SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH COUNCIL
The Salem Lutheran Church Council met March 14, 2007. The board members present were Tami Alphs, Lynn Bartness, Scott Helgeson, Jerry Hoffman, Jennifer McGrady, Rick Orban, Wanda Playter, Stephanie Seemuth, Gaye Sletten and Pastor Weeg. Missing: Deb Kingland and Bob Peterson. Guest: Allan Swanson. Call to Order by Rick Orban. Devotions: Lenten Service.

Secretary's Report: Each council member individually read the secretary's report. The report was received and filed.
Treasurer's Report: Scott Helgeson reported the following balances as of February 28: MBT checking $33,302.37, MBT Principal $100,906.52, General Fund Balance $68,724.40 and Total Fund Balance $133,272.82. Scott also reported that in the last informant it said we spent $78,000. He pointed out that $50,000 of that was moved from the checking account to the principal account to earn better interest, so in truth we did not actually spend that much.
Financial Secretary's Report: Tami Alphs reported that the General Fund Income for February was $21,143.00, with the total income for February being $21,598.25. It was noted that this was less than a typical month partly because of the cancelled worship services due to weather.
The financial reports were received and filed.

BOARD REPORTS:
Board of Worship and Music: Stephanie Seemuth reported that they will be having a planning meeting next Monday, March 19th, with the people involved in Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. Their board is in the process of planning ahead on the special services, hoping to have a three month schedule. This entire board is researching all three services to see what improvements might be made. Starting the last week of March there will be Kantor/Chanters at the 8:30 a.m. worship services. Virginia Thomas has been working with a group to do this.
Board of Stewardship and Social Ministry: Lynn Bartness reported that their board had discussed where the Lenten service offering would be going. The one area that they want to focus on is the youth. They will investigate the needs and report back. Their board is also looking at ways they can expand the congregation's knowledge of the Enduring Gift Fund. They are also looking at ways of keeping stewardship in front of the congregation more than just once a year.
Board of Education: Bob Peterson was absent, so there was no report.
Board of Youth: Rick Orban first clarified that the Board of Youth does have a $5,000 budget to use. Rick also explained that if there are some good youth programs that are developed that may need more money than this, that he is sure we could somehow get the congregation to financially support the youth. Wanda reported that Katie has been busy working on the Easter sunrise service and breakfast. Katie and Pastor Weeg have been working on acolytes. Some programs currently going on with the youth are cosmic bowling on March 23rd, Tuesday pizza, and Wednesday night Bible study.
Board of Life and Growth: Jennifer McGrady reported that their Board did not meet this week, so nothing to report.
Board of Property and Management: Jerry Hoffman reported the boiler is 98% complete. He also noted that with the repairs to the boiler we are starting to see an improvement in the efficiency. Faucets have been repaired in some of the bathrooms. High speed internet is installed and seems to be working well. Last Saturday the stained glass windows were installed. There has been some painting done in the Sacristy. There were problems in the Sacristy caused by a leak in the radiator in the room above. That room is currently being used for a storeroom. So they just removed the radiator and cleaned up the mess. Next to be painted will be the bottom hallway by the kitchen. When the weather gets warmer they are looking to paint the brown trim around the outside of the church. There was a roof leak in the church entry that will be getting looked at. There was discussion about the bell tower and how we need to get that repaired. There was only one firm that returned an estimate for an engineering structural investigation, report, and design. Jennifer McGrady made a motion to proceed with the engineering firm to get the design done. Stephanie Seemuth seconded and all approved. Jerry also talked a bit about the janitorial contract being up for renewal. He handed out the current custodial job description. Doug Hanna has agreed to renew the contract at the current price with a couple of changes in the contract. He would like the snow removal and locking and unlocking of the church doors to be removed. We will need to discuss how we will cover these two aspects of that job. Jerry also reported that we are in need of a new printer/copier in the office. They have been investigating a few options, but if anybody has any ideas or suggestions please let them know.
Pastor's Report: Pastor Weeg also noted that he would like to meet with each board chair for a quick one-on-one meeting prior to the Council meeting each month. Pastor Weeg reported visitation by Pastor Norris continues to go well and is well received. Alan Swanson then talked a bit about hospital visitation. He did some research on how other churches handled hospital visitation and found that it varied extremely, there was no norm. One thing that is pretty obvious is that we need to educate the parish on how to inform the church of any members that are currently hospitalized. Allan agreed to work with the Board of Life and Growth to come up with a plan on visitation and work on a way to educate the parish on this.
Call Committee/Staff Management Report: Pastor Weeg reported that they have 3 names and possibly a 4th coming in. Rick Orban stated that the Call Committee wants Pastor Weeg to be the first contact with the candidates, to make sure that they are compatible. Pastor Weeg will be meeting with the Call Committee in the week or so to discuss these.
All board reports were received and filed.

OLD BUSINESS:
There was discussion around Salem's relationship with "The Bridge". This discussion was started because of some advertising stating that Lake Mills Opportunity and Youth for Christ were having a concert at Salem. After some clarification, it is only Lake Mills Opportunity doing the concert at Salem. The money they raise from this they are giving to Youth for Christ. As for Salem's relationship with "The Bridge", there is more research that will need to be done on this.

NEW BUSINESS:
Scott Helgeson reported on the Abraham and Elizabeth Haugo scholarships. He got in contact with Roger Haugo to discuss how to handle these scholarships. The only requirements Roger had was that it was a High School graduate and a Salem member. Scott was in contact with the School and they said that they have a scholarship committee in place that would find deserving kids for these scholarships. Scott asked Roger if these scholarships were recurring. Roger said he would like to see them go as long as possible. He would like to have someone contact him each year to determine the amounts. Scott will talk with the Enduring Gift Committee to see if they would make sure Roger is contacted each year to continue these scholarships.

There was discussion on the canceling of church services. Lynn Bartness made a motion that the Pastoral Staff and Church President will make the decision on canceling Church. Scott Helgeson seconded and all approved. If there are cancellations it will be on Channel 3, Channel 6, KIOW and KGLO.

There was discussion held that during a benefit at the church there was a live auction held. There were some people that did not feel this was appropriate. Discussion was held about what the intent of the auction was; in this case it was a benefit for 2 people in our community with cancer. We do not normally want to have auctions held at the church, but in the case it seems like the intent was a good one. It was discussed that with the new policy for the Senior Pastor approving outside entities using the facilities, that things like this would be controlled.

A request was made to put Adult education on the agenda for next month.

All members then drew a council prayer pal.

Motion to adjourn was made by Scott Helgeson and seconded by Tami Alphs. All approved.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, April 11th at 8:00 p.m.

Meeting was closed with the Lord's Prayer.
Gaye Sletten, Recording Secretary