Occasional updates from our Church Council President.
January 12, 2023
The Immanuel Church Council, at its January meeting, approved a motion to charge a call committee, working with the Minneapolis Synod of the ELCA, to identify candidates for call as an associate pastor. In formulating the parameters of this call the Council:
Based on these discussions, the Council has decided to call a new Associate Pastor to Immanuel for 25 hours per week, with the associate Pastor on site or providing caring ministries at least Sunday through Wednesday each week. Moving forward with this call and with ministry staffing at Immanuel, our goals are three-fold:
The Associate Pastor, along with Senior Pastor Paul Nelson and Deacon Savannah Olaphson, will form our ordained ministry team at Immanuel.
THE IMMANUEL ORDAINED STAFF AND CARING MINISTRY TEAM WILL BE CONSTITUTED AS FOLLOWS:
Senior Pastor Paul Nelson, Full time: Worship, Evangelism, Stewardship.
Associate Pastor, Worship, 25 hours a week: Worship, Adult Faith Formation, Fellowship.
Deacon Savannah Olaphson, 30 hours a week: Worship, Social Concerns, Caring Ministry.
Kari Totall, 10 hours a week: Parish Nurse.
NEXT STEPS
Please join us in supporting our search for our next associate pastor with your prayers. And may the Holy Spirit guide Immanuel as we continue to serve God.
Pastor Paul Nelson
Paul Savereide, President
December 15, 2022
Blessings to each of you during this Advent season. My hope is that you may find hope, joy, peace, and love within yourself and with those around you. Advent marks the beginning of the church calendar, and with new beginnings we have new possibilities, including here at Immanuel as we evaluate and assess our ministry needs.
The Church Council met this week to discuss these needs and how to address them:
Calling an associate pastor is vitally important for our congregation, and I would like to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to contact me at president@immanuel.us.
Paul Savereide
April 12, 2022, By Paul Savereide
The Immanuel Church Council met on Saturday April 9 for an all-day retreat at Immanuel. Our task for a good part of the day was to review three of the Five Strategic Priorities to begin moving from statements to action by the church. We reviewed:
The notes from each of the nine reviews sessions are being compiled. In future Council meetings, we will review these results and prioritize actions and identify resources to put this work into action.
Read about all Five Strategic Priorities
March 25, 2022, by Paul Savereide
As we start to close out our Building Up capital campaign and look forward to our upcoming Raise the Roof campaign, it seems fitting to take the time to:
OPENING DOORS, 2016 - 2019: Let’s start all the way back to 2016 when we launched the Opening Doors Campaign with the multi-year objective of updating and modernizing our facilities and making significant contributions to two wonderful outreach programs. We received pledges of $700k for this campaign and in an effort to jump start these initiatives we took out a 10-year mortgage for $680k in the fall of that year. As part of that campaign, we:
BUILDING UP, 2019 - 2022: In 2019 we launched the Building Up campaign which continued the facility updating efforts and also made significant contributions to two additional outreach initiatives. We will wrap up this campaign in June and if current trends continue, we will exceed $700k in giving. As a part of this campaign, we:
MORTGAGE PAID OFF: During this time, funds from both campaigns have been used to pay down the mortgage. At our most recent annual meeting in January 2022, a plan was presented and received congregational approval to use reserved funds currently on hand to pay off the mortgage early leaving Immanuel debt free. We are excited to share that the final payment was made earlier this month.
MORTGAGE BURNING CELEBRATION, JUNE 5: Join us on Pentecost Sunday, June 5th, when we will celebrate the burning of our mortgage as a congregation.
Thanks to your faithful giving, our congregation can enter the next capital campaign debt-free and continue to expand upon the great work that was started with these two previous campaigns.
Paul Savereide – Church President, president@immanuel.us
Connie Cadden – Church Treasurer
September 20, 2021, by Tony Szczepaniak
This spring we communicated a general plan and timeline regarding our efforts to develop a long-term plan that will guide Immanuel over the next 3-5 years.
In September we released a summary of Council’s work thus far. We have received feedback that affirms the Five Pillars, or areas of ministry focus, that we have identified; however, it is important to give you an opportunity to provide feedback and input before we start the work of developing specific plans for each of the five pillars.
You are invited to attend one of two Focus Group sessions
We will provide an overview of the five pillars and ask for specific feedback and input. We will also solicit volunteers to participate in the next step which is to develop the specific plans.
For clarity, neither of the sessions will be hybrid. This is to ensure we can focus on either the in-person or virtual audience, rather than both simultaneously. Note that should the pandemic numbers dictate that the October 10th session needs to become a virtual session, we will adjust accordingly.
For the in-person session on Sunday, October 10th, we do ask for a confirmation of attendance so that we can plan to provide food for those in attendance and minimize waste. Again, please confirm your attendance by registering online.
Thank you for your consideration in attending.
Tony Szczepaniak, President (president@immanuel.us)
Pastor Paul Nelson, Senior Pastor (paul@immanuel.us)
As the summer heat begins to give way to cool, crisp fall days, the activity at Immanuel begins to heat up as preparations are in full swing for our September kick off! Your Council was busy this summer reviewing our Vision, Mission, and Values and developing several strategic pillars or priorities for us to consider embracing over the next 5-years or so.
REVIEW OF VISION, MISSION & VALUES
After reviewing these, Council agreed that these remained relevant and resulted in a few updates to language, but largely intact.
Our Vision: God is calling us to reach deeper into our congregation and further out into our community to better know and care for one another.
Our Mission Statement: CELEBRATE that God is with us! GROW as Christ lives in us! SERVE as the Spirit loves through us!
Our Values
STRATEGIC PILLARS
In addition to the review of the Vision, Mission, and Values, we began the process of looking forward asking the important question – “What does our community of faith look like in 5-years? 10-years?" After much discussion, drafting, discerning, and praying, we present the following pillars. As you review, please consider that you are reading these statements 5-years in the future, not today. Therefore, these pillars are aspirational and may not demonstrate completely who we are as a community and what we look like.
1) We know who is at the center of all we do – Christ. We remind ourselves continually that we are together in the name of Jesus Christ and seek to follow Him and become a reflection of His love in everything we do. We focus on maintaining and deepening a relationship with Him and sharing the Gospel as He calls us to.
2) We welcome, affirm, and celebrate diversity in all contexts as we work toward a fuller understanding of God’s call to justice. We believe that all people are created in God’s image and that God’s imagination for diversity and justice is limitless. We listen to and learn from diverse voices resulting in deeper relationships with individuals within and outside of Immanuel, and with partner ministries. We participate in God’s continuing work of restoration, reconciliation, and redemption for all creation.
3) We have strong engagement within our community. The engagement of members and faith partners is high and broad. We do this by encouraging each member to maintain a personal ministry to help meet the needs within our church and surrounding community. We are demonstrating a love and faith in Jesus Christ through the programs we offer to our members. These programs support our faith and encourage members to seek Christ in all circumstances and situations.
4) We are a growing congregation. We strive to welcome people of all generations, to understand their needs and perspectives, and help them grow in their relationships with Jesus Christ. Our activities and plans reflect a lively, rich, inclusive congregation with a deep and sincere passion for worshipping, learning, and serving God together with people of all ages.
5) We are transitioning staff effectively. Through open, honest dialogue, we are executing against plans to transition a long-term, seasoned team and leadership. The new faces and perspectives are bringing forward new ideas and perspectives that build upon and acknowledge the foundations that have been built. Our systems and processes help attract and retain a strong staff team.
NEXT STEPS
It is our intent to engage the congregation in small, working group discussions groups to strengthen our collective understanding of the pillars and to develop 3-5 plans to pursue them. As part of our September kick off, we will be inviting the Congregation to select one of the pillars and commit to participating in the working groups In September – December.
This is an exciting time for our community of faith. Please prayerfully consider how God is calling you to help us continue to keep our eyes on Him and spreading the Gospel within our community.
Peace,
Tony Szczepaniak, President
Paul Nelson, Senior Pastor
Greetings! March has been a busy month for your Council!
First, Council completed one action item from the 2021 Annual Meeting. During the January 2021 Annual Meeting, it was clarified that the Bylaws prohibits individuals from service on the Nominating Committee for more than one year. Therefore, the plans to move the 2020 Nominating Committee forward required a revisit. To simplify forward movement, Council was given the authority to fill the committee for 2021. This occurred with a vote to approve the new committee who includes – Jeannie DeReemer, Jody Ebert, Jerry Martin, and Scott Anderson,
Second, as part of the Annual Meeting, we conducted Zoom breakouts to receive feedback about how the church is meeting your spiritual needs and how it can continue to support you in a post-pandemic environment. This was the first step of a year long journey to develop a 3-year plan that is focused on 3-5 key pillars that support our vision and mission while amplifying our values. At this time, the effort to identify the pillars is strategic, not operational, and will not seek to address matters such as the number or times of services, the themes of upcoming church seasons, or which service partners to continue to support.
Council met on Saturday, March 13th to review the Zoom breakout discussions and discuss the vision, mission, and values, which are nearly 20-years old. An April meeting is scheduled to create a list of potential pillars that could become part of our 3-year plan. The list will then be reduced to a manageable number before giving the congregation an opportunity to provide feedback and help shape the work in a special mid-year meeting. The timing of all of this remains fluid but here is an outline of the general plan, which is subject to change.
WHEN |
WHAT |
OUTCOME |
WHO |
March |
Council Retreat Part 1 |
Understanding of Annual Meeting breakout feedback and deepened awareness of vision, mission, values |
Council |
April |
Council Retreat Part 2 |
Long list of potential strategic pillars |
Council |
May |
Strategic Pillar Meeting 1 |
Short list of strategic pillars and general sense of timing for each one |
Council Small Group |
June |
Council Meeting |
Council discusses and affirms strategic pillars |
Council |
|
Mid-year Meeting |
Congregation provides input into the strategic pillars |
Congregation |
July – September |
Small Group Meetings |
Prepare 3-year action plans |
Council and At large volunteers from Congregation |
October |
Council Meeting |
Review 3-year action plans |
Council and small group chairs |
November |
Council Meeting |
Approve 3-year action plans |
Council |
January 2022 |
Annual Meeting |
Review and vote on 3-year strategic plan |
Congregation |
We welcome feedback you have on the above plan or interest in being a part of this plan. Feel free to reach out to me at president@immanuel.us if the Spirit drives you to do either or both!
Thank you!
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