The Church Council wrapped up 2024 on Tuesday night. Lots of information was covered, including plans for the coming year.
There are two event dates set for next year to keep in mind. The first comes from the Children’s Spiritual Life & Education Committee, the Annual Pancake Breakfast set for April 6. This and the Spaghetti Dinner provide the funding for their programs. More will come out as it gets closer.
The second is the return of the Sausage Sale on February 8. This benefits the older Youth Spiritual Life and Education programs. This has been an inactive committee since COVID (other than the Sausage Sale in 2023) but that may change in 2025. The proceeds from this sale are set aside for Youth Mission Trips and ELCA Youth Gatherings.
This coming year may offer a new benefit- working with Youth from other area ELCA churches. Discussions have been held with other churches and there is interest in having joint events. We will see what 2025 will bring.
But there is a need for both purchasers and then volunteers to make the sausage. Jim Scarpaci is the Sausagemeister and it is delicious! It is a multiday process to set up the equipment and work area, then trim the pork shoulder into suitable sizes, then add the special spices, then grind and stuff the sausage, then bag it into five pound bags, then distribute it to purchasers while the workspace is cleaned up. Lots of “thens” in the sequence! I took part in 2023 and it was a lot of fun. I understand that in the past many of the church youth and their parents, grandparents, and other volunteers did the process. That sounds like a good plan to bring back. More information will be coming in early January, but in the meantime order blanks are available in the narthex or you can call orders into the church office.
The church has received a memorial Gift from Debbie Phelps in memory of Steve Phelps. Thank you, Debbie. Church Council is looking into modifying the north entrance area to share about who our congregation is. Many folks from the community use that entrance every week and this is a good chance to share with them who we are and what we are about. This process is just getting started and the congregation is invited to share ideas with Council members.
The preliminary Budget information was presented and discussed. The replacement of our current copier, purchased in 2015, was approved. A five- year lease of an updated new model will cut our maintenance cost in half and give us more options. Thanks to Office Manager Eloide Pinter for taking the lead on this analysis and bidding.
Special thanks also go to Scott Stanke, husband of Council Vice president Alice Mueller, who has spent this year developing a new reporting system for the church financial records. Treasurer Jacob Adams spends a fair amount of time taking information from our Quickbooks reports and converting it to a report in Excel and Word formats. Last year’s Audit questioned the process based on standard reporting practices, people at last year’s Annual Meeting said for years they did not understand the Annual Report and Budget and relied on the Treasurer, and so Scott undertook the project of creating simplified reporting that comes directly from our Quickbooks program. This will begin in 2025 but a simplified 2024 Annual Report and 2025 Budget will be made at the Annual Meeting (with a more detailed report available for those who request it). It will also simplify Treasurer Jacob’s job going forward! We appreciate your persistence, knowledge, and skill, Scott.
It has been great to see the church full of members and visitors the last few weekends. The Cookie Project, the Advent Cantata, and the New Member Welcome all brought extra visitors and members. This letter is written before the children bring back a Christmas Pageant this weekend and I suspect it will be very well attended. It is good to see some folks back in person for one or more of the services. There may also be more ministries returning too. In addition to older Youth, the Music and Worship Committee reports that there is strong interest in restoring the Bell Choir in 2025, a beautiful sound in our Sanctuary. More on this coming!
The simple message is that the more people who are physically part of our congregation, the more we can do as a group. It seems that, compared to a year ago, more people are involved. Let’s keep that increase going into 2025!
Finally, a Christmas Thank You Bonus was approved again this year for our staff. We are blessed with folks who are very dedicated to operating our church and its various ministries and we are grateful for all they do.
Your Church Council has worked very hard- and together as a group- to make sure the many ministries of St. John’s have been strong. Many wonderful things have been accomplished. It has been a joy to work with all of them this year. Please share your appreciation with them as we draw near the end of this year, and for some, the end of their terms of service.
Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas,
Dave Kromphardt
Council President