SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH COUNCIL
The Salem Lutheran Church Council met February 13, 2008 at 6:00 p.m.

The board members present were Lynn Bartness, Kris Colby, Samantha Hagen (for Marlys Christianson), David Kingland, Jennifer McGrady, Alex Rice, Cindy Haugsdal, Rick Orban, Bill Tweeten, Pastor Weeg, and Pastor Jordon.
Call to Order was made by Rick Orban.
Devotions and prayer were given by Pastor Weeg.

Secretary’s Report: Each council member individually read the secretary’s report. The report was received and filed.
Communication and Correspondence: Kris Colby shared letters of thanks for contributions given by Salem in 2007. There were letters from the Iowa Lutheran Campus Ministries, the North Eastern Iowa Synod, Ingham Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp.
Treasurer’s Report: Bill Tweeten reported the following balances for January 31, 2008:  MBT checking $47,324.84, MBT Principal $85,394.87, General Fund Balance $205,643.90. Bill reported that a couple things were paid early in December instead of January, so our expenses were lower this month. The interest income was left out of last months report so it appears to be more this month because of that. The interest income was $1,247.69. He reported that Orloue has taken on the position of financial clerk. She was able to generate reports for the various boards in the financial program which will be a great option to have available. Bill also reported on some stock that Salem owns, and reported it may be good to sell it as some point and transfer it to some other type of investment. He also discussed possibly adding another person to the signature card on the MBT checking account if he is not available. This was tabled until next month.
Financial Secretary’s Report: David Kingland reported on the new Restricted Fund Balance which was a line item added at the request of the Auditors. It was added for restricted gifts which are to be used for specific requests. He also reported on Orloue’s new position as Financial Clerk. The auditor recommended this postion be put in place and she is doing this on a volunteer basis. She will be writing the checks and recording the weekly offering. The financial reports were received and filed.

BOARD REPORTS:
Board of Worship and Music: Cindy Haugsdal reported Krista Reeder has resigned her position which will be effective in May. We will need to be looking for a replacement to start in the fall. Nate Sletten has agreed to do the outdoor services for the 3 months in the summer. The Holden services will be used again for Lent. Katie Zenk will be looking into getting the bell choir going again. Sunday school kids will be singing at 8:30 service on Palm Sunday, and both services on Mother’s Day and also on March 2, 2008.
Board of Stewardship and Social Ministry: Lynn Bartness reported several members of the council met with Pat Devers on Monday evening, Feb. 11, 2009. She is a building consultant for the ELCA. She will be an on-going advisor for the council and congregation to advise us on our needs as a church as we grow our ministry.
Board of Education: Samantha Hagen reported in place of Marlys Christianson. They have decided to have the SONshine preschool meet/report to them 3 to 4 times a year. The first communion for 5th graders will be on Maunday Thursday with a potluck for their families prior to the service. There will be suppers at the church during the 5 weeks of Lent with a different menu each week. Thrivent will match funds up to $400. The money will be used for Bible camp, and Sunday School. They are also considering a fund raiser selling Bible covers.
Board of Youth: Alex Rice had no report since they have not met this month.
Board of Life and Growth: Jennifer reported on fine tuning the connection cards to make their use more clear and getting them handed in. They have been working with Pastor Jordon on several things such as getting the nursery going again. They have added a new coffee area to the lounge and what is now called the new “welcome center”. They also want brochures made from each board to have available. They also have a women’s retreat planned for March 29. The speaker will be Ann Plagge from Belmond.
Board of Property and Management: Rick Orban reported on the auto locks which will soon be installed. He also reported they will need $28,000.00 for new windows. Some publicity will be needed to address this issue. They will be doing an inventory of each area to address some storage issues. The boiler continues to be an issue with a cost of $3,000.00 per month to Salem.
Pastor’s Report: Pastor Weeg talked about Pat Dever’s visit to Salem to address some issues that relate to our facilities. She talked about doing some goal setting and visioning for our church. He also reminded the council of the retreat scheduled for the afternoon of February 24. Two people from the Synod office will be with us that day and will also be presenting during the coffee hour. We will also need to consider putting together a “visioning” group to determine how to proceed with the process of long range planning.
Pastor Jordon reported that the Young Families group that has been meeting has been going quite well. The average attendance has been around 80 to 85 people.

OLD BUSINESS:
Rick discussed the enduring gift fund and due to some people being on vacation, there has been no report yet. He also discussed the need to have an investment policy put together so everyone is on the same page as to how things are handled. The policy will be tabled until next month. There have been some questions regarding who is on the staff management committee and its made up of Elaine Helgeson, Allan Swanson, and David Kingland. The terms are for 3 years.

NEW BUSINESS:
The new business of the upcoming council retreat and the building inspection by Pat Dever of the ELCA was discussed earlier in the meeting.

Transferred away: Sheila Stelter and her daughter.

Motion to adjourn was made by Lynn Bartness and seconded by Alex Rice. All approved.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 6:00 p.m.
Meeting was closed with the Lord’s Prayer.
Kris Colby
Recording Secretary