SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH COUNCIL
The Salem Lutheran Church Council met September 13, 2006. The board members present were Don Aamodt, Tami Alphs, Scott Helgeson, Susan Smith for Jerry Hoffman, Deb Kingland, Jennifer McGrady, Rick Orban, Bob Peterson, Wanda Playter, Gaye Sletten, Carolyn Swanson and Pastor Weeg. Guest, David Kingland. Call to Order by Deb Kingland. Opening Devotions and Prayers were given by Pastor Weeg.

Secretary's Report: Each council member individually read the Secretary's Report. Motion to accept the minutes was made by Wanda Playter and seconded by Carolyn Swanson. All Approved. Correspondence: A thank you was read from Rev. Henry P. Huber of St. Patrick's. He expressed thanks for the generosity Salem showed toward the parish by opening the doors for the Gary Bechtel funeral. Another letter was read from a Salem member concerned about the use of three different bulletins, one for each of the services. Discussion was held and a decision was made to continue with the three bulletins at this time.
Treasurer's Report: Scott Helgeson reported that the General Fund Balance as of August 31, 2006 was $39,677.44. Scott reported we have started paying on the cemetery fund loan, which is now down to $35,588. Jennifer McGrady made a motion to allow the Treasurer of the Church to move some of the checking account balance to an interest bearing account. The motion was seconded by Bob Peterson and all approved.
Financial Secretary's Report: Tami Alphs reported that the General Fund Income for August was $24,734.61, with the total income for August being $28,486.38. Motion to accept the treasurer's report and the financial secretary's report was made by Carolyn Swanson and seconded by Susan Smith. All approved.

BOARD REPORTS:
Board of Worship & Music: David Kingland distributed a chart that he compiled on attendance for the past 20 years at Salem, broken out by each service. Carolyn Swanson reported they will be calling for communion servers for the Installation Sunday on September 24th.
Board of Stewardship and Social Ministry: Don Aamodt reported they received 40 time and talent sheets. They were hoping for more like 140, but are thinking they might still receive more in the next week. Don will compile the results and hand them out at the next board meeting. Don also reported that Stewardship Sunday is planed for the 3rd Sunday in November; during which David Kingland will be making a presentation of the initial budget for 2007.
Board of Education: Bob Peterson reported Rally Sunday went well. The Board of Education is also planning a Soup Dinner on Sunday, November 5th to raise money for Bible camp.
Board of Youth: Wanda Playter reported Katie Zenk, the new Youth Leader, has started and all is going well. There is a Hayride planned for Wednesday, September 27th with October 4th as the rain date. Wanda also reported that Katie will start up the "Friday" pizza lunch, but it will now change to Tuesday since that works with Katie's school schedule. So there will be Tuesday Pizza lunch from 11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. with a charge of $1.00 per slice of pizza.
Board of Life and Growth: Jennifer McGrady reported that Installation Sunday will be September 24th with the one service at 10:00 a.m. Lunch will follow around 11:30 a.m. Jennifer also brought up that they are looking at ideas for the Nursery. We lack the volunteers to work in the nursery and haven't had many people use it recently. The Board of Life and Growth is also working with Pastor Weeg on the new member program. They are also looking at getting out more information this year on Operation Shoebox, to try to get more interest in this. There will be a DVD shown at the service on October 15th.
Board of Property and Management: Susan Smith reported they are currently working on the budget. Other projects going on are: repair of coffee maker, light fixtures in narthex, fans and next phase of windows project. Susan also reported that they are concerned about the bell tower and their board is recommending we hire an expert to help us with a plan for what needs to be done. Jennifer McGrady made a motion to hire an expert to look at the bell tower and give us a plan. The motion was seconded by Tami Alphs and all approved.
Call CommitteeReport/Staff Management Report: David Kingland reported they have talked to Darrel Gerrietts, the Bishop's Representative, and he will be preaching at Installation Sunday. Also, Darrel Gerrietts will be at Salem on Sunday October 8th at 2:00 p.m. to meet with the Church Council to explain the call process for Associate Pastor. After this meeting he will meet with the Call Committee and Pastor Weeg to start the process.
Pastor's Report: Deb Kingland reported that Pastor Norris visited 69 shut-ins, 28 at the Care Center and 20 at Mills Harbor.
Motion was made by Tami Alphs and seconded by Carolyn Swanson to accept these reports. All approved.

OLD BUSINESS:
Deb Kingland reminded all boards to keep working on their procedural manuals. These should describe each board's responsibilities month by month and will be passed on to the next board every year.
Deb Kingland reported we are still looking for someone to help in a volunteer building administration position. This person would work closely with the Board of Property and Management. The building administrator(s) would make certain that all the property was being properly maintained by following maintenance schedules and contacting the appropriate people to work in various areas of the building weekly/monthly and follow-up that all maintenance is being done. Any ideas on someone who would like to volunteer for this position, please contact Deb or anyone on the Council.

SON Shine Preschool Report: Rick Orban reported that they are looking at doing some fundraising, which should go through the Board of Stewardship. Rick Orban and David Kingland have been working with Daron Fritz on looking over the Employee Contracts. Daron has said that they look fine, so Abby Holtan will get those signed by the Preschool employees. David, Rick and Daron also reviewed the 1996 purchase of the SON Shine Preschool. With the purchase, the preschool has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Salem Lutheran.

NEW BUSINESS:
Deb Kingland and Carolyn Swanson relayed discussion in regards to the confirmation program. With increased stress levels, resulting from high school demands, there were some thoughts expressed that the third year of the current program be made optional as it is with the other churches that are currently involved in our cooperative confirmation program. Carolyn Swanson made a motion to change the Confirmation Program to a 2 year program and to include mentoring in the 2nd year if possible. Pastors Weeg, Baldwin and Peters will discuss the plans. The motion was seconded by Tami Alphs and all approved.

Deb Kingland reported that we would like to plan a time to educate members about the enduring gift fund soon.

Motion to adjourn was made by Tami Alphs and seconded by Wanda Playter. All approved.

Next meeting will be Wednesday, October 11th at 8:00 p.m.

We closed with the Lord's Prayer.

Gaye Sletten
Recording Secretary