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February Meetings
February 5, 2008 Team Meeting
About 40 TEAM members and visitors, along with Pastors Rita Gardner Tweed and Jerry Wahl met on February 5th at All Saints Lutheran Church in Hudson. Pastor George Meslow facilitated the meeting and led devotions. The following notes were provided by Sharon Bellak.
Report on consolidation votes: 5 churches voted overwhelmingly for consolidation on January 27th. King of Kings voted for consolidation on February 3rd. King of Kings also voted on the sale of their property, and did not approve the sale.
Their purpose is to set agendas and keep things rolling. TEAM still makes decisions. Leadership Council members selected:
All Saints:
rep. J.C. Pontiff
alt. Ginny Schloss
First:
rep. Hertta Holfeld
alt. Brian Minkin
Immanuel:
rep. Mae Haines
alt. Larry Lehlbach
Joyful Spirit:
rep. Bob Memoli
alt. Karin Beeten
King of Glory:
rep. Sharon Bellak
alt. Darrell Hargreaves
King of Kings:
rep. Gene Kortier
alt. Sharon Griffin
Discussion of options as to the number of sites to be selected:
No decision was made. Instead of concentrating on the facilities, we decided to concentrate on mission, and be creative about our possibilities.
The discussion included:
A parish model with 2 churches was suggested and compared to 2 separate churches. Multiple-site churches would increase the breadth of ministry under one umbrella.
Youth care, senior care centers, schools, etc.
Current worship attendance is approximately 900 people, and our current income of $8-9,000,000 total budget needs to be considered.
Plan for today AND tomorrow.
BE CREATIVE.
Talk to real estate agents now for info.
One of our youth wrote a logo for us: Six churches entwined as one to better share the love of the Holy One.
Homework:
List criteria for MISSION sites: education, school worship. etc.
Lenten services at 11:00 at First Lutheran and 6:15 at Immanuel, both including a meal,
Commandment 11 in Concert on Saturday March 1st at 7:00 p.m. at Joyful Spirit.
Men in Mission meet the second Saturday every month.
Son-Rise Service on Easter at Gulf Harbors Beach at 7:00 a.m. March 23rd.
Now that all 6 churches have voted to proceed with the consolidation process, the real work begins. At the last TEAM (Team Exploring Area Ministry) meeting, it was decided that we needed a smaller group to spearhead our progress. So we formed a leadership team with a representative and an alternate from each church. Last night, we had our first leadership meeting, and what a Spirit-driven meeting ---filled with enthusiasm and energy!
Attendance: Pastor
Jerry Wahl, Pastor Rita Gardner-Tweed, Pastor
Jerry Nordsiek, J.C. Pontiff, Hertta Holfeld, Mae
Haines, Bob Memoli, Sharon Bellak, Gene Kortier, Ginny
Schloss, Brian Minkin, Karin Beeten,
and Darrell Hargreaves.
Pastor Jerry began with devotions
based on John 3:16.
Bob was elected chairman after Hertta nominated and Mae seconded his nomination. Sharon was elected vice-chair and secretary. after being nominated by Bob and seconded by Brian. Sharon then suggested a name for the group --- TLC --- which was accepted. TLC stands for TEAM Leadership Council, and also reminds us that we need to proceed with Tender Loving Care.
We understand that it is our responsibility to bring recommendations to the congregations for ministry plans in the area. So,we then worked on goals and guiding principles, beginning with the TEAM objective: Revitalize Lutheran ministry in West Pasco County to effectively reach and serve people of all ages in the area by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
Our efforts are based on Scripture, especially the following passages:
Ephesians 4:1-6
Matthew 28:18-20
Acts 2:42-47
1st Corinthians:12:4-5
Genesis 12:2 and Matthew 5:14-16,which
were referred to in Reclaiming the “L” Word.
Two suggestions have been made for names of new congregations:
Lamb of God Lutheran by Larry Lehlbach
New Life Lutheran by Nanci Larson
We then listed short-term and long-term needs for each congregation:
1st: Pastoral care
King of Kings: Pastoral needs: hope to stay with TEAM
King of Glory: finances and expansion
Immanuel: apathy among some; help elderly more
All Saints: awareness of what can be offered, and growth
Joyful Spirit: educate people to build excitement; team work
Reminders: All 6 churches come equally to this process: we ALL sacrifice for the benefit of all. Also, the Weave Us Together service showed us that we need to dream bigger dreams and enlarge our community.
We wrote guiding principles for TLC:
1) Our process will be beneficial to all 6 churches.
2) We will meet needs of all ages.
3) We will keep our Lutheran identity.
4) We will connect to the whole church --- the Fl.-Bahamas Synod and the ELCA
5) We will make both short-term and long-term plans.
6) We are grounded in Scripture.
7) We will meet the needs of the community.
8) We will honor the heritage of all churches.
9) We will reach the un-churched.
10) We will begin new churches and ministries.
11) We will look first to our Lutheran family for development.
12) We will tithe for the glory of God.
13) We will be faithful to the Gospel.
We then assigned specific tasks:
1) Each church should supply a copy of the 2007 Parochial Report.
2) Mae will research school population demographics.
3) Bob will contact Matt Meseya (sp.?) re: market analysis and appraisals for all the churches, and opinions re: relocations (example: Trinity area).
4) Ginny will check out insurance with Ken Aicher, asst. to the Bishop.
5) Darrell will contact Joyce Cain about an auditor for all churches.
6) TEAM -do Bible studies on the Scripture passages we chose.
7) I will send out minutes, and make sure they go on the website.
8) Pastor Jerry W. will let us know specifics re: paying Dave Raymond.
9) Everyone – continue to pray for all churches.
10) Hertta will follow-up to make sure all this is being done.
Next TLC meeting – March 4th at 7:00 at King of Glory.
We closed with the Lord's Prayer. God bless. Sharon