42ND ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH
NOVEMBER 16, 1997

The Annual Congregational Meeting was called to order at 12:40 p.m. by Council President, Michael Chaffee. A quorum of 74 voting members was established, which allowed the meeting to begin. Mike thanked the women of WELCA who provided the luncheon.

Pastor Sneeringer led devotions and declared the annual meeting of Faith Lutheran Church to be in session.

Adoption of 1996 Annual Meeting Minutes- A motion was made by Roger Sellew to approve the minutes of the 1996 annual meeting. The motion was seconded and passed. Ken Macro made a motion to waive the reading of these minutes. The motion was seconded by Roger Sellew and passed.

Election of Officers- DuWayne Hansen, Chairman of the Nominating Committee, explained the election process. He thanked the committee for their positive efforts in obtaining a good slate of candidates for the various offices. DuWayne introduced the remaining Council members and those whose terms expire this year. The elections that were held were for Church Council, Audit Committee, Northeastern Ohio Synod Assembly, Nominating Committee and Endowment Committee. The results were presented at the end of the meeting and were as follows:

CHURCH COUNCIL
Hal Wilson- 3-yr. term
Chris Sears- 3-yr. term
Chip Roberts- 3-yr. term
Judi Schmidt- 3-yr. term
Michael Jackson- 1-yr. term

AUDIT COMMITTEE
Terry Vernon- 3-yr. term
Bruce Lightle- 1-yr. term

ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE Don Birdsell
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Bill Moats
Judy Dobkin
Kit Scheetz
NE OHIO SYNOD ASSEMBLY Don and Kay Hill

RECEPTION OF REPORTS

The New Dimensions Project- As printed in the Annual Congregational Meeting Report. Mike thanked Judy Vernon for her dedication and a fine job in chairing this committee.

The Pastor- As printed in the Annual Congregational Meeting Report.

The Minister of Discipleship and Outreach- As printed in the Annual

Congregational Meeting Report.

The Treasurer- As printed in the Annual Congregational Meeting Report.

RECEPTION OF REPORTS OF AUXILIARIES

Preschool- As printed in the Annual Congregational Meeting Report.

WELCA- As printed in the Annual Congregational Meeting Report. Mike commended the committee for doing a fantastic job and thanked them again for the luncheon.

OLD BUSINESS- None

NEW BUSINESS

Adoption of the 1998 Operating Budget- Bill Robinson thanked Hal Wilson, Bud Mangels and the Stewardship Committee for a superb job in presenting Temple Talks and the Town meetings to inform the congregation as to the needs and committee requests for the 1998 operating budget.

Page 21 of the Annual Meeting Report shows the 1998 Anticipated Operating Income. Page 31 illustrates where the increase of $29,000 is allocated.

Sally Hauth raised a question regarding the position of Youth Minister and what we are going to do to make this position work. Roger Sellew responded that a comprehensive job description has been put into place as to the responsibilities and accountability of this person. Micah Townsend expressed concern that we have no one with the Youth now and that previous efforts were unsuccessful. Jim Shook and Karen Mallison explained that the person would only be responsible for the Youth and will be a paid position instead of a volunteer position. Roger encouraged support from all to help make this person successful. Pastor Sneeringer stated that finding the right candidate is more important than meeting the April 1st deadline, the date by which we anticipated having the position filled.

There were no other questions. Kathy Zbinden made a motion to adopt the proposed 1998 Operating Budget as presented. The motion was seconded by Bill Evans and passed. Ken Nouse stated that the Light Service has been a wonderful addition and has encouraged inactive members to attend as well as new people who have no church affiliation. He thanked Ken Macro and the others who have made this service a reality.

Judy Vernon reported that a profit of approximately $3,000 was made from the Rummage Sale. She thanked those who volunteered and encouraged participation for next year.

ADJOURNMENT AND PRAYER

Following the report of the election of officers, closing prayers were given by Pastor Sneeringer. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Kit Scheetz
Council Secretary

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