Congregational Growth Ministry Team minutes

Last meeting: May 12, 2009

Attendees:

Chris Allen

Rich Flamang

Shannon Howard

Jen Wageman

Staff:

Pastor Dismer

Jan Sommerfeld

Guest: Ross Larson

Excused:

Lance Schmidt

Items that may require Council action: None

Items that may require budget/finance coordination: None

Important items of information:

Connection Center: Ross Larson submitted a list of hardware options for the Connection Center and explained various components and capabilities of several configurations. He confirmed expectations about the hardware/operating system. Estimated cost of a monitor and misc. components is roughly $275, without the printer and items such as a surge protector.

Team membership: Discussion evolved around possible candidates to join our ministry team, particularly members who worship primarily at the Downtown Site. Jen and Rich will contact potential candidates and invite them to next month’s ministry team meeting. Also expressed was the importance of retaining an FELC staff member and/or Council member to facilitate team meetings.

Church picnic: The Congregational Life Ministry Team, which is encouraging ministry teams to participate in the May 31 event, forwarded several ways to get involved. Our team is considering having a table set up at the picnic with name tags for participants at the picnic. This would be a great way to recruit new members to our team. The team also will hand out our blue “First English Lutheran Church Ministry Guide” books.

2010 all-congregation worship service: Lance suggested a multi-ministry team project in which FELC would worship off-site at the PAC or Fox Cities Stadium, followed by a fellowship activity. The general consensus was that this would be a great way to get all members together to worship. The event would need coordination from virtually all ministry teams.

TV ministry: The team discussed pros/cons of including a bar on the bottom of the current broadcast of our 8 a.m. Downtown Site worship service on local cable Channel 4. Possibly messages include upcoming events, such as the church picnic; our worship times; Web site. Jan will contact TV ministry volunteers to see how complicated and labor-intensive it would be with the current software to change the message monthly and to see if anyone would be willing to do this.

Advertising: Jan submitted information regarding our annual advertising ads, including the AT&T Yellow Pages display ad, the companion book and yellowpages.com; the Fox Cities Guide and our free listing in the Christian Business Directory. Reps will be contacting Rich regarding our fall advertising program. The group also would like to place an ad in the Appleton Newcomer’s newsletter this fall.

Communications: At the request of the Support Ministry Team, the team discussed and reviewed a list of communication services provided by Jan under the umbrella of the Growth Ministry Team and stressed the importance of having a staff/Council representative attend the monthly team meetings in lieu of Jan’s departure from staff. Jan will forward list to Support. Note: a recorder will be needed at the June 9 meeting to take notes and forward them to jmonson@felc.com by June 12.

Submitted by:

Jan Sommerfeld