Randy Lund, Carolyn Fink and Bev Dirkin created a marvelous new website for the church. It is much more professional, including many links and videos. Please make sure you check it frequently. In addition to the weekly and monthly calendar schedules, important messages regarding our members will be posted. It is not always possible to inform everyone when something happens to one of our members, but the website makes this easier. For example, within 24 hours, Randy had posted the information about the passing of long-time member Karl Hokenmaier.
The Personnel Committee recommended to Council that we hire a temporary youth director to help maintain our youth program until such time as an associate pastor is identified. We were fortunate to add Kyle Merkle to our staff. He will continue his work through May 2009.
After many years of dedicated service, Sue Jones stepped down as choir director. The personnel committee opened up the position for people to apply. We were fortunate to identify Janet Hill to take over this important responsibility. Music is an important part of our worship at Prince of Peace. We were blessed to have Sue’s gifts for so long and fortunate to have Janet’s leadership at present.
The Call Committee was established under the capable leadership of Rob Boulis. Members of the committee include Tom Askew, Gary Bischof, Judy Buttery, Julie Cartier, Kelsey Jones, Dave Maurer, and Sue Stapleton. They have worked diligently to update the Congregational profile so that the Bishop’s office could begin identifying candidates for consideration. One candidate was interviewed but subsequently withdrew from consideration. Some updates were made to the profile following that experience and the committee is once again poised to interview candidates as they are identified by the synod office.
We have tried to consolidate meeting dates so as to be respectful of Pastor Paul’s family time and to help with scheduling for others who attend meetings. It is of ongoing concern that some of our council liaisons are still chairing their committees. We constantly seek ways to bring more congregation members into our active congregational life through leadership and membership in these ongoing ministry committees. Please open your hearts when you are asked to serve and allow time for service to our church family to be a priority in your life. Council members seek to provide leadership within the congregation, communicate clearly, seek input, and to give others the opportunity to use their considerable gifts.
We have a lot of work to do and look forward to your prayers, your input, and your participation. Thank you for the privilege of being able to serve as Prince of Peace’s Council President.
Gail MacNellis
Stewardship Committee Annual Report for2008
The Steward Leaders for this year were Kim and Wade Lawrence, Pastor Paul, Craig Rethwill, Jeff Schuhknecht and Karen Buss. Steve Bigelow served as our Council Liaison. Our goals were to learn about each other through fellowship, to expand our understanding of stewardship, and to provide a program of year-round stewardship to the congregation that would assist in the financial planning for 2009 and beyond. We are meeting these goals the following ways:
1. Committee meetings were generally held monthly at the church. Most meetings included a time for spiritual reflection as well as a time for business. Early in the year, we began a study of the book Our Lives are Not Our Own by Rochelle Melander and Harold Eppley in an effort to better understand our roles as stewards and steward leaders. As the time for the Fall Stewardship Campaign approached, our attention turned to matters related to the planning for that event.
2. We elected to continue with a Fall Stewardship Campaign, and consequently we held the annual stewardship drive (with the theme: Blessings to Share) in November 2008. After considering several response methods for our campaign, we elected to follow a plan laid out in The New Consecration Sunday by Herb Miller. Through a series of mailings, announcements, newsletter articles, temple talks and sermons, we prepared the congregation for Consecration Sunday with an emphasis on the spiritual basis of stewardship, and the idea that making a financial commitment is an act of worship. Our guest leader, Mr. Keith Mundy, ELCA Assistant Director for Stewardship, made three trips from Chicago to work with the Stewardship Committee and the congregation. He came in September to meet with the Stewardship Committee to help us with planning the event. He returned again in November (in the middle of a blizzard) for a dinner with the congregational leadership to finalize plans and provide inspiration and motivation for the group. And finally, he made a third trip to preach to the congregation on Consecration Sunday. His efforts were instrumental to the success of our campaign and we are deeply grateful for his contribution. Our Consecration Sunday service was followed by a catered meal, a Celebration Luncheon, and time for fellowship. The response to our campaign was wonderful. At this writing, while the total number of families which chose to pledge was down a little from last year, the total dollar amount pledged was increased. This will allow us to expand existing ministries and begin new ones as we go forward together as a congregation.
Overall, we felt that we worked hard and worked well together as a team committed to the greater understanding of how to be better stewards of our gifts and how to instill that sense of responsibility in congregation of Prince of Peace. We extremely thankful for and grateful to all of those volunteers who stepped up over the course of the year to help us meet our goals, and we look forward to continuing to strengthen our commitment, as a congregation, to stewardship in the coming months. As Stewardship Committee Co-Chairpersons, we would also like to express our heartfelt appreciation for the guidance provided by Pastor Paul, and the commitment and enthusiasm shown by all the members of the Stewardship Committee.
Respectfully submitted,
Wade Lawrence
Kim Lawrence
Stewardship Committee Co-Chairpersons
Call Committee Annual Report for 2008
The Call Committee continues to work on behalf of the congregation to identify an Associate Pastor. The committee began its work by revising the congregational profile. This is required by the synod office before any candidates can be identified for consideration.
Over the summer the Call Committee was pursuing a candidate who withdrew from consideration as the summer ended. Subsequently it was decided that the committee needed to revisit the church profile to better highlight the integral role the Associate Pastor is expected to play in parish life.
To begin that process the job descriptions for the Associate and Senior Pastors were revised by the Personnel Committee. The profile was then updated by the Call Committee and resubmitted to the synod office. The process was back on track in October and the Call Committee is currently interviewing a candidate.
Extended Ministries Endowment Committee 2008 Annual Report
2008 Disbursements
The Extended Ministries Endowment Committee announced, in early 2008, that $3000.00 would be made available for disbursement to potential extended ministries in 2008. This amount was a portion of the total 2007 interest income earned through investment of the Endowment Fund.
A letter from the Endowment Committee was sent to each Ongoing Ministry Committee, as well as the congregation staff, informing them of the total funds available in 2008 for disbursement and the process for requesting funds for potential extended ministries.
No disbursements were made for 2008 from the Endowment Fund(s) proceeds in order to retain principal as a result of unfavorable fund performance.
2008 Financial Summary & Audit
|
Balance |
Balance |
ELCA Endowment & Money Market Funds |
$ 64,839.91 |
$ 56,600.24 |
Kalamazoo Community Foundation Fund |
$ 7,745.75 |
$ 6,541.50 |
Totals |
$ 72,585.66 |
$ 63,153.21 |
*Balance statements through December 2008 have not yet been issued by the financial institutions.
Total contributions received to the Endowment Fund in 2008 were $660.98.
The Extended Ministries Endowment Committee and Funds were not formally included in the annual audit this year. The committee performed a self-audit in-lieu of this omission with no exceptions noted.
Congregational Gifting
The Extended Ministries Endowment Committee finalized with Council the “Pathways of Giving” program. This program is designed to more clearly communicate to the congregation about the Extended Ministries Endowment Fund(s) and the “Pathways of Giving” within the congregation. Brochures have been printed and will be included in the February 2009 newsletter mailings and placed in the narthex kiosks.
Purpose
The purpose of the Extended Ministries Endowment Fund is to provide for ministries beyond the operational budget of this congregation. The purpose of the Extended Ministries Endowment Committee is to serve as custodian of the Fund(s). The committee encourages and welcomes gifts of any size, bequests, memorials, estates, and other assets to the fund. The principal of the Endowment Fund is retained and invested. Only the interest income generated from that investment is able to be spent to enable the further growth of the church and its extended ministries. If an Ongoing Ministry Committee or Ministry Support Committee is interested in learning more about requesting monies for a future extended ministry, please speak with one of the committee members. The committee welcomes written requests with the following information:
- Name of Requestor - Ongoing Ministry Committee or Ministry Support Committee, if applicable
- Name of the extended ministry
- Brief description and potential impact of the extended ministry
- Amount of monies requested
The committee will review the requests and will determine if monies will be disbursed, with the approval of Council.
2008 Committee Members
I would like to thank the committee members and Pastor for their faithful work this year.
Voting Members: Ex-Officio Members:
Heidi Bremer, Secretary Gail MacNellis, Council President
Sue Grinder, Correspondence Pastor Paul Nuechterlein
Dave Maurer, Treasurer
Karl Klemm
Lori Hannemann, Chair
Sue Grinder will roll off the committee this year. A very special thank you to Sue for her wisdom and service!
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori Hannemann, Chair
Alive Service 2008 Annual Report
April 2008 saw the birth of a brand-new worship service: ALIVE! Originally conceived by then-youth director Pam Cochran as an outreach to teen-aged youth, it has evolved into an alternative worship gathering which welcomes all ages.
It is based on the principles of emerging church and has as its core value radical hospitality. It is inspired by the love of God which continually pursues us and invites us into deeper and richer relationships – with him and with each other.
The multimedia-driven gathering seeks to engage all the senses in worship. While keeping the traditional Lutheran structure of Gathering, Word, Meal and Sending, it utilizes energetic contemporary music and language, as well as ancient forms of worship like lectio divina (a form of prayer) and labyrinth-walking (a form of meditation).
It has been our privilege to welcome, through this gathering, a variety of engaging speakers. Most come from within the ELCA, but others come to us from other faith traditions and bring to us the richness of their different perspectives. We have welcomed a Roman Catholic deacon, a Baptist pastor, a Presbyterian minister, and a non-denominational group of thespians – to name only a few. All have shared with us the Good News of Jesus Christ from the vantage point of their own tradition, and we have welcomed the opportunity to share our faith traditions as well.
Like many people, the ALIVE! gathering has struggled with questions of identity. The gathering has always been missional and in order to better reflect that orientation, we have begun to re-frame ALIVE!’s worship practices to better attract seekers of all ages. Many people have no church background whatsoever; our worship seeks to be accessible even to those with no formal religious experience.
Our core value of radical hospitality is reflected in our worship. For example, we welcome everyone to the Lord’s Supper, where grape juice is served in order to be hospitable to those who prefer not to drink alcohol. We were thinking of moving the gathering to Sunday morning to run concurrently with the 10:30 service, but have decided for now to keep our Sunday evening, 6:32 p.m. timeslot in order to be more accessible to those who do not regularly attend church.
Another facet of hospitality concerns language. ALIVE! seeks to reflect the church calendar, but care is taken to avoid using exclusive “insider language.” Terms which may be new to the unchurched worshipper (and worshippers from other faith traditions) are carefully explained as they are used.
For right now, we need your help! We need musicians, visual and sound support persons, people to help set up the gathering, people to sign up to provide refreshments - to name a few service opportunities.
There are both short-term and long-term opportunities to help out. We are very blessed to have a “core” group of committed long-term people and we invite you to help out where you can, and when you can. There are many different spiritual gifts - serve as you are able and as you are called. ALIVE! has a spot for you.
If you feel led to serve in this way, please contact any member of the ALIVE! planning team: Andrew Stange (ALIVE! music director), Bill and Gena Baldwin, Beth and Cassie Whatley, Bev Dirkin, and Kathy Schuen.
What an exciting time to be the church! See you at ALIVE!
Sanctuary ChoirAnnual Report, 2008
After having celebrated many years of service as directors of the Sanctuary Choir by Marlowe Crocker and Sue Jones, Janet Hill was named Sanctuary Choir Director in the late spring. The transition was prepared through conversations with choir members and a questionnaire for members of the congregation relative to perceptions and expectations of the choir’s role in worship at Prince of Peace.
Rehearsals began with two “Early Bird” Rehearsals late in August as we set out together. This is an amazing choir; their response to the inevitable changes that come with a new director has been very rewarding. Rarely have I worked with a choir so quick to respond musically to the many texts and styles we have explored in such a short time as this choir has!
We have welcomed several new singers to the group this fall, and we expect a number of guests, some returning and some new singers for our Christmas Choir this year. We look forward to welcoming new members in January. Our rehearsals are still on Thursday evenings from 7-8.
Janet Hill, Sanctuary Choir Director
Liturgical Art and Design Committee – Worship Ministry Annual Report for 2008
“Theology and the arts are architectures of meaning, fragile structures through whose doors and windows we glimpse the mystery of our being. Hungry to hear and see some part of the truth about ourselves, we go to church, the synagogue, and the theatre. Each time we hope to be called by name, to be surprised, reminded of who we are and whose we are. The artist and the theologian share the task of inviting us across these mysterious thresholds.”
Taken from Art in Service of the Sacred by Catherine Kapikian
Challenged by this statement we embarked on ways to implement these thoughts for our parish. During the Easter season an exhibit of botanical lithographs depicting plants from the Holy Land was installed using out new hanging and lighting system in the narthex.
An “Alleluia” silk panel was designed and executed for hanging over the baptismal font during the Easter season. A silk hanging titled “Wandering Grapevine” by artist Jeanne Fitzgerald was purchased for use in the sanctuary. Positioned over the baptismal font during the harvest season it added color, texture and shape as the light from the south facing windows moved through it.
Images from Sacred Spaces, a collection of photographs depicting architecture, furnishings, and the decorative arts from a variety of churches was exhibited in the narthex during the fall season.
Using the text from our mission statement which is a small portion of the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, and also the text from Galatians 5:22-26, known as the Fruit of the Spirit, we began a conversation with quilt artist June Belitz. The goal is to provide a piece of textile art for the narthex that will strive to bring these two themes to life in form, color, composition and texture in a way that will allow different meanings for different people. We have an agreement with the artist for her services, so a sequestered budget carried over from 2008 will cover some of the cost of this piece. Additional funds will be necessary. We hope to complete this in 2009.
We were unable to execute any significant exhibit of photographs for the 10 anniversary of the new worship space and the 45th anniversary of Prince of Peace in December due to insufficient funds for this type of archival work. Additionally our historic photographs are only minimally organized and not archived. If we endeavor to save any of the history of this church as we move toward the 50th anniversary, significant attention and funding will be required. We honor and respect the efforts of those members who have gone before us by ensuring that this happens.
The carryover of items unfunded include revision of our name tag boards, better communication /exhibit furnishings for the narthex, as well as new projects involving architectural or colored glass for our sanctuary entry doors, and a welcoming sculptural piece for the plaza as you come in from the north parking area.
One funding option for art in our worship environment would be to restore the designated gifts from memorials. Currently this is not an option under the Special Gifts Fund. It has been requested.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeanette S. Field, Chair
Wendell Buckland, Jean Darling, Dennis Darling, Jennifer Gatz, Connie Prior, John Wiler
Library Annual Report for 2008
Mission Statement
“The purpose of the church library is to add and maintain an updated collection of Christian materials to meet the spiritual needs of all the members in the congregation”.
The library committee meets one or two times a year depending on the business that needs to be addressed. The meetings are held on Thursday mornings in May and September. A November meeting is scheduled only if needed.
As a member of the National Church Library Association we receive current publications with reviews about church library materials to help us choose what to add to the collection. It is a valuable resource for us to use.
The budget this year was spent mostly for new materials for the collection. The breakdown was 88% was spent on books and 12% was spent for the NCLA dues.
Sunday school classes, preschool-4th grade, visited the library again this fall during the Sunday school hour for stories and instructions on checking out library books. After this visit the children’s area gets more use so it is important that we continually update this section.
This year the committee has worked on developing a selection policy, challenged materials policy, gift policy, and a weeding policy. The policies will be incorporated into the Prince of Peace Library Handbook.
We thank the church council and congregation for supporting the library and a special thank you to Pastor Paul for his support in achieving our goals.
In Christ’s Work,
Claudia Blahnik
Ann DiJulio
Dianne Hellman
Carolyn Anderson, Librarian
Kitchen Committee Annual Report for 2008
The kitchen committee oversees the order and cleanliness of the kitchen. In January the group gathers to give the kitchen a major cleaning and periodically checks the kitchen area throughout the year to take care of those things that need attention or calls on others to help with a task.
If you leave anything in the refrigerator or freezer, please be sure to label it with your name or organization’s name and date. Then remember to remove it when the activity has been completed. Items left unlabeled will be available for use by others or discarded. When something is amiss, please contact the chairman or leave a note on the bulletin board over the sink by the coffee maker. If you have left something behind, please check the area directly to the right of the three deep sinks. About every four months, items that have not been claimed by the owner will be donated to the Love for Children fund.
I want to thank Tomi Mursch and Karen Josuns for their diligence this year and anyone else unknown to me who may have contributed to keeping the kitchen area neat and clean. I encourage more of our POP members to consider joining this committee as it is not difficult nor a large commitment of time.
Submitted by: Claudia Blahnik, chairperson
Members at large: Karen Josuns, Tomi Mursch