news.zionbuffalo.org

The Global Mission Team received permission to set up a task force to pursue a partnership with the Lutheran Church of Christ #1 Shelleng, a congregation in west central Nigeria.

Committees were reminded to coordinate any fundraisers through the office.

Memorial Committee disbursements were approved for nursery equipment, for communion kits, organ chime replacement, and large print devotionals.

Expense of up to $25,000 from the Roof/parking lot credit line to repair the parking lot this summer was approved.

There was discussion on viability of putting together a rotating group of Monday morning counters.

Communication Guidelines were approved outlining how council members should handle congregational feedback that may be received and processes to insure a variety of methods for regular and open communication between the council and congregation.

Pastor Becky’s resignation letter to the congregation was read and discussed.

Complete council minutes are available at zionbuffalo.org/council once they are approved at the following meeting.

Follow-up to the Bridgebuilder Report of March 30, 2009

Descriptions updated 6/1/09

Zion is at the threshold of a new chapter in its history. We have grown in numbers and in building size since moving to the hill top in 1989 and we have seen the establishment of many outreaches and the flowering of many visions. We are now being led by God into a new era with new pastors. The next task for Zion is to discover what God is asking of us and discern how we might carry out God’s mission.

Over the summer, four task forces will address the areas of focus identified by the Bridgebuilder report. The task forces will work for 3 months on gathering specific information. Their work will lay a foundation for a longer-range process that will begin in the fall with the next senior pastor. The following is an outline of the task forces.

Please consider serving on one of the task forces for the next three months.

Read the rest of this entry »

Global Missions Committee continuing to direct 3% of FIF to Global mission work in the coming year was approved.

The Memorial Committee will be purchasing new Red and Green paraments, pagers to give to parents dropping kids off in the nursery and 40 more replacement hymnals.

The Bridgebuilder Report was officially received and creation of various short term sub committees to deal with issues raised in the report was discussed.

Charles Krause was elected as interim VP as Kevin Bergquist assumes the president‟s roll while Dirk Foster is deployed.

Colleen Manninen, Pastor Chris and Scott Morin will coordinate the Forward in Faith 2 building fund appeal as FIF2 ends in May of this year.

The Council, Finance Committee, and Stewardship Committee were all asked to participate in a 4 month tithe of time, talent and resources. Pastor Hagen will reduce his compensation by 10% during this time.

Complete minutes are available on the church website.

As many of you know, Dirk Foster has been called up for Naval Reserve Duty until this early fall, I will be acting as Interim President until his return. Thank you for your encouragement and prayers.

It is an exciting time to be in Zion, with many changes, challenges and opportunities to reflect the love of Christ! Here
are some highlights:

• On Wednesday, May 6th, we had an opportunity to participate in the Zion Day of Prayer. What a wonderful day to focus our congregation on Gods’ path for us as individuals and as a church.
• God’s Angels are up and active. This cadre of experts and jacks/jills of all trades are helping the Zion community by assisting with small domestic jobs that may be tough to handle. These handymen and women are truly the ‘face of Christ’ for folks in need.
• The Call Committee has been active in seeking our new Senior Pastor, they are prayerfully working through this important endeavor.
• Job descriptions for the Action Planning Committee to work on the Bridgebuilder recommendations are coming soon. If you are interested in serving on this task force, please let me or the church office know. They will do planning work through the summer, with the action starting this fall.
• I am constantly humbled by the work of our Sunday School staff, confirmation leaders, musicians and worship leaders. May is an especially busy time for these folks.

One last important challenge in this e-mail. Our deepening financial concerns. We seem to be in the center of a
‘perfect storm’ : increased needs due to member stresses from the poor economy, decreased income stemming from that poor economy, uncertainty and anxiety from pastoral changes and controversy. How fortunate are we to have a Perfect Savior for the Perfect Storm, Jesus. Let us focus on the knowledge that Christ has not abandoned us in our trials, but continues to lead us through the storm.

Please prayerfully consider participating in the 4 Month Tithe Challenge , as we enter the summer months.

In Christs’ Love,

Kevin Bergquist,
President

At the May 3 Congregational Meeting the revisions to Zion’s constitution were accepted as presented. These amendments will be ratified at the next annual meeting.

Income is down, but so are expenses. We are averaging offering of about $11,000 – $12,000 / Sunday. There will be 3 payrolls in May.

The Finance Committee reported that a $50,000 credit line had been approved by KleinBank. The committee is discussing parameters and communication.

The Personnel Committee presented several new personnel policies. A motion was made and carried to hire Sarah Devore and Elizabeth Ehlenz as Zion Day Camp coordinators.

Semi-annual allocation of 3% of income received by Forward in Faith 2 to support five local charities (Buffalo Food Shelf, Faith in Action, Love Inc, Rivers of Hope and Timber Bay) was approved.

The Call Committee reported that they had interviewed two candidates and would interview another two at the end of March. An ad will be placed in the Lutheran in April.

Council members were asked to bring back information on the functioning of their assigned committees.

Scott Morin, Kevin Berquist and Pr Hagen will coordinate the next 3-year program of Forward in Faith.

Complete minutes are available on the church website at www.zionbuffalo.org/council after they are approved at the next council meeting.

The church council agenda is now available online each month prior to the meeting.

• The direct link for the agenda is zionbuffalo.org/_literature_28893/Council_Agenda, which will be the same each month.
• The link to the agenda is also available on the council web page at zionbuffalo.org/council.

On Monday, March 30th, Mary Halverson and Al Perry from Bridgebuilder delivered their report to the congregation. A copy of the report is available at the church office for members. The report is extensive and too encompassing to be summarized here. The council would encourage everyone to review the report.

The council has received the report and the next steps will be a discussion of the report at the April 15th council meeting and the formation of an Action Planning Committee to turn their suggestions and guidance into action items. Mary and Al have suggested the first initial meeting with the committee be held on April 25th. This committee will be an important part of the future of Zion and the council would encourage everyone to consider this opportunity to serve. Please contact any council member or send an email to president@zionbuffalo.org if you are interested in serving on the Action Planning Committee.

Mary and Al have given us a great framework and direction for us as we continue to explore and strive to understand God’s wishes for Zion. The council hopes you will consider becoming more involved at Zion and help us shape our future.

Pastor Mary Halvorson and Al Perry will return to Zion next Monday, March 30, to present a formal written report to the council and congregation. They are considering everything that they heard at the January learning event, February interviews, and the written comments they have received; and will recommend some strategies to help Zion keep moving toward health and growth.

All congregation members are welcome, and those that participated in the January learning event are especially encouraged to attend at 7:30 in Fellowship Hall.

A Congregational Meeting of Zion Lutheran Church will be held on Sunday, May 3, 2009 following the 10:30 service (at approximately 11:30am) to approve revisions to the constitution. All voting members are requested to attend.

Updated Link 4/16: the proposed constitution is available in PDF format at http://zionbuffalo.org/Minutes/Proposed%20Constituion%2009.05.03.pdf

On Saturday, Feb 28th, the council met for their annual retreat. In addition to reconfirming the three goals that were communicated in January (mission focus, member involvement, senior pastor), the council added two more additional goals for Zion in 2009:

Improve the functionality of committees. It appears that some committees are not functioning as well as they could. We may have overlap between committees. Some committees have not met in awhile and some committees need new members to infuse new energy and enthusiasm. Some committees are doing an outstanding job, but in conversation with the staff and in the council, we have determined that an opportunity exist to improve the functionality of our committees. Kevin Bergquist, council vice president has volunteered to spearhead this effort.

The fifth goal is to improve communications though out Zion for 2009. This means communications between committees and staff, council and committees and council and members of the congregations. Improved communications will ensure that people are not duplicating effort and will also ensure that one effort may compliment another effort. Improved communications between the council and members of the congregation will ensure everyone knows and understands the focus and goals of the council and any members concerns can be addressed by the council.

Both of these additional goals support Zion’s mission of seeking Christ’s word, strengthen our faith and serving those in need.

The council would also like to encourage everyone to support the Buffalo Food Shelf by donating food this Lenten season. The church needs boxes of instant mashed potatoes, jell-o, canned fruit, canned green beans and dessert mixes. The church has committed to 250 packages of food and we have a long way to go. The food will be packaged and delivered to the Food Shelf on April 7th, so please bring in your items by then. Please help support our mission of serving those in need.

Sincerely,
Dirk Foster
President, on behalf of the entire council

Receive Dirk’s updates by email

(note 2/27: this version is slightly different to the text sent by email – this is the version that *should* have been sent)

During the last couple of council meetings, the council has discussed and approved a new staffing model for the church. The new model is shown below:

How does this decision support our mission at Zion? Zion’s mission statement is: Zion seeks to share Christ’s word, strengthen faith, and serve those in need.” This new model has a Business Manager position that is responsible for the business and administrative matters of the church. This allows the pastors to concentrate on the spiritual aspect of the church. The pastors will be able to spend their time preaching, teaching and providing pastoral care to the members. It will free up their time to concentrate on sharing Christ’s word, strengthen member’s faith and serve those in need both within and outside Zion.

The model was put into place at this time so the Call Committee could convey the structure to the candidates for the senior pastor position. The business manager position will be filled sometime after the senior pastor has assumed his or her leadership position at Zion. The business manager was not in the 2009 budget, so additional decisions about implementation will be made in the future. Please continue to pray for the members of the Call Committee as they continue to do their important work.

Sincerely,
Dirk Foster
President, on behalf of the entire council

YTD offerings substantially below expenses and expectations in both General
and Forward in Faith funds.

The call committee has been provided with 7 candidates, has conducted some mock interviews, and requested a formal job description for the Senior Pastor position.

A motion was approved to seek a credit line of up to $50,000 to cover interim cash flow needs. This decision and the rational will be communicated to the congregation.

Mary Lynn Leff and Jane Wahlberg were appointed to the Zion Foundation.

Rolf Mohwinkel and Laurie Blauert were appointed to the Personnel Committee.

Pastor Hagen presented rough outlines of three different pastoral/business models for church organization. After discussion, the council advised the Call Committee to use a business model with Senior Pastor focusing on preaching, teaching, and being a community leader in interviewing candidates.

Complete minutes will be available at zionbuffalo.org/council once they are provided by the council.

A motion that was tabled at the 2007 annual meeting was amended to read: Zion Lutheran Church, Buffalo, MN endorse the Vision and Expectations: Ordained Ministers in the ELCA, in particular p. 13, “Ordained ministers who are homosexual in their self-understanding are expected to abstain from homosexual sexual relationships”; and that this congregation supports the ELCA Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality definition, p 33, “Marriage is a structure of mutual promises between a man and a woman blessed by God (Mark 10:7-9) and authorized in a legal arrangement by the state.” The amended motion carried.

A motion to reject budget and send it back to the council and finance committee for reconsideration failed.

The proposed budget was approved.

A motion to table revisions to the constitution to give the congregation more time to review the proposed changes, and because the church wide assembly will review the model constitution in 2009 carried.

Sixteen members brought forward concerns for Council study or investigation.

Pastor Hagen noted again that council had implemented many steps already to try to address the communication issues, including Bridgebuilder.

Complete minutes will be available at zionbuffalo.org/council once they are provided by the council.

The mission statement of Zion is:

Zion seeks to share Christ’s word, strengthen faith and serve those in need.

So…. what are we doing at Zion that supports our mission. How are we sharing Christ’s word? What are we doing to serve those in need and to strengthen the faith of our members? How can you get involved at Zion?

Well, let me tell you about some opportunities that the staff and the Social Ministry Committee are putting together for Lent and beyond. They can basically be divided into two groups. One that is looking to enrich your life spiritually by sharing Christ’s word and the other group seeks to lift your spirit by providing an opportunity to serve those in need.

Spiritual Groups

• “Films and Faith” will explore themes of love and forgiveness through the lens of two recent films, The Power of Forgiveness and Changing Lanes. Bring neighbors and friends for Friday movie nights with discussion led by Pastor Chris following the movies.
• Come with your spouse for a movie night on Thursday, Feb. 19 to see Fireproof and sign up for the weekly marriage class led by Myron and Jane Crawford based on the movie.
• The Stewardship Committee will offer a course called “Freed-Up Financial Living” by Good $ense showing a biblical approach to managing your finances. The class will be lead by Dave Wright and Mark Minkler.
• Invest in your Wednesday nights and join the family for supper starting at 5:00 in the Fellowship Hall, followed by the 6:30 worship service, and finishing with a very meaningful scriptural study series led by Pastor Judy based on the Parable of the Sower. This same format of worship and Bible study will take place starting at noon each Wednesday.
• Small Spiritual groups will be formed similar to the 40 Days of Community groups that met last Lent.

Mission Projects

• Teams are being formed to lead Zion in an effort to reach our community in expressions of love and good works through the Food Shelf, Faith in Action, Love INC, Timber Bay and Redeemer Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, our sister church.
• This year we will also be recruiting a team called “God’s Angels” which will consist of skilled Zion members to be on call to provide small home projects for those in our congregation that cannot afford the expense.

I hope that one or more of these Bible studies, service projects or small groups will spark your interest. You can learn more about them and sign up right now at http://www.zionbuffalo.org/Lent2009. Get involved and meet someone new at Zion this Lent!!!!

At the Wednesday, Jan 21 council meeting, I was elected President of the Congregation by the Council. I would like to thank the council for the opportunity to serve in this unique capacity and I pray that God gives me the wisdom to lead our church fairly and faithfully.

One of the issues that has been very evident and was really brought to light over the last few years is the issue of communications. It is sort of ironic, that in this age of instant information and multiple means of communication, that we would be having an issue of communication. I would like to combat that issue with this communiqué (distributed by email to members) and I hope to provide more emails and letters throughout 2009. I am not interested in filling up your mail box with more letters, nor do I want to cost the church more on postage. Therefore, I will be limiting this letter to the form of email at least once a month and as needed to distribute the information. I hope that it can also appear in the monthly newsletter for those who don’t have email. If anyone has an idea for other creative means of distribution, I look forward to hearing from you.

I have three goals for our church in 2009.

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At the January 21 council meeting, Dirk Foster was elected as President and Kevin Bergquist was elected as Vice President. Jud Goerss and Carol Clark were re-elected as Treasurer and Secretary of the congregation.

Pastor Hagen reported that he has helped coordinate ecumenical Thanksgiving worship, began work on securing interim associate pastor, worked on annual meeting preps, and worked with personnel on various issues.

The council was informed of a memorial gift of approximately $27,000 by Gladys Gilbert.s estate. Gladys. nephew will be the family liaison and the family is welcoming ideas from the congregation/council etc. for consideration.

The Finance Committee was charged with evaluate the possibility of changing the church.s fiscal year end and develop a plan for how it would be implemented.

Dave Schmidt suggested setting up a program to link those with need for various skilled handyperson services on a small scale and inability to pay for them, with Zion members capable of providing those services and willing to volunteer the time. Faith In Action of Wright County already does pieces of this, and Love Inc from Delano is evaluating setting up a branch in Buffalo that may also serve some of these needs.

The Executive committee was charged with drafting bullets to present in a temple talk soon. There was discussion of setting up regular “Coffee with Council” sessions at some time in the future.

• Complete minutes of council meetings