September 2024 Wakeman Congregational Church

Church Council Minutes

Diaconate member, Jodee Palmer, called the church council meeting to order at 7:00 on
Monday, September 23, 2024 in the church outreach building. Pastor Janet opened the
meeting in prayer.

Those in attendance: Janet Ross, Pastor; Dan Green, Historian; Ken Green, Treasurer;
JoDee Palmer, Diaconate; Brenda Friend &; John Krumwiede, Trustees; Melinda Dalton,
Missions; Keely Krumwiede, Music.

No minutes were presented.

Calendar Dates:
 October 1 st Ice Cream Social and Band Concert
 October 19 th Fall Festival/Camp-Out
 October 21 st Pledge Letters mailed out
 October 27 th Treat in a Tent
 October 27 th – December 1 st Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes
 October 28 th November Messenger articles due
 November 12 th Frost sugar cookies at 6:00
 November 17 th Frost sugar cookies with Sunday School children
 November 19 th Make buckeyes at 6:00
 November 21 st Make fudge at 6:00
 November 25 th December Messenger articles due
 November 25 th Thanksgiving Ecumenical Service at 7:00
 December 7 th Cookies By the Pound sale
 December 7 th Mini Mall

Treasurer’s Report – Ken reported that:
 The general operating income had a deficiency of $2,422 at the end of July, and
that amount increased to $4,102 by the end of August.
 He then stated that even with these two monthly deficiencies, the general
operating account now has a surplus income over expenses of $8,142 for the
year.
 We made two missions’ payments that included the Heifer Project donation of
$1095.28 (that includes the matching donation) and an $808.80 donation went to
Abigail Pregnancy Center.

 The church grounds recently had a fire inspection that resulted in $1,000 of
necessary repairs being made to correct fire safety issues.

Pastor’s Report – Janet reported that:
 She has had several “spiritual sessions” with members, along with eight home
visits this month.
 She has met with Father Ron from St. Mary’s, and he is interested in joining us in
offering a grief counseling program to the community. They will continue to meet
to plan out details.
 There will be a “new members” class offered on Sunday, October 20 th after the
worship service.
 On Communion Sunday, October 13 th , Janet plans to have three people share
what communion means to them. She currently has one volunteer, and is still
looking for two more members to share.
 Janet informed Council that she has been asked to co-lead a Harm Reduction and
Overdose Protection program. She noted that this ministry would take about ten
hours/month of her time, and that it would not impact her ministry with our
congregation. Council members discussed her participation in this ministry, and
agreed that Janet would need to make the final decision about participating in
this program.

Diaconate - JoDee reported that:
 During Janet’s absence, Reid Firestone will be with us on Sunday, September 29 th ,
and Pat Stull will conduct the Sunday, October 27 th service.
 Diaconate has discussed the options of ways to distribute communion, and they
have decided to alternate communion in the pews with going up to the front of
the sanctuary to receive communion.
 The annual Thanksgiving Ecumenical Service will be held on Monday, November
25 th at 7:00. Our church will be hosting the service and reception this year.
 Janet has asked that we hold a Service of Installation for her as our new pastor.
Possible dates for this event were discussed.
 She has connected with an employee of Oberlin Community Services who would
be willing to be a resource for us with grant writing. Dan expressed some concern
about using grant money to complete a church project, noting that the church
community needs to be the one who helps, and not the one to receive charity.

Trustees – Brenda reported that:

 Trustees have investigated the AED in the church building, and found that is old,
and needs to be replaced. Brenda also noted that we need to expand the number
of AED’s on the grounds, including adding one in the pavilion and one in the
outreach building. She is working with Citizen’s Ambulance staff on this project.
 They have given Joe Layport until the end of the month to complete the
apartment project. After that date, any remodeling that still needs done will be
completed with the help of church members.
 The renters at the parsonage have moved, and the house is currently empty. The
trustees are discussing two options for the house, which include either
continuing to rent out the property, or to sell the home. Council members
discussed the two options:
o Renting the house would involve finding new renters, and continual
upkeep of the house and property.
o If we were to sell the property in the current housing market, we would
potentially make a profit from the sale of house (when compared to our
original purchase price.). Ken noted that we currently have about $38,000
in a parsonage fund that could be added to any profit made from the
parsonage sale to help fund an accessibility elevator for the church. Also, if
we needed a temporary parsonage in the future, we could use the church
apartment for that.
Trustees will continue to weigh the two options for the parsonage.

Christian Education: Keely reported that:
 Olivia has ordered new Sunday School materials that will be easy for the
committee members and volunteers to use.
 There are several Christmas trees in the basement that still need to be picked up.
 Their committee would like Trustees to remove the desk from their basement
storage room, and cover the walls with shelving so they can store more Christian
Education materials.

Missions – Melinda reported that:
 The Treat in a Tent activity will be held on Sunday, October 27 th . We will
distribute bags that include a church sticker, children’s scripture card, and a treat.
We are looking for volunteers who will provide purchased snacks for the bags.
We also need to check with Steve about providing a tent for the afternoon.

 Operation Christmas Child Shoebox campaign will begin on October 27 th , and run
through December 1 st . There will be options for members to donate to this
mission either through packing their own box, or ordering a box on-line.

Stewardship - Melinda reported that:
 This year’s pledge theme is “One Church for All” and will run through the month
of November.
 The pledge letters will be mailed out to members on October 21 st .
 This year’s campaign will include Sunday stewardship moments, Wednesday
emails, weekly drawings and a church graph (made by the Sunday school
children) to show weekly progress.

Moving Forward Team – Keely &Melinda reported that:
 The following plans have been made for the October 1 st ice cream social/ band
concert:
o Keely will take care of getting the ice cream and freezer to the event. (She
still needs to check into electrical plugs at the park.)
o Melinda will be cutting up brownies at the church at 5:00, and get them,
along with bowls, spoons and napkins, to the park by about 6:00. She
would welcome help with this project.
o We will also need to provide a table and trash cans.
 Keely has ordered the first batch of church shirts, and there will be an order form
for shirts in the next Messenger.

Music – No report.

Old Business: Parts for the church building sound system have been ordered, and Fisher
Electronics will complete work on the system in October.

New Business: None.

Dan moved that we adjourn the meeting and Brenda seconded the motion. Motion
passed.

The meeting ended with The Lord’s Prayer.

Melinda Dalton, Meeting Recorder