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J U N E 2 0 2 0
The Trinity Times
Published by Trinity Lutheran Church, Saint Peter, Minnesota, a congregation of the ELCA
A Message from Trinity’s Health Response Team
On March 15, Trinity's newly formed Health Response Team met for the first time to advise our Church Council on decisions re-garding the health and safety of our church community during the Covid 19 pandemic. The team consists of health professionals in our congregation, the pastors and an administrative assistant. The team now meets weekly via Zoom to discuss the current in-formation and recommendations regarding Covid 19 and determines what needs to be done (or not done) for the health and safety of our church community. From time to time, we'd like to share a message with you from a member of our Health Response Team. Here, with a message, is Nissa Fell MSN, CNP:
The ELCA presiding bishop, Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, referenced Martin Luther’s ‘Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague” in her statement back on March 6. That feels like a lifetime ago! In the essay Rev. Eaton makes reference to, Martin Luther attempts to set guidelines for how to survive the plague in 1527. He emphasizes the duties of caring for thy neighbor, the re-sponsibility of government to protect and serve its citizens, cautions about recklessness, and credits the importance of sci-ence, medicine and common sense. Sound familiar?
Since March 6th, we have had recommendations and restrictions placed on us – something that is very unfamiliar in the global world of 2020. But those words written 493 years ago ring all too familiar today. We are now faced with our own plague, the coronavirus. Just like in 1527, many people today are anxious and it is often the church and their faith that they lean on during difficult times. This is getting more challenging to do as we are faced with the ‘new norm’ of distancing ourselves from a place that often brings comfort and hope.
As a member of the medical community I can not emphasize how proud I am to be a member of Trinity Lutheran and a
Minnesotan during this unprecedented time. While this is a time of uncertainty for our church com-munity, the state, the nation and beyond, I strongly believe our leaders in our church and state government are making decisions based on the facts we have at this time. These decisions have not come easy but have always kept in mind the safety and wellbeing of our communities, medical staff, and the most vulnerable. In his press conference recently, Governor Walz gave us a glimpse of what safely lessening the restrictions will look like He used a visual with three dials: workplace settings, social settings and school settings. This visual specifically identified places of worship in the social settings dial. While we don’t have a timeline for when this will occur, it is identified as important enough to put on his slide! I find reassurance in this. All of our patience is being tried. We don’t have answers, which is hard. I don’t have any promis-es but I do know two things. First, Pastor Joy and Pastor Nikoli are prepared to guide our church through this and come back stronger than before. Second, Trinity Lutheran will continue to follow guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). I believe in our public health officials, the experts on the frontline trying to figure out the complicated coronavirus and the members of our church helping guide the decisions on what is best for our community. My late grandmother once told me during a trying time in my life, ‘You can’t question your faith right now, Nissa. You must lean into your faith because God does not give us things we can not handle.” I think now is a time we are being challenged to lean in even harder and I have no doubt we can get through this together.
On behalf of the TLC Health Response Team: Jessica Elofson, Nissa Fell, Jennifer Lammert, John Lammert, Jeff Weideman, Pastor Joy Ekstedt, Pastor Nikoli Falenschek, and Jennifer Hubrig.
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE:
The Pastor’s
Column
2
Adult Education 3
Children, Youth,
& Families
4
General
Information
5
Calendar 6
Puzzle Page 8
Church Council &
Committees
9
Contact
Information
12
PAGE 2 T
he P
asto
rs C
olu
mn
From the Pastor quick fix 1. n. a quick and probably none too permanent or satisfactory
solution to a problem. The quick fix is not good enough in this case.
2. mod. having to do with a temporary or unsatisfactory solu tion or repair. (Usually quick-fix.) Frank is a master of the quick-fix solution. See also: fix, quick McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Dear Friends in Christ,
We have become so accustom to speediness thanks to google or chrome or whatever browser is on our smartphone or computer. Trying to accomplish that home repair? Looking for the best place to stay when on vacation? Wondering who it was that said those famous words? We simply let our fin-gers tap our questions into that browser and, in a split second, we’ve got our answers.
It’s great to have answers in the blink of an eye. It’s great… except at a time such as this. Speediness and quickness aren’t possible nor are they recommended when we find our-selves searching for answers and solutions during a global pandemic. A quick fix is not helpful when it comes to the mul-titude of questions we and every congregation, every syna-gogue, every mosque now faces. The decision to suspend in-person activities at Trinity was not made lightly, but it also was not a decision that required a lot of time given this pandemic was rapidly approaching. The decision was made because it was the best way to love and care for those who worship at
Trinity as well as family, friends, and neighbors be-yond our church building.
But now, the decisions are much more difficult. Now, the decisions take much more time. There is no quick fix in this time of a pandemic.
A colleague of mine (who also was a Luther Semi-nary classmate) shared an article about two congre-gations, one in Texas and the other in Georgia, that made the decision to begin in-person worship ser-vices. The results of that decision are heart-breaking. You can find the article here if you’d like to read it (https://www.newsweek.com/two-southern-churches-reclose-indefinitely-after-pastor-dies-leaders-churchgoers-catch-coronavirus-1505291). Governors of these states allowed congregations and parishes to gather for worship services as long as they followed guidelines. Members and leaders of these places of worship did so. They followed guidelines. Yet, people became infected with covid 19. It’s believed a priest serving a catholic parish
died from the disease. Now, that parish and another congre-gation have closed the doors of their buildings indefinitely. It makes me terribly sad to think of what the people of that con-gregation and parish have experienced and what they are go-ing through now.
All of us long for the day when we can gather again for wor-ship under the same roof. We -- our Health Response Team and Council -- are giving thought to how that will happen. But please understand there are no quick answers, there is no quick fix. In fact, Pastor Dee Pederson, who serves as Direc-tor of Evangelical Mission in our Southwestern Minnesota Synod, included a number of challenging questions in an arti-cle posted on our synod’s website (https://swmnelca.org/2020/05/14/singing-during-a-pandemic/). The questions she raises in that article have to do with one part of our worship, one part of our life together: music. Here are a few of the questions she raises. How do you handle transmis-sion of viral particles from surfaces (hands, hymn books, Bi-bles, music folders, door handles, instruments)? Can we keep worshipers safe and protected from one another in corporate worship if they are speaking in unison (even the Lord’s Prayer) and singing together? How do we keep pastors safe from the aerosol droplets that the congregation projects toward them? There are a multitude of other areas of our life together as members and friends and visitors of Trinity Lutheran Church that must be addressed. These conversations and decisions will take time.
Until the day when we are able to worship under one roof, please remember that although the church building has been closed to the public, our mission as a congregation has not been shut down nor is it shut down now. Worship services have happened and will continue to happen. Members of all ages have been contacted and will continue to be contacted by phone and through high tech means like Zoom. Trinity’s staff members have carried out and will continue to carry out their daily tasks. Our offerings have and will continue to take care of God’s people near and far. So, while we aren’t gather-ing weekly in a building, we are still serving together. We are still God’s people. We are still the body of Christ in this world. We are still called to carry out the mission God gives us to do. So, keep at it, dear friends. Keep on doing God’s work wher-ever you are.
In Christ,
Pastor Joy Ekstedt
PAGE 3
Associate Pastor
Nikoli Falenschek
763-482-1709
Lead Pastor
Joy G. Ekstedt
507-317-7400
Contact the Pastor
Bible Study
June Featured Books in the Trinity Library SPRING in to SUMMER with these FUN selections for June!
The selections from April and May will be on display for easy access when our world is healthy again and Trinity is open for all.
Guess What? Story bible, by Tracy Harrast, (J1 Har), a ZonderKidz interactive story also includes a ‘seek and find’ feature at the end of each of the 50 stories. Ages 4-8 and 4-80 will enjoy this storytime turned game.
Bible Crossword Puzzles, Bible Word Search Puzzles, Bible Quizzes and Puzzles, (1F Bib). a 3 series set. Take the entertaining challenge of easy, medium and difficult puzzles. Stretch your brain…
My Final Answer, BY Paul Kent, (1F, Ken), Just like the popular tv quiz show, you can choose ‘have a hint’, ‘double your chances’, and look in the book’ if you need help:)
The Complete Book of Bible Trivia, by J. Stephen Lang, (1F Lan), over 4,500 questions and fascinating surprise an-swers…try these - ‘Who outran a team of horses?’, ‘What king had the first birthday party in the Bible?’, ‘What prince had his hair cut only once a year?’
Find It Fast in the Bible, by Ron Rhodes, (1.3 Rho). Easy to use looking up the key-concepts in a scripture and great for research, Bible studies and discussion groups.
Revved Up
Grace Street Bible Study is underway and you can
still join us! This is available through Zoom! All you
need is a computer or other device that allows you
to have access to your email account or a tele-
phone. Zoom is an interactive program that allows
you to see and hear other participants and they will
see and hear you, too! Please join us Thursdays at
10:30 am. All are invited to be part of this Bible
study, whether or not you have participated in the
past at Central Square Apartments.
It is very easy to set up Zoom!
If you are interested, please send an email to
Pastor Joy at [email protected] to sign
up.
Attention Sewers!
As we slowly progress towards coming together in worship
again we will require people to wear facemasks in the build-
ing. We would like to have a supply of masks on hand to give
to those who need them. The best fitting homemade masks
seem to be the ones with adjustable straps (elastic or tie),
some type of soft wire that forms to the nose and varieties of
sizes. There are all kinds of free patterns and instructions
online or we can provide one. If you would be willing to sew
some masks we even have some supplies on hand (material
and wire) that we can give you! Please call the church office
if you can help!
Adult E
ducatio
n
PAGE 4
Children’s Ministry Coordinator: Erica Penkert
Birth through Grade 4 Sunday School and VBS
507-317-8292 [email protected] C
hild
ren Y
outh
and F
amili
es
Living in Stressful Times...
The ongoing COVID-19 emergency is very stressful for a lot of different reasons, but help is available if you are having a diffi-cult time. The following list has been provided through the City Administrator’s Office. Please keep these numbers handy and share them with friends and family: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) free 24-hour help National Suicide Crisis: 1-800-784-2433 (24 hour line) South Central Mobile Crisis Line: 1-877-399-3040 (24 hour line) 24 Hour Adult Mental Health Crisis Line: 1-800-233-9929 United Way First Call for Help: 1-800-543-7709 Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741-741 Here are some location options for community counseling ser-vices. This should not be used as an exhaustive list but offers some options. Counseling Services of Southern Minnesota - 507-934-8040 Sioux Trails Mental Health Center - 507-934-2652 St. Peter Counseling Center - 507-484-2400 St. Peter Psychology Clinic - 507-721-1227 Nicollet County Human Services - 507-934-6800 Le Sueur County Human Services - 507-357-8228 Mayo Clinic Health System - 507-931-2110 Mankato Clinic, Daniels Health Center- 507-934-2325 Open Door Health Center - 507-388-2120 (Mankato)
A priority of Trinity’s Health Response team is the health of
our congregation members. The Stay at Home Order was
replaced by Stay Safe MN on May 18th. Guidance from the
governor’s office and MDH continues to recommend the cur-
rent practices of social distancing, the use of masks in public,
staying close to home, limiting travel, and staying home if ill.
Stay Safe MN offers the addition of allowing family and friends
to gather in groups under 10, practicing social distancing. At
this time, the team’s recommendation is to continue our cur-
rent practices. Therefore, as of May 19, the church build-
ing will continue to be locked. In the coming weeks, the
Health Response Team, with guidance from the SW MN Syn-
od and the ELCA, will be developing a detailed, phased plan
for gradually resuming worship services and reopening our
building. We appreciate your patience during this time as we
strive to live out our mission to Gather in worship, Grow in
faith, and Go in service.
Children, Youth, and Family Ministry is Still Happening at Trinity!
Due to the Covid Crisis, we had to cancel all in-person activities including Frolic, Sunday
School, Confirmation, and Youth Group. HOWEVER, we have created an online commu-
nity to connect our kids and families! During this time of social distancing, every family is
encouraged to join our digital community on Slack, which is an amazing tool that will help
us share inspiration, prayers, and educational tools. To get access to these free re-
sources, simply go to trinitystpeter.com/cyf and click on the invitation!
PAGE 5 G
eneral In
form
ation
In Memory of
Irene Sievert May 13, 1932—May 19, 2020
Offering Options
It will be important for us to maintain our levels of offerings
during this time when we are not worshipping in person.
If you usually give weekly while at church please mail your
offering to Trinity.
Here are some other options:
Text: send message to 844-373-8817 with the amount you
would like to contribute (example: 25).
App: download GivePlus through your app store.
Web: click on the Give button on our website.
Thank you for supporting the mission and ministry of TLC.
Carly Ballman
114 S 5th St
St. Peter, MN 56082
Have you had a change of
address or phone number
Please let us know.
End of April 2020
Spending is $3,847 under budget
Offerings are $7,050 below spending
Offerings are $10,896 below budget
Any committees or individuals that have in-formation for the July newsletter need to have it turned in no later than Saturday, June 20. Please use the Publishing Request Form which is available in the church office and send the information to: [email protected]. Thank you!
PAGE 6 Sunday Monday Tuesday
1
2 5:30 pm Executive Committee Zoom Meeting 7:00 pm All Monthly Committee Meetings
7 9:30 am Worship Service on Facebook and YouTube 11:00 am Healthy Response Team Zoom Meeting
8
9 5:30 pm CYF Committee Meeting 5:30 pm Finance Committee Zoom Meeting 6:30 pm Church Council Zoom Meeting
14 9:30 am Worship Service on Facebook and YouTube 11:00 am Healthy Response Team Zoom Meeting
15
16
21 9:30 am Worship Service on Facebook and YouTube 11:00 am Healthy Response Team Zoom Meeting
22
23
28 9:30 am Worship Service on Facebook and YouTube 11:00 am Healthy Response Team Zoom Meeting
29
30
PAGE 7 Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
3 9:30 am Staff Zoom Meeting
4 10:30 am Grace Street Bible Study via Zoom
5 6
10 9:30 am Staff Zoom Meeting
11 10:30 am Grace Street Bible Study via Zoom
12 13
17
9:30 am Staff Zoom Meeting
18 10:30 am Grace Street Bible Study via Zoom
19
20
24
9:30 am Staff Zoom Meeting
25 10:30 am Grace Street Bible Study via Zoom
26
27
Public Access TV
Broadcast on Channel 7
Sundays at 9:30 am
Mondays at 5:00 pm
Tuesdays at 11:00 am
PAGE 8 Puzz
le P
age
SUMMER WORD SEARCH
PAGE 9
Church Council Meeting Minutes—March 31, 2020
Reporting: Bev Pillers
Present: Pastor Joy Ekstedt, Pastor Nikoli Falenschek, Bob Broeder, Doug Minter, Carolyn Dobler, Bev Pillers, Barbara Simpson, Mary Oberlander, Jim Christenson, Andrew Elofson, Sandi Francis, Cathy Carlson, Sarah Nelsen
Absent: None
Bob Broeder called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. Opening prayer was given by Bob Broeder.
Agenda was approved by unanimous consent.
March minutes were approved by unanimous consent
A. BUSINESS DISCUSSED 1. Pastor Joy’s Report:
Pastoral Care – we have had two death of members of the congregation, Harry Foster and Bob Sanderson. Their families will talk with us later, when public services are able to happen again. Members who are on our Home Communion list have been paired with another member of the congregation. They are checking in with their compan-ion for phone visits and for errands. Thank you to every-one who is serving in this way.
I have made contact again with members on our Home Communion visit list.
Holy Week and Easter worship services happened in elec-tronic fashion this year, a first for everyone! We made the best of our circumstances and the good news remains that Jesus is our Savior and is risen from the dead! Thank you to all the musicians who added to our worship services – making them more festive!
Pastor Nikoli and I have met via Zoom with our 5th and 6th grade confirmation students and will be meeting with our 7th and 8th grade confirmation students via zoom soon.
The Health Response Team continues to meet weekly and is offering great guidance. We talked about the need to have worship services broadcast on fb, youtube and whatever other means are being used even after we may be allowed to have small groups of people in the church building for worship. People who are in the risk group be-cause of age and/or health concerns will be the last group of people phased back into public worship so we will want to continue serving them through these other means of worship. Which leads to …
Our camera equipment needs to be updated. A bid from a year ago from VSI totals about $36,000-$37,000. Those costs may be a bit higher now and we are getting an updated bid. However, funds are available to pay for the bulk of the expense. Suggested Funding for Tech-nology Project are:
Equipment purchases/Improvement Fund $ 8,000.00 General Endowment Spendable Fund $ 6,500.00
Church
Council &
Com
mitte
es
Delores Holteen Memorial $ 4,186.66 Rental House Rent-Church Use $ 11,078.07 Interest $ 260.17 Memorials, undesignated $ 400.0 Counseling Ministry Literature $ 183.10 Holding-Family Fresh Dollars $ 4,000.00 Holding-Performing Arts Services $ 392.00 For a total of $ 35,000.00
My sabbatical for the summer of 2020. Worship in Sunday, May 10 being led by members of our
SW MN Synod Staff . I’ve started Grace Street Bible Study Revved Up on
Zoom Thursday mornings each week at 10:30 am. Let me know if you’d like an email invitation to participate.
Readings from Bishop Jon Anderson sent to all who council members. These readings are meant to get us to think about what resuming public worship may look like and what it will take to make it happen.
I continue to be part of a weekly zoom gathering with SW MN Synod staff and other pastors in our synod. These meetings have been very informative and a great sup-port. Today’s session was an invitation to be part of a fb live event hosted by the Minneapolis Area Synod- ELCA. The guest during this event was Dr. Michael Osterholm. A recording of this event will be available May 6 and I’ll share that with the council as well.
2. Pastor Nikoli’s Report: Vacation: I was able to take vacation all of last week,
Monday through Sunday. The Synod put together a pre-recorded service for our congregations, which allowed me to take some time off.
Worship: After experimenting with a number of ways to do worship—including Facebook Live, Facebook Premiere, YouTube services, and Facebook Watch Parties—and after encoun-tering a number of technological issues out-side our control, we have settled on prerecord-ing services during the week and watching them together with Facebook Watch Parties. Each service requires a number of elements turned into me on a timely basis—music, video recordings, scripts, etc.—and every worship typically takes a long while to put together on my iMovie program—i.e. without prepping my own sermons. I hope people are enjoying it! I can’t wait for something else to make itself available to streamline this process or some-one to help bear the load. GREAT THANKS to Al Behrends who has agreed to take a go at mixing a Virtual Choir, which we haven’t been doing since Holy Week (each hymn would take me two or three hours to accomplish, which
PAGE 10
YTD: $136,884 (2020) vs $143,109 (2019). Total spending for 2020 is $146,562 with net surplus (deficit) of ($10,053). Total spending for 2020 is under budget; budget for 2020 YTD is $147,405. Bank balance on April 30, 2020 was $41,101. Controlled savings balance on April 30, 2020 was $172,873. (includes $45,702 of Payroll Protection) Capital Improvement Fund on March 31, 2020 was $48,994 Building Improvement $40,202 Equipment Purchases/Improvement $ 8,792 Special Projects $ 0 Building Improvement Fund Offerings were down $7 from 2019: $9,169 (2020) vs $9,176 (2019). Doug asked if there was a contingency plan if finances dipped further. We have applied and received the Payroll Protection Act loan/grant, which will cover payroll through June 8. There aren’t any program costs at this time. Utility expenses are down due to lack of usage of the building. We will watch what happens in the next couple of months. The Financial Report was accepted by unanimous con-sent.
4. Committee Reports: Personnel Committee- Hiring of the Programs Director position is still on hold. Exit interview with Carly Ballman will take place this week. No other Committee reports at this time.
5. Congregational Presidents Zoom Meeting – Thoughts from Bishop Anderson: Bob Broadr, as President of the Church Council has biweekly meetings on Zoom with oth-er synod Presidents. The Bishop urges going slow in opening up to services again in the future. With over half of our congregation being over 60, they are at greater risk. During the summer months the younger people drop in attendance, so majority of attendees would be that at risk group. It looks like we will continue with Virtual Services through fall. Much has to be done to get back to services
and activities in the building.
6. Synod Pastor’s Meeting - Pastor Joy has Zoom confer-ence calls one to two times a week with the Synod Pas-tors and Bishop Anderson working through worship and what it will look like in the future. Recommendation is to work carefully through it and not rush, as no one wants to see a surge in Covid-19 cases in the fall. Pastor Jon said that we should look at the present situation as follows: Is this a Disruption or an Interruption? An interruption is a short-term break that occurs over weeks. A Disruption is a disorienting event that takes place over a longer term. We’re in a Disruption but should look at our situation as having stability in continuing Virtual Services and contin-
proved to be too much for me to sustain alone).
CYF: Unfortunately, worship preparations have greatly stunted my ability to accomplish the programming and relationship-building duties I would otherwise like to focus my attention on. I don’t quite know how to remedy this... Unless the worship process becomes more streamlined in some way, my bandwidth for CYF duties will remain pretty bare. But, I am trying to put together the following offerings: Baccalaureate Festivities: I’ll be getting together with our graduating seniors (via Zoom) next week to discuss how exactly we’ll participate in and uplift the accomplish-ments of these students. We’ll have to do something remote and/or virtual. Vacation Bible School: We’ve had to cancel our VBS programming, which makes us all very disappointed. One of the greatest parts of VBS—at least, what I think is one of the greatest parts—is the mentoring that happens between older students with their younger counterparts. I’m hoping to create a system of buddies or small groups that can meet virtually or communicate via snail-mail to preserve this particular element. Camp: Green Lake Lutheran Ministries has cancelled all programming for June but is (at this point, anyways) continuing to schedule events for July and August. We have cancelled TLC Week at the Shores of St. Andrews, which would have taken place in June. I will also not be encouraging folks to go in July until we know more about how COVID-19 shapes up for the summer. However, we may have families who want to go on their own, which I won’t disparage. We still have camperships available through the endowment, which can provide each camper a $100 scholarship. If families go on their own, we will still offer this scholarship. Summer Trips: We have cancelled our trips to South Dakota and to Montana. We will be refunding all of our trip families the various amounts which they personally contributed to the trips. We hope to use the remaining funds, which had accrued from various fundraisers, to create an immersive experience in the fall/winter. Pr Scott and Carly at Trinity (Gaylord) are working with me to create something truly unique and impactful. Summer Connections: I’m still trying to creatively won-der how to keep our families connected during the sum-mer months. If anyone has ideas, please forward them to the CYF Committee. Also, please prayerfully consider lending a hand in accomplishing these various experi-ments.
3. Treasurer’s Report: General offerings for April 2020 were down from 2019: $31,375 (2020) vs $42,137 (2019). General offerings for 2020 YTD were down from 2019
PAGE 11
COMMITTEES
FINANCE COMMITTEE: Marc Bachman, James Brandt, Scott
Borgstahl, Joel Darge, Scott Fichtner
PERSONNEL COMMITTEE: Dave Arpin, Wendy Bachman,
David Detlefson, Casey Dunker, Deb Fichtner, Jennifer Lammert
ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE: Marc Bachman, Roger Bakken,
Al Hewitt, Darrell Jodock, Jim Kruger
NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Paul Albers, Joan Davis, Tom Frey,
Sandy Grochow, Bob Lambert, Meredith Young
ADULT EDUCATION COMMITTEE: Eugene Grack, Nancy Hanson,
Laura Hulsebus, Andy Lo, Jim Timmerman
CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES COMMITTEE: Caroline Guth,
Alie Hermanson, Kelsey Janni, Jay Link, Will Nelsen, Kristi Portugue,
Joni Seitzer
COMMUNITY LIFE COMMITTEE: Lynn Burg, Kristie Gurrola,
Corinne Kreft, Nancy Kruger, Mary Snyder
MISSION COMMITTEE: Deb Fichtner, Justin Francis, Pei-loh Lo,
Margie Nelsen, Meredith Young
PROPERTY COMMITTEE: Mike Keller, Duane Krenz, Tom
Kretschmer, Chuck Puchta, Brad Sykora
STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE: Bridget Cooke, Brenda Dent,
Brian Fell, Tim Kennedy, Mark Oberlander
WORSHIP, MUSIC & ARTS COMMITTEE: Linda Grack,
Sandi Minter, Cindy Steiner, Janell Stock, Nick Sykora
Church
Council &
Com
mitte
es
CHURCH COUNCIL
Bob Broeder (President)
Doug Minter (Vice President) Personnel Committee Chair
Bev Pillers (Secretary) Nominating Committee Chair
Carolyn Dobler (Treasurer) Finance Committee Chair
Barbara Simpson Adult Education Committee Chair
Sarah Nelsen Children, Youth & Family Committee Chair
Mary Oberlander Community Life Committee Chair
Andy Elofson Mission Committee Chair
Jim Christenson Property Committee Chair
Sandi Francis Stewardship Committee Chair
Cathy Carlson Worship, Music & Arts Committee Chair
Pastor Joy Ekstedt: Oversees Finance, Community Life, Adult Ed, Stewardship, Endowment, Personnel, Nominating, and Worship, Music & Arts Committees
Pastor Nikoli Falenschek: Oversees Property, Mission, Children, Youth & Families, and Worship, Music & Arts Committees
ued on line giving.
7. Audio/Visual Equipment - Health Response Team has recommended that we revisit the upgrade of au-dio/visual equipment that was bid out July 2019 since we will be continuing with digital services. The up-grade to equipment is also needed for when we move back into the building. Pastor Joy, with assistance from the Endowment Committee Chair and Jen, has identi-fied funds that could be used to complete the project. The Finance Committee approved using these funds for this purpose. Al Behrends is seeking an updated bid from VSI to complete the project. Congregational approval is needed to move ahead with the project. The Congregational by laws say that we can hold a remote vote so discussion was on how this vote might take place, by mail or by conference call. It was decid-ed that the best method for congregants to discuss, ask questions and vote, would be to send a letter to the Congregation notifying them of a Congregational meeting via Zoom Conference Call. The conference call would be scheduled at two separate times to allow people to get on the call at a time convenient to them and to not overload a Zoom call with too many partici-pants. The letter should give Congregants direction to contact Council members with comments and ques-
tions.
B. Actions Taken: 1. M/S/P to approve the purchase of high tech au-
dio/visual equipment to enhance worship ser-vices for up to $40,000, with approval from the congregation. Funding to come from the follow-ing accounts: Equipment purchases/Improvement Fund $ 8,000.00 General Endowment Spendable Fund $ 6,500.00 Delores Holteen Memorial $ 4,186.66 Rental House Rent-Church Use $ 11,078.07 Interest $ 260.17 Memorials, undesignated $ 400.00 Counseling Ministry Literature $ 183.10 Holding-Family Fresh Dollars $ 4,000.00 Holding-Performing Arts Services $ 392.00 Balance to be drawn from another source yet to be determined
2. M/S/P to call a congregational meeting for the purpose of approving the purchase of high tech audio/visual equipment via Zoom conference call June 3 at 2:00 pm and 7 pm.
C. Responsibilities Assigned: none
D. Next meeting: June 9, 2020
The meeting was adjourned at 7:28 pm.
PAGE 12 Trinity Lutheran Church
511 S Fifth Street,
Saint. Peter, MN 56082
Conta
ct Info
rmat
ion
Lead Pastor: Joy G. Ekstedt 507-519-1004 [email protected]
Associate Pastor Nikoli Falenschek 763-482-1709 [email protected]
Children’s Ministry Coordinator: Erica Penkert 507-317-8292 [email protected]
Youth & Families Coordinator: Carly Ballman 507-317-1822 [email protected]
Church Secretary: Kristen Thomas 507-934-4786 [email protected]
Financial Sec./Admin. Asst: Jennifer Hubrig 507-934-4786 [email protected]
Custodian: Barry Wood 507-351-2205 [email protected]
Organist/Pianist: Judy Maharry 507-934-4786 [email protected]
Celebration Singers Director: Annette Meeks 507-934-4786 [email protected]
PraiseBELLS Director: Adrian Lo 507-934-4649 [email protected]
PraiseBAND Leader: Larissa Nieves 507-327-3917 [email protected]
JOY! Choir Director: Nancy Sizer 507-934-4786
Stamp
Office Hours
Monday - Thursday
8:30 am to 5:00 pm
Friday
8:30 am to
12:00 pm
507 - 934 - 4786
www.trinitystpeter.org
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