Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church

Minutes of Meeting of Combined Mission and Resources Teams

July 10, 2007

Present:            Ross Bartels, John Bergford, Lance Breiland, Marty Carlson, Mark Duff, Amy Hasbargen, Jeff Hickstein, Steve Maurelli, Mary Sabatke and Denise Wilkens

The meeting was called to order at about 7:00 p.m.   

OPENING PRAYER

Mark led the team in an opening prayer.

RESOURCES AND MISSION DISCUSSION

Ross reported on the work to-date of the resources team.  Ross stated that the team had taken an inventory of the church's resources and had considered various alternatives for the parsonage property, including potentially selling it.  Ross stated, however, that the team was not in a position to make a recommendation regarding the use or sale of the parsonage property at the July 29 congregational meeting and that any such recommendation would likely fall out of the work of the mission team. 

Lance reported on the work to-date of the mission team.  Lance stated that the team had decided to recommend a youth-focused mission for adoption by the congregation at the July 29 congregational meeting.  This youth-focused mission would focus on youth issues outside of our church, but would also include initiatives to bolster our internal youth programs.  The crux of the program would be to help in providing for the basic, developmental and spiritual needs of youth in our neighborhood, in other parts of Minneapolis and across the world, whatever those needs may be.  A key goal of the program would be to help youth grow to be good stewards of our world and its people, understanding that that goal can be achieved only if the basic, developmental and spiritual needs of youth are being met.

Steve asked what percentage of the youth mission would be comprised of internal initiatives.  Lance stated that the team had not discussed a specific percentage, but that he guessed that the internal initiatives would constitute somewhere between one-third and one-half of the entire program.  Steve stated that he believed that one-third-to-one-half was too much internal focus and that the percentage of external initiatives should be closer to 95%.  Amy then raised the issue of whether our internal youth programs, such as Sunday school, should fall under this youth-focused mission or whether the mission should involve solely social outreach activities, with the internal programs under the purview of the existing youth and family ministry team.  A lengthy discussion ensued regarding the mix of internal vs. external focus and how the internal programs should be structured (e.g., what group is responsible for our internal initiatives).

The discussion then turned to the action item to be voted upon at the July 29 congregational meeting.  Ross suggested that the action item include (1) the hiring of a part-time youth director from Luther Seminary, (2) the continued support and build-out of the "Project Starfish" initiative with Kenwood Elementary School, and (3) the continued exploration of other youth-based social outreach opportunities.  A further discussion ensued regarding the specific action to be taken at the congregational meeting.  There was a consensus that the primary action item was the adoption of the youth-focused mission (and the formal commitment by the congregation to support that mission), with the understanding that there would be other supplemental items (such as the ones outlined above by Ross) that would discussed and acted upon at the July 29 meeting.

AGENDA FOR CONGREGATIONAL MEETING

Mark proposed turning to the issue of the agenda for the July 29 congregational meeting.  In that regard, John updated the team on the activities of the stewardship ministry team, including the team's plans for one-on-one personal visits with each member of the church in the fall, and summarized the update he planned to give to the full congregation on July 29.  The members of the church council further discussed the contents and order of the agenda for the July 29 congregational meeting.  These members decided to propose to the full council the following agenda for the congregational meeting:

• Approval of the minutes from the 2006 Mid-Year Congregational Meeting
• Mission project recommendation
• Resources team update
• Stewardship ministry team report
• 2007 budget discussion and approval

Mark agreed to email the proposed agenda to council members for their approval prior to sending it to the congregation.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at about 8:45 p.m. 

Respectfully submitted,

Lance Breiland

Acting Team Secretary