MINUTES OF THE 43nd ANNUAL
CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 22, 1998

Pastor Sneeringer led devotions, and the 1998 Annual Congregational Meeting was called to order at 12:35 p.m. by Council Vice President Bill Evans. Ed Rich declared a quorum, which allowed the meeting to begin.

Elections - Richard Kesti, Chairman of the Nominating Committee, distributed the ballots for the elections. The nominees were invited to stand and introduce themselves. Bill then asked for nominations from the floor, of which there were none. Elections were held for Church Council, Audit Committee, Northeastern Ohio Synod Assembly, Nominating Committee, and Endowment Committee. The Nominating Committee collected the ballots and later reported these results:

Church Council

Bill Beers- 3 year Randy Cole- 3 year
Tom Parsons- 3 year
Polly Dobkin- 3 year
Joyce Vasilev- 1 year

Nominating Committee

Tracy Dankoff
Elaine Johnson
Ken Macro

NE Ohio Synod Assembly

Vee and Bill Robinson

Endowment Committee

Garth McHenry
Don Hill

Audit Committee

Bruce Lightle

Bill thanked the ladies of WELCA for providing the lunch and the FLASH-LIGHT band for the entertainment during lunch.

Adoption of the 1997 Annual Meeting Minutes - Bill Beers moved to approve the minutes of the 1997 Annual Meeting and to waive the reading of them. Tom Parsons seconded and the motion passed.

Reception of the Report of The Pastor - As printed in the 1998 Annual Congregational Meeting report. Pastor Sneeringer asked for questions regarding his report. Hewill add an addendum to the report in January, which will cover the end of the year. Pastor recognized the church staff and thanked them for their hard work. Bill Pope then thanked Pastor Sneeringer for all he has done for the church.

The Minister of Discipleship and Worship - As printed in the 1998 Annual Congregational Meeting report. Kathy reported that she attended a Spiritual Gifts workshop the day prior to the meeting, and she reminded the congregation that each person has a spiritual gift to lift up to God.

The Church Council President - As printed in the 1998 Annual Congregational Meeting report.

Bill reported that many of the things the church has done has been to touch the lives of others, such as donating the Easter baskets for Children Services; the Bozin soup supper, which raised over $3,000; and the Hospice soup project.

The Treasurer -
As printed in the 1998 Annual Congregational Meeting report. Acceptance of the report will be conditioned upon a full audit.

Chuck Baltes moved to accept all the reports and the Treasurer's Report upon the audit. Polly Dobkin seconded and the motion passed.

Reception of the Report of Auxiliaries:

WELCA - Motion was made to accept the WELCA report as printed in the 1998 Annual Congregational Meeting report. Betty Kesti seconded and the motion passed.

Old Business:

Pastor Sneeringer reported that the ELCA introduced some cosmetic changes to the Constitution, which are shown in the 1998 Annual Congregational Meeting report. He also said that a vote on this is unnecessary, since the changes are so minor. Chuck Baltes announced that the Constitution itself says that we must vote on any changes, and that the changes must be sent to church members thirty days prior to the annual meeting in order to vote on them. A motion was then made to accept the Constitution amendments the changes as written. After much discussion, Bill Beers moved to table the motion for further review of the changes. Sally Hauth seconded and the motion passed.

New Business:

Adoption of 1999 Operating Budget - Bill Robinson thanked Hal Wilson, Chairman of the Stewardship Committee, and the rest of the committee for their fundraising campaign in 1998. The church council's Proposed Budget for 1999 is printed in the Annual Congregational Meeting report beginning on page 24. One change that has been made is that a building fund has been established in addition to the operating fund. Bill thanked the members for their pledges.

Jane Jensen questioned the $20,000 transfer from Operating Savings to meet the budget (noted on page 25 in the report). Hal Wilson and Bill explained that, when it was discovered that the pledges for the operating savings would not meet the proposed budget, some individuals then decided to change their pledges to give more to the operating fund and less to the building fund. Consequently, $20,000 worth of pledges was moved from "building" to "operating" to meet the 1999 proposed budget.

Other concerns were expressed, such as whether there would be a free flow of money from the building fund to the operating fund. Bill assured the members that this would not happen.

After much discussion, Chuck Baltes commended the Finance Committee and Church Council for doing their jobs, noting that their effort has been tremendous. Chuck then moved to accept the 1999 Operating Budget proposal. Ed Rich seconded, and the motion passed with three objections noted. Bill Pope asked Bill Evans to commend the outgoing council members.

Adjourment and Prayer - Hal Wilson moved to adjoun the meeting. The motion was seconded and passed. Closing prayers were given by Pastor Sneeringer. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:37 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Kit Scheetz
Council Secretary