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Westwood Lutheran Church
St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Congregation Annual Meeting
February 5, 2007
(Draft: Not yet approved)
Attending: 119 voting members and 3 non-voting members attended the annual meeting. Secretary Kim Ruckdaschel-Haley reported to President Paul Tolzmann a quorum of 100 voting members present for the conduct of business. A printed roster of current members was available for inspection.
Invocation & Prayer: President Tolzmann opened the meeting at approximately 6:45 p.m. Pastor Tania Haber led the meeting participants in devotion and prayer.
Hymn: Attendees sang the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness."
Secretary's Report and Approval of Minutes: Secretary Kim Ruckdaschel-Haley addressed the minutes of the January 30, 2006 Annual Meeting of the Congregation, as printed at pages 9 through 11 of the Westwood Lutheran Church Annual Report 2006 (Annual Report), copies of which were provided to meeting participants. She asked if any attendee wanted the minutes to be read or had any corrections. There were no such requests or corrections noted, and President Tolzmann declared the 2006 minutes to be accepted as issued.
Senior Pastor's Message: Pastor Tania provided an overview of 2006 ministries and church operations. She described the four "touch words" determined by the Council and program staff (faithful, accessible, engaged, and bold), and detailed the three strategic directions that helped establish Westwood's priorities and guide decisions: mission resource development, targeted evangelism, and focused service. She also outlined her dreams and goals for 2007, including use of the Thrivent grant to help shape ministries in 2007; a worshiping community that reaches more people in new and creative ways; an older adults ministry with increased opportunities for service and learning; some type of facility changes; and a WECC that will continue to provide quality, Christian childcare to even more children who could not otherwise afford it. Pastor Tania closed by thanking everyone in ministry teams, in leadership, the staff, and in the faith community, and she expressed her feelings of joy and privilege to serve at Westwood. Pastor Tania was applauded for her leadership in fulfilling Westwood's mission and ministries.
Thrivent Grant Presentation: Linnea Sodergren, Board member of the Westwood Lutheran Memorial Foundation (Foundation), and Lee Anne Lack, representative of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (Thrivent), reported to the Congregation about the $100,000 grant recently given by Thrivent to Westwood Lutheran Church and the Foundation. Lee Ann Lack then presented a large mock check to Susan Anderson, Council president-elect, and Craig Jergenson, Foundation president.
Treasurer's Report: In Treasurer Jeff Stutzman's absence, Council member Jim Vos outlined the 2006 financial results presented in the Treasurer's Report at page 29 of the Annual Report, and reported on various year-end statistics set forth at pages 34 and 35 of the Annual Report. He also reviewed positive and negative financial outcomes during 2006. Overall, Westwood's actual financial performance in 2006 exceeded its budgetary goals; and the 12/31/2005 deficit balances of the Westwood General Fund and WECC Fund were offset to result in positive year-end fund balances.
Vos moved the adoption of the Treasurer's Report. The motion was seconded and approved.
2007 Budget. Vos moved the adoption of the proposed 2007 budget, which includes budgeted expenditures of $1,312,371 for Westwood and $987,000 for WECC. This motion was seconded.
Various questions were then raised by attendees concerning the proposed 2007 budget. In response to inquiries concerning the SPARK initiative and its interplay with the proposed budget, it was explained that the proposed budget does include monies allocated for two pastors as part of the SPARK initiative, and that Westwood's contribution to SPARK will include an assumption of about 40 to 50 percent of SPARK's costs. There was also discussion about a decline in total mission giving in the proposed 2007 budget, which is due to a decline in Second Mile giving. Paul Tolzmann noted that the SPARK ministries are part of outreach, and that mission giving is significantly increased in the proposed 2007 budget if one also examines the SPARK budgetary numbers. In response to a question raised regarding the decline in Westwood's budgeted administration costs, it was explained that this decline results from debt repayments being moved to a separate line under the category of "debt financing" in the budget, rather than being included in the administrative line.
Following this discussion, the motion duly made and seconded to adopt the proposed 2007 budget was approved.
Nominations: Nominating Committee member Linnea Sodergren presented the slate of nominees for various positions as follows:
Church Council:
- Steve Hedges - president elect
- Sharon Lee - Member at Large (3 year term)
- Marty Agather - Member at Large (3 year term)
Sodergren moved for election of the slate of Church Council nominees as presented. The motion was seconded and the nominees were elected as presented.
Nominating Committee:
- Dan Walker
- Cheryl Stark
- Jan Johnson
- Sandy Niewinski
- Cathy Thayer
- Mike Walgren
- Anna Lovas
Sodergren moved for election of the slate of Nominating Committee nominees as presented. The motion was seconded and the nominees were elected as presented.
Audit Committee:
- Craig Komschlies
Sodergren moved for election of the Audit Committee nominee as presented. The motion was seconded and the nominee was elected as presented.
Synod Assembly:
- Clarance Smith
- Tim Dufault
- Rogene Bergquist
Sodergren noted that three Council representatives will also attend the Synod Assembly. She then moved for election of the slate of Synod Assembly nominees. The motion was seconded and the nominees were elected as presented.
Westwood Lutheran Memorial Foundation Report: Craig Jergenson, president of Westwood Lutheran Memorial Foundation (Foundation), provided an overview of 2006 Foundation activities and accomplishments. A separate Foundation 2006 Annual Report was provided to attendees. Foundation highlights from 2006 included distributing over $26,000 in gifts and grants, receiving over $29,000 in new gifts, growing assets to over $615,000, and working to move forward the Thrivent grant process.
Jergenson noted a correction to the memorial section at page 22 of the Foundation Annual Report, whereby the listed memorial to Olive Weitz should instead reflect a memorial to Herbert Weitz.
New Business: President Tolzmann called for any new business, comments or discussion items. No items of new business, comment, or discussion were raised.
Hymn and Closing Prayer: Pastor Diane noted that the Spirit is wonderful at Westwood Lutheran Church, and she thanked the Congregation for the opportunity to move forward together. Assisted by Kris Langlois and Zeb Highben, Pastor Diane led the attendees in singing "Send Me, Jesus," a song from South Africa. Pastor Diane then gave the benediction and led the attendees in prayer.
Adjournment. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting participants voted to end the meeting. President Tolzmann then adjourned the meeting at approximately 8:00 p.m.
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Kim Ruckdaschel-Haley
Secretary
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