Committees

Pe

		The Congregational Council is the leadership team for our church. The Executive Committee guides the work of the Council (bolded names) and the members serve as Council Liaisons to the standing committees of the congregation. This leadership team also includes a Youth Representative and the Congregational Treasurer. The work of the Council is conducted in monthly meetings or retreats. Council members are elected annually and serve three year terms.
Rob Boulis rboulis@chartermi.net	President
John Brown johnbrown@pprmi.com	Vice President
Mike Prior mico.prior@sbcglobal.net	Secretary
Michelle Eldridge meldridge@lvmcapital.com	Treasurer
Mary Armitage marmi76226@aol.com	Evangelism
Adam Prior mico.prior@sbcglobal.net	Youth
Bev Dirkin bdirkin@parker.com	Stewardship
Chris Hopper chris.hopper@stryker.com	Youth
Open	Fun & Fellowship
Mina French mina_french@yahoo.com	Christian Education
Karl Behnke kjbehnke@sbcglobal.net	Social Concerns
Van Timm van.timm@honeywell.com	Finance
Jim Vogt jimv47@aol.com	Worship
Pete Eldridge eldridgep@kalamazoocity.org	Property
Paul Nuechterlein, Sr. Pastor	ex-officio
Dave Dockweiler, Assoc. Pastor	ex-officio

Extended Ministries Endowment Committee

The purpose of the Extended Ministries Endowment Fund is to provide for ministries beyond the operational budget of this congregation. The Extended Ministries Endowment Committee serves as the custodian of the Fund. 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. Click here to see some of the activities we have supported.
The Endowment Committee annually submits letters to Council Liaisons for each Ongoing Ministry Committee informing them of the disbursement monies available and the review process. 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 determine if monies will be dispersed, with the approval of Council. Voting members of the Extended Ministries Endowment Committee are John Ablao, Karl Klemm, Kelly DeRango, David Grinder and Lori Hannemann (Chair). Non voting members include Pastor Nuechterlein and Council President, Dick Hewitt.

Bev Dirkin (Chair), Gena Baldwin (not pictured), Pat Boulis, Rob Boulis and Carole Nelson(not pictured)

"If each person does what they are gifted to do, however insignificant any individual piece may seem, a rich tapestry of evangelism will result. There is no single evangelist mold that every Christian has to squeeze into. Indeed, it is because of the diversity of the community and its giftedness that evangelism can take as many forms as there are people to hear the good news. "

… John Bowen from Evangelism for Normal People

EvANGELism An angel is a messenger from God who delivers God’s news to someone. Evangelism is about delivering this God given “Good News” that God came to earth in the person of Jesus, his son, and that Jesus brings into reality the reconciliation of God with the world. Evangelism is the responsibility of everyone of us and our Evangelism Committee meets to explore how to live into this responsibility.

The Evangelism Team at Prince of Peace seeks diverse ways to share the Good News of Jesus by acknowledging the many gifts of God's disciples and by encouraging and empowering the use of those gifts. We also strive to understand more deeply the relationship between active Discipleship and Evangelism and share that understanding with others. All are welcome to participate in our team meetings when we plan our activities for the year.

The Liturgical Arts Committee, part of the Worship Committee, works to support our Worship Services through the enhancement of our sanctuary and narthex spaces with the works of art. These can be either permanent pieces or seasonal pieces that focus our attention, catch our imagination and engage our senses.

The “Lift High the Cross” initiative, led by this committee, raised funds to enhance our Sanctuary Cross to increase its size and impact at the front of our worship space.

Mary Lou Askew, Laurie Brown (not pictured), Joan Buckland, Wade Lawrence, Randy Lund (not pictured), Bob Pakko (Chair), Kathy Schuen, Elfie Schuen (not pictured), Beth Whately (not pictured), Pastor Paul (not pictured)

Our Prince of Peace Prayer Team meets monthly to pray for and about the concerns of our community. The weekly prayer list is shared with the congregation in our Sunday bulletins. Special requests are also received and incorporated in the Prayer Team meetings.

Whenever our community faces trials, our congregational family faces issues of medical problems, surgeries, hardship, family crises, etc., our Prayer Team gathers in prayer around those issues and asks for God’s help. Visiting homes or hospitals, the Team gathers to include those with concerns in the circle of prayer. This powerful ministry has reinforced God’s love and presence in times of need, with their love and presence.

Special requests are received by the e-mail Prayer Team Hot Line as well as by dropping a written request in the prayer request box.

The Property Committee is responsible for the general upkeep and required maintenance of our facility. This can include hiring and oversight of contractor work, regular upkeep items like grass mowing and snow removal and coordination of custodial care. Property also includes the purchase of and care for our furnishings.

A subcommittee supporting Property is the Landscaping Committee. Organizing Spring and Fall Clean-ups, shrub maintenance, floral plantings and care for our landscaping is a daunting task. We are blessed by the many who participate in the care of our facilities and grounds.

'

Hey, Heaven's the other way, fella!"

Louise Berdahl (not pictured), Pat Boulis, Laurel Hopper (not pictured), Sara Krebill, Claudia Lee, Holly McNally, Tammy Olsen (Chair), B.J. Stark (not pictured) and Sheryl Swodzinski

We support our community's needs by directing monetary contributions, through organizations such as:

Kalamazoo Deacon's Conference
Housing Resources, Inc.
Portage Community Outreach Center
Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes
Lutheran Social Services
Love, INC
What-So-Ever Free Bed Association

Free Health Clinic of Kalamazoo
Lutheran Campus Ministry
Covenant Senior Day Program
Ministry With Community
Open Door &Next Door Shelters
Kalamazoo Gospel Mission

We also work on various mission Projects, which include:

Collection of personal and household items for Love for Children and the Gospel Mission; American Red Cross (baked goods, volunteers, and blood-donors); PCOC and Love, INC (gifts for adopted families); Habitat for Humanity (workers, snacks, Restore) and Lutheran World relief (blankets, health kits, and quilts).

Participation in fund-raising activities such as the Walk for Diabetes and Crop Walk and fund raising events for Lutheran World Relief.

Support of Food Resource Bank, SWELL (respite day for area parents of foster children) and ELCA Hunger Appeals.

Bev Dirkin (not pictured), Kim Lawrence, Wade Lawrence (Chair), Craig Rethwill and Jeff Schuhknecht (not pictured)

God has blessed us with a diversity of abundant gifts. Our Stewardship Committee takes on the responsibilities of reminding us of our gifts, educating us and leading us in our utilization of these gifts in our lives and in our congregational mission. God provides for our needs, but God has given us so much richness in our gifts of resources and talents, that we, in response, practice sharing these gifts with God’s world through mission.

Check out the ways we share our gifts with the community on the Social Concerns page, with each other through Worship, Music, Liturgical Arts, Christian Education and the Missions of the ELCA. At Prince of Peace we give of our money and our talents, all gifts given to us by God. Our Stewardship Committee leads us through identifying our gifts, planning and committing them to our ministry together and educating us in our Mission work locally and through our church-wide ministries. If you read our Core Values you will understand the importance we place on utilization of gifts in response to our God of Love.

"The Blood of Christ shed for you."

Worship Committee members: Janet Hill, Kent Hill, Gail MacNellis, Anne Vogt and Eric Rice

Worship at Prince of Peace is very dynamic and spirit-filled. The Worship Committee plans the many aspects of our Worship Services and leads the many persons who are called to offer their support to carry out our worship gatherings. Altar Guild prepares the sacraments and the sanctuary for the services. Music gathers and rehearses the choirs, instrumentalists and soloists to enhance our services through music. Liturgical Arts designs and employs visual arts to add beauty and further engage our senses. Many individuals are called to support as readers, worship assistants, communion assistants, baptismal preparers, ushers and acolytes on Sunday mornings and for seasonal midweek services.

Styles of worship, order of service and procedures, special decorations and musical enhancements are the focus of the Worship Committee. Theological discussions of why choices are made provide exciting insight into what it means to be Lutheran in our context at Prince of Peace. There is always an opportunity to use your spiritual gifts in participation in worship planning and implementation.

Members: Lisa Bernlohr, chair; Pat Boulis, Kelsey Jones, Claudia Lee, Gail MacNellis, and Maryann Rigoni, council liaison.

The Fun & Fellowship Committee seeks to draw people closer together to strengthen them in friendship by offering a variety of events outside of regular Sunday worship and learning. Our goal is to include members, friends and strangers, increasing our ability to serve others and form a stronger church.

Events are posted on the bulletin board in the hallway next to the library. There are sign-up sheets for various events on the kiosk in the gathering space and announcements of events are listed in the newsletter and weekly Peace Proclamations.

Confirmation

Sunday School

Youth Committee members: Julie Cartier, Bobby Clyne, Mary Clyne, Lisa Creed, Chris Hopper, Kelsey Jones, Sue Jones and Shellee Seymour

The Finance Committee oversees the financial activity of the Congregation, prepares and develops the congregation’s annual operating budget, and make recommendations to the Congregation Council regarding management of the congregation’s financial resources. The Finance Committee provides regular reviews of the congregation’s financial statements including identification of significant variances from the operating budget. They make policy recommendations to the Congregation Council regarding accounting, bookkeeping, authorization of expenditures and overall financial safeguards and security of congregation assets.

Members of the Finance Committee include: Heidi Bremer; Michelle Eldridge, treasurer; Megan Floyd, bookkeeper; Sue Stapleton; and Van Timm, Council Liaison.

Picture in September

Web Master
Randy Lund
Administrator
Bev Dirkin
Editors
Bev Dirkin
Gail MacNellis
Church Office Contact
Terri Kopanski
Contributors
The entire congregation

The web team is responsible for the maintaining this web site.

Our mission is two fold.

Provide timely and accurate information to our members.
Invite others to join us by providing a window into what we believe and do here at Prince of Peace.

The work begins with anyone in the congregation that wishes to have information posted on this site. They create the basic content which is put into web form by an editor. The adminstrator is responsible for maintaining the public site and keeping everything coordinated. Technical support is provided by the Web Master.