Council Minutes, February 19, 2019

Meeting called to order and opened with prayer at 7:05 P.M. by outgoing President Nancy Dreesen.

Members present

Raidel Cubero, Bob Lechner, Pastor Alicia Saenz, Diane Wages, Skip Knudsen, Pastor Karin Boye, and Sherri Coughlin.

(Gabby Gutierrez is temporarily excused from Council meetings while serving on the Transition Team)

Guests:  Nancy Dreesen, Dave Barker

Action Items

  • Nancy D. conducted election of officers:

Motion was made (Sherri C.) and seconded (Diane W.) to nominate and elect Bob Lechner  as President, and unanimously approved.

Motion was made (Sherri C.) and seconded (Diane W.) to nominate and elect Raidel Cubero to continue as Vice President, and unanimously approved.

Motion was made (Skip K.) and seconded (Raidel C.) to nominate and elect Sherri Coughlin as Secretary, and unanimously approved.

  • Minutes of the January Council meeting were read and corrected.

Motion was made (Skip K.) and seconded (Raidel C.) to accept the Minutes of the January 15 Council Meeting, as amended, and  unanimously approved.

  • Treasurer, Diane Wages, distributed and presented the Financial Report for January.   Bob L. read a statement from Marcia Salvestrini, on behalf of the Legacy Committee, and gave it to Diane W.

Motion was made (Bob L.) and seconded (Raidel C.), to accept the January Financial report, and unanimously approved.

  • Discussion was held on appointing someone to fill Barb Atwood’s remaining term on Council, which ends on December 31, 2019.   No decision was made, but Council will consider on whether to fill the position or leave it open for now.
  • Discussion was also held on appointing a person to fill Gabby Gutierrez’s position on Council while she is serving on the Transition Team.    Pastor Alicia advised she would look for a member of the San Marcos service to fill in for Gabby.

Pastor’s Reports

  • Pastor Karin –  Asked for feedback from Council Members.  

    • Skip brought up discussions he has been part of with congregation members to replace the U.S. Flag in the courtyard.
    • Pastor Karin informed Council that Parochial reports to ELCA and the Synod are out, and this activity has not been done in several years.
    • Our Visitation Pastor, Pastor Kate, now has 6 Members who are being actively visited.
    • Pastor Karin has met with the Legacy Committee.   On March 17th, a workshop will be conducted by Lisa Higgenbottom, and the Committee.
    • She had Esmerelda contact Lloyd’s Pest Control and set up dates for tenting.  This is scheduled for February 26-28.
    • Margaret Gaullard (Organist) has quit.  She will be here on March 3rd. Dan (Organist) has also quit and taken a position with another church.
    • She discussed recognizing Nancy and Billy Cox for their service on Council.
    • Pastor Karin reported that she has started meeting with the Transition Team and that Eric has decided not to serve on the Committee.   Council will need to appoint a replacement member.
  • Pastor Alicia
    • Discussed Bible studies for the Hispanic Service.
    • She also advised Council that there may be more children in Sunday school than Melissa can handle.  Volunteers are needed.
    • Annual Easter egg hunt is scheduled for Saturday, April 20th.

Other Reports/Items

  • Dave Barker reported on a plumbing issue in the Men’s restroom located by Jacobsen Hall.   After having it looked at, it turned out to be a bigger problem than originally thought. It is going to be a large expense, and an assessment will need to be made.
  • It was brought up that signatories need to be changed on our checking account at Union Bank.

Motion was made (Pastor Karin) and seconded (Raidel C.),  to appoint Skip Knudsen, Sherri Coughlin, and Diane Wages as signatories for the Checking Account at Union Bank, and unanimously approved.

  • Pastor Alicia reviewed the info she had on ordering chairs and tables for J. Hall.  Discussed ordering them from Costco. It was decided that Esmerelda will email Council Members with recommendations on where to order, upon review.
  • Discussion was held on plans for the 65th Anniversary celebration being held on Sunday, March 3rd.   Dora (Hispanic Service) is in charge of Decorations. Volunteers are still needed to clean and set up the Hall on Saturday, the 2nd.   Bob L. has a list of volunteers for various tasks.
  • “Council Member” badges were distributed to Members.
  • Pastor Karin asked Council if they were interested in holding a retreat.   She suggested the retreat be held at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Mission Valley for a half day on a Saturday.   Discussion was held and a date will be decided, possibly in May.
  • Pastor  Karin also reported that the Korean Ministry is asking for additional space for a Women’s Bible Study Group.   Discussion followed.
  • Further discussion was held on adding a member to the Transition Team.

Motion was made (Pastor Karin) and seconded (Raidel) to appoint Francisco Lizarraga to the Transition Team, and unanimously approved.

  • Pastor Karin advised Council that there is a workshop being held at Chapman University on March 16th from 9-3 and asked if anyone from Council was interested in attending.   Discussion followed.
  • Discussion was held on forming an updated Personnel Committee.    To be decided at next Council Meeting.

Pastor Alicia closed the meeting with the Lord’s Prayer.

Meeting adjourned at 8:47 P.M.

Submitted by S. Coughlin, Secretary

Council Minutes, January 15, 2019

Council Meeting was called to order by President Nancy Dreesen at 7:05pm.

Members Present

Nancy Dreesen, Gabby Gutierrez, Sherri Coughlin, Raidel Cubero, Billy Cox, Barbara Atwood, Pastor Boye, and Skip Knudsen.

Opening Prayer

Prayer was led by Pr. Boye.

Action Items

Motion to adopt the minutes of the December 8   Council Meeting was made by Billy Cox, seconded by Barb Atwood, and unanimously approved.

Minutes of January 8 Special Council Meeting were read and corrected.  Motion to accept the January 8 minutes, as corrected, was made by Billy Cox, seconded by Barb Atwood, and unanimously accepted.

Barb Atwood presented the 2018 year-end financial document that will be included in the Annual Report.  We fell $8,000 short of projected income, but we under spent our budget by $45,000. Motion to accept the year-end financial report was made by Nancy Dreesen, seconded by Sherri Coughlin, and unanimously accepted.

Pastor Boye reported on the Council’s list of nominees for the Transition Team.  Each nominee was contacted and six have accepted. The Transition Team will be presented to the congregation at the Annual Meeting.

Billy Cox recommended that Edith Johnson be asked to lead/organize the 65th Anniversary of St. Mark’s Church.  Council agreed.

Nancy  Dreesen addressed the need for a new treasurer to replace Barb Atwood.  Discussion resulted in a recommendation to appoint Diane Wages the treasurer beginning Feb. 1, 2019-Feb. 1, 2020.  Motion to accept Diane Wages as the new treasurer by Nancy Dreesen, seconded by Skip Knudsen, and unanimously accepted.

Pastor Boye

The Church membership directory is in process of being validated.  Active membership is determined by attendance in the past year or by financial contribution for the same period.

Spanish language song books have been ordered.  The purchase of these books was made possible through Pastor Alicia’s grant.

Reports

Hearing equipment.  Billy Cox stated that new hearing equipment has been ordered and received.  Installation of equipment will take place in the very near future. Billy also reported that Debbie Lechner has an app for the smart phones that will allow church members to connect to sound system.  Purchase of this equipment was made possible through Pastor Alicia’s grant.

Tree trimming and grounds.  Billy Cox reported on an estimate received from Steve Dow related to tree trimming & lacing, removals and stump grinding for entire church property. Estimate was

$16, 775.00.  Council recommended that an additional two quotes be obtained.  Due to the projected high cost of the project, the Council discussed breaking the total job into segments and prioritizing them so the job may be done over a longer period of time.

Name tags.  Nancy presented a sample of name tags she felt should be worn by Council Members.  These tags would identify Council Members. Barb Atwood suggested that the whole congregation should have name tags.

Motion to adjourn was made by Barbara Atwood, seconded by Billy Cox and unanimously approved.

Meeting adjourned at 8:25pm.

SK

Council Minutes, November 27, 2018

Meeting called to order at 7:03 P.M. by President Nancy Dreesen.

Members present:  Nancy Dreesen, Raidel Cubero, Billy Cox, Barb Atwood, Pastor Alicia Saenz, Gabby Guitierrez, Pastor Karin Boye, and Sherri Coughlin.

Nancy Dreesen opened the meeting with prayer.

Action Items

Motion was made (Billy C.) to accept the Minutes of the October 16, 2018 Council Meeting, seconded (Barb A.) , and  unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer, Barb Atwood, distributed and presented the Financial Report for October:  

She advised that we are under budget in all categories per the Summary Report.

Discussion held on Pew Envelopes.   Barb distributed a copy of a sample from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church for Council review/information.

Nancy reported that she and Kerry Wood processed the Pledge Cards. There were 33 pledge’s totaling $153,630.00.

Pastor Karen’s Report

Pastor Karen reviewed her written report to Council.

Discussion held on Church Calendar scheduling.   Scheduling needs to be limited to Office staff (Esmeralda) to avoid scheduling conflicts.

Pastor Karin brought up that St. Mark’s will be celebrating our 65th Anniversary in March of 2019.   She suggested combining the two worship services on the Sunday before Ash Wed. and inviting all of the congregations at St Mark’s to celebrate this occasion.   It was also suggested that a planning committee be formed for this event.

She noted a concern regarding our music program.   Discussion followed on the possibility of having a Music Director, again, and working on building our Music Program.

Discussion on Transition meetings to be held on January 8, 15, and 29th (Installation of Transition & Call Team members.)

Pastor Alicia’s Report

Pastor Alicia discussed plans for the Posada to be held on Sunday, Dec. 16th, followed by a Pot Luck luncheon.   The Spanish service congregation will provide Tamales, Beans, Rice, etc. Discussion held on how to provide Drinks, paper good etc .   Barbara mentioned that there is $112.00 available in Evangelism & Fellowship that may possibly be used.

Other Reports

Nancy distributed estimates for Landscape maintenance submitted by Chris Lewis.   She mentioned that Kyra Petrin had discussed the possibility of not securing a contract for regular maintenance at this time.   Discussion followed.

Nancy then distributed on line information she had printed out on costs for purchasing new tables & chairs for Jacobsen Hall from Office Depot, Costco, and Walmart.   Discussion followed.

Nancy reported on the Nov. 2nd meeting with the Areumdaun Korean Church that she and Chris Lewis attended.    She and Chris had reviewed a list of our concerns at the meeting. They are asking to use our sanctuary on Thursday evenings from 7:30 t0 8:30 without paying additional rent.    Discussion followed.

Chula Vista Art Guild, beginning January, 2019, will meet the 4th Saturday of each month from 9:00 a.m. to Noon in the Youth Center building.  They will give a monthly donation of $50.00.

The Narcotics Anonymous group is asking for an additional meeting night on Thursday’s.

Motion to allow the additional meeting night beginning in 2019 was made by Pastor Karin, and seconded by Barbara.    Unanimously approved.   

Meeting adjourned at 9:05 P.M. with the Lord’s Prayer.

Submitted by S. Coughlin

Council Minutes October 16, 2018

Meeting called to order at 7:10 P.M. by President Nancy Dreesen.

Members present:  Nancy Dreesen,  Raidel Cubero, Billy Cox, Barb Atwood, Pastor Alicia Saenz, and Sherri Coughlin.

Pastor Alicia opened the meeting with prayer. (more…)