutheran
September 9, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

Devotions:  Pastor John Hanson offered prayer for guidance and unity of our Parish Covenant.

Members Present:  Debbie Poenix, Sandi Partlow, Anne Lind, Dennis Korte, Karen Kemmer, Patty Rasley, Donna Bolstorff, and Pastor John Hanson

Reports:
Secretary’s Report from May, 2009. It was not read, but part of the May, 2008 minutes was read and the group noticed the great strides that had been accomplished! Patty Rasley and Donna Bolstorff will gather all the Parish Minutes and place in a 3-ring notebook for future reference.

Pastor:  Pastor John Hanson presented his Pre-Appraisal Form for study and reflection of the Parish Council members to help prepare us for the Pastor Review coming up in January of 2010. Pastor requested and was approved for his third week vacation week beginning October 4-11, 2009 and his fourth vacation week beginning December 26-January 2, 2010.

Newsletter/Website:  A discussion ensued about reducing the number of pages and creating a calendar with prominent headlines for what is currently happening within the congregations. Karen Kemmer agreed to be Suomi’s contact. Minga Elftmann will be asked to be Jesse Lake’s contact. Donna moved and Sandi seconded that Minga Elftmann be the new Site Editor for the Parish’s web site, Motion Carried Unanimously (hereafter, MCU). Minga’s email address is melftmann@yahoo.com. Thanks were given to Donna for developing such a great Parish web site.

Choir: The choir will be singing at the Living Waters Conference to be held at the Marcell Family Center on October 3, 2009. Sponsoring congregations are: Bigfork, Effie, Suomi, and Jesse Lake.  It was discussed that all the music at Suomi be presented to Judy Kreun so she knows what is available.

Old Business:

Confirmation: Pastor John Hanson presented his ideas for combining youth ministry and confirmation. He is having Confirmation on Sundays once a month for three hours for about 10 youth (3 from Suomi and 7 from Jesse). He would like the youth to understand that instruction, fun and service is an important journey for youth and adults. A discussion of which version and the amount of Bibles needed for study led to Pastor John’s suggestions: The Adventure Bible, Hands On Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New International, Contemporary Version Bible. Currently Suomi has multiple copies of the NIV and Jesse has multiple copies of the Good News Bible.  Also, if expenses do occur, it was decided that Suomi and Jesse will split the cost according to number of youth enrolled which is a 1/3 – 2/3rds split presently.

Sunday School:  At this point in time Suomi doesn’t have children under the age of 7th grade and Jesse Lake has 20 children. Sue Lind and Minga Elftmann and Pastor John are preparing an exciting program at Jesse Lake.

Adult Bible Study: Pastor John will begin Adult Bible Study at the Parsonage on September 16, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.

New Business:

Pastoral Review:  How will it work? Pastor John Hanson will present each Council with a Pre-Appraisal Form which has questions for dialogue. Council members will discuss its content and give their input to a Parish Personnel Committee (consisting of the two Presidents and Vice Presidents). The Parish Personnel Committee will meet with Pastor Hanson for reflection and dialogue with him and the input they have received. This Pastoral Review will be held near the time of his 1st year anniversary in January. 

Salary Review:  It was noted that the 2010 ELCA Guidelines for salary stated that a new seminary graduate’s salary would begin at between $30,000.00 and $32,000.00. We started Pastor John at $29,000.00. We agreed that it would be best to raise the salary to meet the 2010 ELCA Guidelines and offer $31,000.00 as Pastor John Hanson’s base for 2010. The Salary Review will be held sometime at the end of July or beginning of August 2010.

Jesse Lake/Suomi Budget Proposal for 2010: A worksheet was provided based on last year’s contributions by Suomi and Jesse Lake. Last year the percentage for Suomi was 35% which amounted to $1,7846.00 per month and this year the percentage is 33% of the total which amounts to $1,650.00 per month. Suomi will take this contribution proposal to their Annual Meeting to be held October 25, 2009 for congregational approval.

Lent: It was agreed that the Parish Worship Service held at the Marcell Family Center worked well in the past and should be continued in like manner. It was suggested someone needs to call for a reservation date immediately for next year. Expenses will be divided as per past practice.

Miscellaneous business:  Christmas Caroling and potluck will continue as a fun community service for both congregations at Jesse Lake.  On behalf of the Suomi Congregation, Deb invited the Jesse Lake Congregation to join us on January 6, 2010 for a special Epiphany Service at Suomi. Epiphany marks the beginning of the season of light and is often celebrated with a bonfire of discarded live Christmas trees. Anyone needing a place to dispose of your tree is invited to bring it to add to the bon fire. A potluck will follow.  All agreed that this celebration would be meaningful.

The next Parish Council Meeting will be held on January 7, 2010, at 7 p.m. at Jesse Lake Lutheran. A date will be set for pastor’s 1st annual review at that time.

Respectfully submitted,
Donna Bolstorff, Secretary, Jesse Lake Lutheran
Patty Rasley, Suomi Evangelical Lutheran