Table of Contents
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Table of Contents
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1
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Mission
> Vision > Strategy
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3
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21 January 2007 Congregational Meeting
Schedule
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4
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Minutes of June 2006 Congregational
Meeting
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5
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Our Ministry Plan for 2007-2008
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12
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Our Organization
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18
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64 Persons Received into Membership at
Resurrection in 2006
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19
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Members Removed from RLC Membership in
2006
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20
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2006 Annual Report from the Pastors
Kniseley
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21
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Resurrection Lutheran Ministry Team Annual
Reports for 2006
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23
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Worship and Music Team
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23
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Evangelism Team
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25
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Social Ministry Team
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27
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Property Team
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29
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Mission Resources and Stewardship Team
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30
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Youth Team
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31
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Family Life Team
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33
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Personnel Team
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36
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Hospitality Team
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37
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Shepherd Ministry Team
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38
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Building Team
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40
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Finance Team
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46
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World Mission
Support Team
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48
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Health Ministry Team
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49
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Resurrection Lutheran Church
Virginia Synod
Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America
6170 Plank Road
Fredericksburg, Virginia 22407
www.ResurrectionPeople.org
(540) 786-7778
Our Mission:
"Marked
with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered, and sent -- for the
sake of the world."
Our Vision:
"Resurrection
Lutheran Church is a Christ-centered family of believers, so deeply and
confidently rooted in the Gospel of God's grace, that we are free to give our
lives joyfully in witness and service to those whom God has brought into our
lives: within our congregation, our community, and our world."
Our Strategy:
Grow in God’s Grace by significantly
expanding our capacity for witness and service to our congregation, our
community, and our world. We expand our
capacity by:
¨
Teaching and
Serving Individuals -- Encouraging spiritual growth of each individual child of
God, strengthening each one in love for God and love for their neighbors;
Encouraging our members to give joyfully in sharing their abundance; Supporting
our members in answering their calls to ministry…
¨
Teaching and
Serving our Flock -- Growing our gathered congregation at Resurrection in Spotsylvania County.
Expanding our facilities to enable us to gather and teach our growing
congregation the Good News of God’s Grace; Supporting a Parish Nurse program to
bring physical and spiritual healing to our flock; Increasing our membership
through active outreach into the growing Spotsylvania community; Beginning a
Mission Freedom Capital Appeal in 2007 to more rapidly focus our resources
externally…
¨
Teaching and
Serving our Community -- Partnering with community service organizations to
help heal those in need, thereby proclaiming the Gospel of Christ through word
and deed…
¨
Teaching and
Serving our World – Increasing awareness of worldwide need; Encouraging our
support of worldwide teaching and healing missions; Sponsoring an overseas
mission in the name of Christ Jesus.
January 21st 2007
Congregational Meeting Schedule
5:00 – 6:00 PM – Congregational Dinner (Fellowship Hall and
Narthex)
6:00 – 6:30 PM – Transition to Sanctuary for Annual Meeting
6:30 – 8:00 PM – Annual Meeting – 90 Minutes:
¨
Establishment of quorum (3 minutes)
¨
Opening hymn and prayer (5 minutes)
¨
Approval of June meeting minutes (3 minutes)
¨
Presentation of the Congregational Report
for 2007-2008 (10 minutes)
¨
Approval of the Congregational Report (5
minutes)
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Ratification of the RLC Constitution
approved at June 2006 Meeting (5 minutes)
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Nomination and election of Synod Assembly
delegates (3 minutes)
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Nomination and election of Nominating Team
members (3 minutes)
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Nomination and election of a replacement
Trustee (3 minutes)
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Building Team update (5 minutes)
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Finance Team update (10 minutes)
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Stewardship and Capital Appeal Team
presentation (10 minutes)
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Affirmation of Staff Salary Increase (10
minutes)
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Closing Prayer (2 minutes)
¨
Benediction
Minutes of our
June 2006 Congregational Meeting
June 25, 2006
Congregational Meeting
Meeting called to order by President of the Council Eric
Carlson at 6:30 pm.
A quorum was established by the Secretary to the Council,
Denise Guest with 103 members in attendance.
A brief liturgy was lead by Pastor Jim.
The January minutes were approved by all.
Bob Martin gave a report on the VA Synod assembly. Resurrection was represented by Tom & Nancy
Evans, Bob Martin, Diane Shane, Pastors Jim and Carol. Pastor Ken Hauge also attended. 4 points by ELCA global missions director: 1) clarity
2) clarity of sight and hearing 3) clarity of task 4) clarity of
communication. Our synod has adopted the
Papua New Guinea
district as a sister synod. The VA synod
also has a sister synod here in the US -- South Western Minnesota. Bishop Anderson of South Western Minnesota
synod. They are faced with many
challenges, shrinking farmland, population, growing age of the population, and
lack of pastors. VA synod financial
status is good. 50% sent to local,
regional, international missions. Income
was increased; however synod continues to operate on a low growth budget. We are continuing to help Peace Lutheran
congregation in Slidell LA. Bishop Mauney has asked 110 people or
congregations to pledge $50 a year to support Peace Lutheran
Church. Pastor Carol was chaplain of the day on
Saturday, and preached on Saturday, Pastor Jim was re-elected to the synod
council for another 3 year term.
Assembly re-elected 5 members to council and 9 delegates to the church
wide gathering. 2 resolutions – mercury
free vaccines for pregnant women and children; congregations to pray and make
effort to aid Christians in Israel
and Palestine.
Pastor Carol provided an overview of the shepherding
program. 17 flocks in our congregations
headed up by 27 individuals who serve as shepherds. Shepherds described as a “first response” team. When something happens to a family in a
flock, the shepherd should be the first ones notified, and then the shepherds
contact other flock members to provide needed assistance. 25 shepherds were installed, 2 are retiring
and were recognized for their service, Maury Wrightson and Dorothy Vernon. Shepherds will meet at the pastors’ house in
august to go over the lists and flocks.
Congregation affirmed congregation leaders: off-going
council members, Ike Johnson, Joe Corrao, Laura Berry, and Denise Guest; as
well as leaving ministry team leads, Janie smith and Tom Murphy. Additionally two members of the mutual
ministry team: Sue Mitchell, and Colleen Butler.
Council elections.
Denise Guest described the process by which council members are
nominated. Nominating committee gets
together and forms a list of names. That
list is then presented to the council and pastors for discussion and approval.
A prioritized list is then provided to the pastors who call the individuals to
see if they would be willing to serve as council members. Individuals who accepted nominations to serve
on council for the next term were Barbara Tomayko, Bob Martin, Dick Rothermel,
and Terri Kuckuck (for a one year term).
Every year three go on and three go off.
Mickey Miller questioned whether Barbara could serve as both Treasurer
and Council Member. Densie mentioned
that there is a precedent for this, it is allowed, and Barbara had to. Karen Dickerson asked if we would be
accepting nominations from the floor.
Eric Carlson noted that in the Lutheran church there is a process with
guidance and prayer to accept a call.
Noted his concern that things should be thought about and discerned and
not be spur of the moment. Diane Shane
asked whether the constitution would be changed because it says the
congregation is charged with nominating and electing the members. Eric noted the constitution requires a
mechanism by how the nominations be made.
Should the process be through a nominating committee or just off the
floor? A show of hands was taken to see
who would be interested in having people off the floor or nominating
committee. Lee Brock said that there
should probably be both. If this was
going to be changed and nominations are not going to be taken tonight the
congregation needs to know before things are changed. Bob Martin moved to accept we have
nominations from the floor. Coston
Cheatham seconded. Coston stated that as
far as council was concerned, it should be something that represents the
congregation and he had a fear that if a small group was involved in coming up
with. Diane Shane noted that the
nominating committee went through approximately 27 names for the positions;
there was a broad base of people. Show
of hands in favor of opening the floor for nominations and elections. Motion carried by approximately 54 hands,
there were some nays. Karen Dickerson
nominated Dave Shafferman. Dave stated
he had talked with Pastor Jim and Carol previously and that he might serve better
in Mutual Ministry area. Dave nominated
Brian Dickerson. Coston seconded the
nomination. Tom Murphy made a motion
that the nominations be closed. Barbara
said she would withdraw her name.
Several members showed displeasure with this, so Barbara withdrew her
resignation. The congregation will
vote by paper ballot. Members are to
write down the names of the four you would like to serve on council. The results of the election were as
follows: Dick Rothermel, Barbara
Tomayko, and Bob Martin were elected to a three year term; Terri Kuckuck was
elected to a one-year term.
Tom Evans updated the congregation on the planning process
for the preschool and to present a resolution to re-establish a preschool. Tom noted the folks who have served on the
pre-school and chartering committee.
During Phase I an interest survey was conducted which showed there was a
core of interest in the congregation to re-establish the school and that it was
feasible contingent on expansion of the building. Last June further planning and the ministry
benefits of the school were approved.
Tom showed the mission statement.
Tom reported on Phase II of the preschool planning in which they
verified that facility codes and requirements could be met, that they could be
met within the plans and budgets of the building expansion, and drafted a
resolution for the congregation. Tom
gave some interesting numbers regarding pre-schools and their purpose and
impact on a congregation. The resolution
presented was as follows “Deeply conscious that the Mission and Vision of
Resurrection Lutheran Church leads us to expanding our witness and reaching out
to serve people in our Congregation and beyond, and , believing that a
Christian school, as part of an Early Childhood Education Ministry, can provide
such a witness and service, it is resolved that the Congregation of
Resurrection Lutheran Church approves the re-establishment of a Preschool
ministry program with the school opening in the fall of 2008.” Joe Corrao asked
what would be the cost to open/run/associated with the school. Tom noted that the front-end costs would be
the greatest and there was approximately 4500 dollars from the previous school
that would cover purchase of initial materials.
After that the enrollment fees for the school would cover the salary of
the teacher, and materials. It would be
self-sufficient. Dave Shafferman asked
who would be responsible for staffing the school. Tom noted that the constitution calls for the
pastors to do so. Tom noted also noted
that the intention was to elect a school board to oversee and hire, and
congregational council. Andrea Brock
asked where the preschool would be located.
Tom noted that it would be in the basement and would not impact any
other programs. The space would be dedicated
to the school. Brian Schultz asked to
clarify that the pre-school would be self sufficient, Tom said their
anticipation is based on other schools, like Christ Lutheran, would prove that
it could be self-sufficient. Katrina Erb
asked whether the school would be a self-standing entity or would be
incorporated with the church. As to the
space, is it additional space that will be required above what we have already
planned, and has all the planning and requirements been planned for. Tom noted that all the requirements are
known and the licensing requirements will be met as part of the new
building. The space is already included
in the plans for the building. It will
have a separate budget but it will not be a separate entity. It will be part of the integrated ministry of
RLC. Katrina questioned what would
happen if the pre-school did not succeed, would money have to come from the
church to sustain it, would the church be responsible for keeping it afloat
financially? Tom stated that if the
school is losing money, and tuition does not cover the expense, decision might
be made to not continue the school. The
intent is not to have a burden on the congregation. Katrina also asked about insurance purposes,
what effect will insuring the pre-school have on the congregation, what
liability are we accepting. Rod Lyman
noted that in the previous pre-school the pre-school paid their portion of the
insurance policy. Cheryl Boyd gave an
account of her time at Christ Lutheran as a member of the pre-school
there. She noted that the tuition and
registration fees covered the costs, it was self-sufficient, it is a highly
sought-after pre-school to this day, and that the pre-school was able to make
contributions to the congregation on a regular basis. Bob Graver seconded the motion on the
screen. All voted to approve the
motion. There were no Nays. Andrea Brock asked if this was contingent on
approval of the new building. Tom
re-iterated that forming the pre-school would be contingent upon approval of
the new building.
Bob Martin led a discussion on the changes to the
constitution. A handout with changes was
provided to all in attendance. Linda
Smith serves as the chair of the constitution review team. Bob martin and Warren Lee serve as members. Bob noted that the other task that has been
provided to the committee is to re-write the constitution by-laws. He stated that many things are covered by the
by-laws of the congregation not the constitution, but our by-laws need to be
updated. The updated by-laws will be
presented at the January meeting. Many
sections of the constitution are required by the ELCA. At the church wide assembly meeting every two
years, the assembly dictates several sections.
Most of what is in the draft presented to council is to meet the
requirements of the ELCA, things that are required. Anywhere in the constitution where there is
an asterisk indicates that it is required by the ELCA. First change is C11.02 there was a conflict
between two sections regarding the pastors’ right to vote on the congregational
council. The recommendation is to remove
the wording regarding pastors “exofficio” status on the council. C11.04 is the next change, regarding voting
members of council who must recuse themselves if they have a vested interest in
the vote. Third section is C12.02 which
cleans up the election process, we have been operating under the assumption
that council members are elected to 3 year terms, but the constitution had 2
years. Pastor Wally questioned part of
constitution about requiring a paper ballot.
He stated that many congregations in his past have used unanimous voting
without paper ballot. Bob said this
applied to the council. Also sets a
beginning and end to council terms. 4th change C12.03 clarifies what
happens when the council appoints someone to take the place of a council member
leaves. Clarifies how many terms someone
would be allowed to serve if they were nominated as a replacement to a council
person who did not finish their term. 5th
change C12.11 permits the pastors to call a special meeting of the council in
addition to the president. C13.02 Clarifies the time of service of the
nominating committee. Coston asked what
the process was for nominating the nominating committee members. Bob stated that the council puts forth the
names and the congregation votes on the names.
Several members voiced concern that this process prevents diversity on
the nominating committee and therefore council because there is a small group
of people choosing who serves. C13.06
Covers the establishment of the by-laws committee. C13.11 Pastors and president appointed as
ex-officio members of all committees, but the president can not be a member of
the nominating committee due to a potential conflict of interest. Next change regarding the protection of
council members and committee members.
Pastor Wally said that it would have to be re-written because in the Commonwealth of Virginia congregations were not
incorporated. That word may need to be
removed, and done by the way the synod does it.
Eric made a motion for C1.11 and 19.01 be withdrawn and re-worked due to
the incorporation issue. Brian Schultz
made a motion that the changes to the RLC constitution with exception of C1.11
and 19.01 be accepted. Wally
seconded. Eric noted that we are
accepting them this meeting, we need to think about them and then ratify them
at the next meeting. Pastor Hauge
clarified on 12.02 it does not clarify where this is to take place. There is no note of when the written ballot
is supposed to occur, and he wonders if the articles of the constitution
defines that. Eric Carlson stated that
he believes it does say that but he will research that. Joe Corrao wanted further discussion about
12.02 said that a simple fix might be to amend it to say “at the annual meeting
of the Congregation”. Dave Shafferman
asked that the changes be posted on the web so that they could be
reviewed. The congregation voted, there
was one nay, to accept the changes.
Eric Carlson went over the Stewardship team briefing. He showed the resolution from council
regarding stewardship and the Lenten stewardship program. Eric noted that pledges were received on
April 2nd. 107 of 191
contributors pledged to M&M, an increase of 6 pledges. $28,000 more was pledged this year than last
year. 103 people pledged to the Capital
Appeal, with 22 new or increased pledges.
818,445 pledged to the capital appeal.
Eric Carlson continued with an update to the capital
appeal. He updated the congregation on
how much of the pledged amount has been given to date and how much has been
expended. He also showed the trend for
average monthly given for the last 9 months.
Eric showed that we are wrapping up the Capital Appeal 1 Campaign and
are beginning to enter into the Capital Appeal 2 Campaign. Eric noted that Bill Bushman and Tom Hansen
along with a third member who is yet to be chosen will be leading up the
Capital Appeal 2 team.
Barbara Tomayko provided an update on the current RLC
finances. Barbara showed the bank account balances as of 6/21/06. Barbara noted that we have lots of good news
due to cuts that were made previously and generosity of the congregation’s
members who increased their giving.
Barbara provided an update on the dedicated accounts. Over the past year we have been able to pay
off the dedicated accounts and the congregation was very pleased to hear that
we no longer owe any money to the dedicated accounts. Barbara also reported an excess of funds as
of the end of May of $5,454. Barbara
showed the 2006-2007 proposed budgets for approval by the congregation. The budget presented is a balanced budget,
anticipated income matches budgeted expenses.
Katrina Erb questioned why the youth budget went down; Barbara noted
that was the budget given to her by Greg.
Katrina asked if that included personnel raises, Barbara noted that it
did not. Katrina asked why benevolences
went up and staff salaries did not. The
answer was that the benevolence increased because the income increased. Mickey Miller asked what the required benevolence
was; Pastor Jim noted that the goal for 2020 was for all congregations to give
20% of the revenue back to the ELCA. Tom
Murphy asked whether it was possible to make a motion to make changes to the
budget. Tom Murphy made a motion that we
write into the budget a pay raise percentage.
Katrina seconded the motion. Tom
Murphy suggested that a 10% increase over current staff salaries might be
appropriate. Ken Tomayko suggested that
a better course of action might be to wait 6 months and perhaps if there is an
excess that we give staff bonuses. Dave
Shafferman noted that perhaps we should reduce the benevolence to take care of
our staff. Katrina noted that there are
a large number of people coming to youth programs and we should support the
growing future of the congregation by funding our personnel. Rachael proposed that Tom’s motion be amended
that the personnel committee present a
presentation to the congregation at the next meeting with the ELCA and VA synod
guidelines for staff salaries, a presentation of where our staff salaries stand
in relation to those guidelines, and also a proposal of planned increases to
meet a certain threshold . Katrina Erb seconded the motion.
Bev Floyd made a motion to accept the 2006-2007 budget,
Frank Jacobeen seconded the motion. All
voted to approve the 2006-2007 budget, there were no nays. Lee Brock noted that in the past everyone
had the numbers in front of them with the budget, and that she would like to
see that in the future, so she knows what she is voting for. Eric noted that it was a good point and would
be taken care of in the future. Bev
Floyd motioned that. Barbara was
commended for her good work as Treasurer, and the committee heads and staff
were commended for cutting the budget to meet expenses.
Eric Carlson gave the building presentation. We have not
received site approval from the county yet.
There is a 6 week slip in schedule from ground breaking in August to
ground breaking in October. Details are
on pg 8 of the project management plan.
The 25 June version of the plan has 3 things added, material specifications
on pg 19, a detailed decisions table that will be reported on monthly, and
scope as approved in January on page 5.
Eric reported that “paving” means different things to different people. What the county will require in terms of the
parking lot, whether we might have an asphalt versus graded bed and crushed
rock, sealed with tar, is unknown at this time, but that might be an area where
we could achieve cost savings. Gene
LaRue mentioned that the initial capital appeal the parking lot was very
important, getting an expanded hard surface, so we might need to make
trade-offs in other areas to get the parking lot that we need, because it was a
priority of the congregation a year and a half ago.
Donnie Hall came forward to talk about quality. He stated that he has approximately 50 years
of experience, and that as always, his goal is to make the best building that
he can. His goal is to make the best
building for the church for the least amount of money. To do this, he requires a firm building cost
estimate to do this. Building costs are
going up exponentially, for instance copper.
Donnie noted that it is his and Cindy’s plan to be as forthcoming about
cost as possible. Laura Berry asked why
we were making a “warming” kitchen and would this support our activities. Diane Shane noted that the decision was made
because having a preparation kitchen would require inspections and that we
would not be able to keep the kitchen clean enough to not risk being shutdown. Lee Brock noted that we were going to have 2
ranges, a dishwasher and 2 refrigerators which should meet our needs.
Estimated construction cost as of June 20 is 2,180,547. The recommendation is to keep construction
costs under 2,000,000 to stay within ELCA guidelines for debt-reduction
percentages. Page 13 shows a Finance
Plan. Eric presented an alternative
which would entail us taking a larger loan, funding a 2.2 million loan, taking
a 2 million loan, and only paying 200,000, keeping 300,000 in cash on hand to
make mortgage payments. All this assumes
that we will continue with our capital giving and or increase it. If we continue paying 11,000 a month and keep
the 300000 in reserve, we would not pay the difference between the monthly
capital income and the mortgage until 2013.
There were several questions for clarification of financial numbers that
were provided in the project management plan.
The building resolution proposed:
“We the people of Resurrection Lutheran
Church, in order to
expand our capacity to teach and serve our growing community, do approve the
building project management plan.
We authorize the trustees and council to secure a
construction-to-permanent loan not to exceed the amount of $2,000,000 and begin
construction as scheduled once the county building permit is obtained. We commit to long-term ongoing financial
contributions sufficient to pay off this loan.”
Colleen Rollins inquired whether or not we were going to be
able to vote tonight, due to the fact that many people had left the meeting
already. Denise Guest confirmed that
there were still 70 people, enough for a quorum, so we could vote.
Frank Jacobeen made a motion to accept the proposed building
resolution, with the not to exceed amount of 2 million dollars. Bob Graver seconded the motion. Joe Corrao noted some concern that we spent
90 minutes agonizing over 15-20 thousand dollars in are budget but are willing
to take out a 2 million dollar loan. Joe
shared concern that we would have a building with no money for programs.
Pastor Wally asked with the 2 million figure loan, what
percent of our operating cost the mortgage would be. Eric noted that it would start at 48% of the
budget, but if we paid off the existing mortgage, it would go to 27% of the
budget. If we projected to 2012 with 5 %
growth each year, it would continue to decrease. Paul noted that with his calculates at an
average unit giving we would need only 50 more units to meet these goals, which
is reasonable growth. Pastor Carol
reminded everyone that we are not alone in this, God has his hand on this, that
we all need to have faith and that the reason our current building is here is
because people had faith that it could be done.
The congregation voted on the proposed building
resolution. There were 6 opposing
votes. The motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m.
Note that in November 2006, in order to meet Spotsylvania
Circuit Court requirements, the congregation affirmed for the court that
approval of the Project Management Plan and the resolution adopted included the
following understanding:
“We the people of Resurrection Lutheran
Church, in order to
expand our capacity to teach and serve our growing community, do approve the
building project management plan.
We authorize the trustees and council to secure a
construction-to-permanent loan not to exceed the amount of $2,000,000 and begin
construction as scheduled once the county building permit is obtained. We commit to long-term ongoing financial
contributions sufficient to pay off this loan.”
UNDERSTANDING affirmed for the Circuit Court of Spotsylvania:
The Trustees are
authorized and directed to obtain a loan from a lending institution not to
exceed the sum of $2,000,000.00 for a construction period of 12 months
(interest only), followed by a 25 year term loan with the interest rate not to
exceed 10%, paying the usual bank fees, etc. charged at that time. The billings of principal and interest will
be made monthly.
We authorize the
Trustees to enter into an Agreement for Maintenance of Stormwater Drainage
System and Best Management Practice Facility with the County of Spotsylvania,
Virginia.
The Trustees are
authorized and directed to convey to the County
of Spotsylvania, Virginia, any and all easements required or
necessary, including but not limited to Stormwater Management.
Our
Ministry Plan for 2007-2008
The Council affirms
the Mission,
Vision, and Strategy of our congregation as adopted in last year’s report. For 2006-2007, we established the following
areas of emphasis for congregational growth:
- Presentation
of Information – in order to
increase awareness of opportunity
throughout the congregation, and encourage meaningful participation
in congregational life;
- Development
and documentation of processes – in order to increase the maturity and stability
of our ministries, establish boundaries for each team, and provide an
authoritative knowledge base to guide our recurring actions;
- Development
of responsibility and accountability – in order to empower our ministry team leaders through Christ,
and encourage us all as disciples of Christ to live disciplined lives,
exercise prayerful disciplined thought, and take disciplined, coordinated
action;
- Encouragement
of “cross boundary” coordination – in order to work together as a team, with all
our ministries providing mutual support to each other as a matter of
routine conscious effort;
- Involvement
of all Ministry Teams in budget development – in order to increase awareness of need and
resources by all Ministry Teams, and encourage good stewardship of life.
Published below are
our planned projects and events for 2007-2008.
This schedule, along with our commitments of financial resources,
witness, and service will drive our budget development for the coming
year. We make our commitments on March
25th 2007, and then develop a budget to be approved at our June
congregational meeting. We will endeavor
to publish quarterly updates to this schedule, in addition to the monthly
Newsletter and website calendar updates.
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Dates
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Projects or
Events
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Lead Teams
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January
2007
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Jan 7
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Epiphany
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Worship & Music
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Jan 9
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NAF Meeting
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NAF Group
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Jan 14
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Addressing Conflict
Sermon Presentation
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Mutual Ministry
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Jan 21
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Cong |
